Priscilla Aquino Garza is the senior director of programs for Educate Texas, a non-profit organization committed to increasing academic achievement and educational equity through programs, policy, and partnerships. Priscilla leads teaching and leading efforts to build more skilled teachers and leaders who represent our African American, Latino, and children living in poverty. Priscilla served as the director of policy for Educate Texas focusing on K-12 policy within our college and career readiness and teaching impact areas. Before Educate Texas, Priscilla served as the interim executive director and deputy director at Stand for Children, Texas, leading organizing, and policy strategies related to empowering students and parents in local and state policy efforts. She was the director of the educator and student policy initiatives at the Texas Education Agency, focusing on teacher preparation, development, evaluation, mentoring, and selection. She then served as a research associate for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Initiative. She started her work in education as a middle school teacher in Boston, New York, and Austin.

Priscilla holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Harvard University, a master’s of public administration from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a PhD in Educational Leadership Policy and Planning from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focused on the impact of Latine educators on outcomes for Latine and Black students. Originally from New York City, Priscilla lives in Austin with her husband and two children.