Gilda L. Ochoa, PhD

Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley to parents from Nicaragua and New York, Gilda’s work has been locally rooted in Los Angeles-area communities and schools.

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Gilda L. Ochoa writes and teaches on Latinas/os, education, and race/ethnicity. Her newest book, Academic Profiling: Latinos, Asian Americans, and the Achievement Gap (2013) was named as one of 35 books that all educators of African American and Latino students must read. It has also received awards from the Asian American Studies Association, the American Sociological Association, and the Society for the Study of Social Problem for its focus on race and eradicating racism. Ochoa’s earlier books include Becoming Neighbors in a Mexican American Community (2004), Learning from Latino Teachers (2007), and Latina/o Los Angeles (2005), co-edited with her brother Enrique C. Ochoa. Her work has also appeared in more popular venues including Rethinking Schools, Truthout, CounterPunch, Alternet, and LA Progressive.

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Ochoa has received multiple teaching awards from Pomona College and UCLA and she was most recently named the 2016 Susan Currier Visiting Professor for Teaching Excellence at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo. In the classroom, she aims for interactive and transformative learning spaces, and she regularly collaborates with teachers on various college-high school student-centered projects.

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She is a frequent presenter and has delivered keynote addresses at colleges, conferences, and K-12 schools on topics ranging from identity, diversity, racism, education, and resistance.