Angelica Vega Foley is chief program officer at LEEP America, where she leads strategic program design and implementation to expand access to high-quality dual-language education across the United States. She partners with educators, families, and community leaders to strengthen leadership pipelines and build systems that center equity, linguistic diversity, and educational opportunity. At LEEP, Angelica designed, implemented, and led the inaugural cohort of ACELERA, a leadership development program for Latino aspiring school leaders that centers fellows’ unique lived experiences and helps them harness their distinctive leadership and run strong dual-language programs.

Born, raised, and educated in Arizona, Angelica is a proud Mexican and Black woman and a third-generation Mexican American, with deep transnational roots between Mexico and the United States. She learned early how race, power, and privilege shape access to opportunity. This understanding fueled her commitment to social justice and guided her undergraduate studies in social work and women’s studies at Arizona State University, where she developed a strong foundation in systems change, identity, and advocacy that continues to shape her leadership today.

A growing passion for education policy led Angelica to earn her master’s degree in public administration from Arizona State University in 2011. She began her career as a teacher and served as a 2011 Teach For America Phoenix corps member in the community she called home. Her classroom experience deepened her resolve to dismantle barriers to educational opportunity. After time in the corporate sector, she learned to center participant experience and design systems that work for people, Angelica returned to education with a renewed focus on impact at scale.

For the past eight years, Angelica has volunteered with The Gates Scholarship as a student interviewer, supporting equitable access to higher education. In her free time, she enjoys collaging, gardening, and spending time with her loving family.