Gilberto is proud to be born and raised in Santa Ana, California. He is the oldest of three siblings born from Mexican immigrants.  He took it upon himself to become a positive role model to his siblings in order to give them a better opportunity at success.  Growing up in a community that has many challenges was not easy for Gilberto. At a very early age, it was evident that he wanted to make a difference in his community.  In order to accomplish this he had to be careful with decisions that he made.  His journey has lead him to become a Family and Community Engagement Liaison at Romero-Cruz Academy.

Growing up in Santa Ana has given Gilberto the opportunity to experience firsthand the challenges of the community.  In his youth, he attended Martin Elementary, King Elementary, Carr Intermediate, and Valley High School.  He was also heavily involved in soccer.  He was part of the Valley High School 2004 CIF championship team and he coached various youth championship teams for Barcelona Soccer Club in Santa Ana.  He decided to coach in order to help the youth in his community gain skills to be successful and he wanted to be a positive role model.  He was recognized with the Community Involvement Award in 2008 by local magazine Futbol Local for his work with youth in the community.

Gilberto decided to study locally in order to continue his work with his community.  He has an AA from Santa Ana College in Liberal Studies and a BA from Cal State Fullerton in Criminal Justice.  He comes to this position after gaining fourteen years of experience in Santa Ana after school programs as both an Instructional Provider and a Site Coordinator.  During his time working in after school programs, he enjoyed his work supporting students and families in order to achieve their personal and academic goals.  He now hopes to expand that work as a Family and Community Engagement Liaison for SAUSD by working closely with families, partners, and community in order to give students better opportunity to achieve their goals.