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SoCAL HLAA HUB
MEET THE SoCAL HUB BOARD MEMBERS
DR. GUS FRIAS
Co Founder of Southern California Hub
Dr. Gus Frías is a national expert in education leadership and comprehensive school safety and security services. He grew up in East Los Angeles and graduated with honors from Garfield High School, the University of Southern California, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Frias' work experience includes roughly two decades as Manager of School Safety Programs for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, where he assisted to develop exemplary local and state-wide school safety laws, policies, programs and practices. He also worked in management positions at the Orange County Department of Education, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the United States Information Agency, which focused on developing effective violence prevention programs at local K-12 schools and communities. After the terrorist attacks on America in 2001, he assisted the United States Department of Education to develop its School Emergency Response and Crisis Management Program, which is currently known as the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Program. Years later, after the massacre of students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School, he also assisted USDOE and the United States Department of Justice to review and select school grant applications for multi-million dollar funding under the School Climate Transformation Program, and the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative respectively. The main purpose of all of the above federal initiatives is to improve leadership, safety and achievement at K-12 schools across the United States of America.
Due to the success of Dr. Frías' leadership work, he was appointed to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing's Advisory Committee on School Violence, and the California Governor's Advisory Group on Street Gang Violence Suppression. He was also selected as a National Finalist for the White House Fellowships Program.
In 1994, while at Harvard, Dr. Frías and a group of Harvard alumni created the Harvard Latino Alumni Network to support younger Latino students, to foster their leadership development, and to advocate for the Latino community. In 2015, along with an expanded group of Harvard alumni, he co-founded the Harvard Latino Alumni Alliance SIG, and continues to be its lead in Southern California. He also served numerous years as a Board Member for the Harvard Club of Southern California, and as an Alumni Council Member for the Harvard Graduate School of Education, receiving Certificates of Appreciation from both of them.
Today, Dr. Frias serves as Education Sector Chief for the FBI's InfraGard Los Angeles program, where he continues to provide comprehensive school safety and security services to local, state and federal education institutions and law enforcement agencies.
Jaime Espinoza is a Deputy Director at the Mayor's Office of Business and Economic Development in Los Angeles, where he guides operations spanning the City's planning and building departments and leads initiatives that shape how Los Angeles grows, builds, and competes economically.
A native Angeleno from a working-class immigrant family, he brings a firsthand understanding of the barriers that hold communities back and has dedicated more than 10 years to modernizing the systems that drive economic growth and opportunity across L.A. He is currently leading the City's ongoing development services reform effort.
Jaime earned a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning from Cal Poly Pomona and a Master in Real Estate from Harvard Graduate School of Design. Outside of work, his interests include hiking, cycling, running, yoga, and staying closely engaged with emerging ideas on urban innovation and citymaking.
JAIME ESPINOZA
Harvard Graduate School of Design ‘24
Joseph (Joe) Martinez is a Shareholder with the law firm Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek based in San Diego, California. His legal practice is focused upon the areas of real estate, finance and business transactions where he represents real property and business owners, investors and managers, as well as developers, landlords, tenants, borrowers, and lenders. His legal expertise encompasses a variety of sophisticated matters, including acquisitions, dispositions, equity investment, development, leasing and secured lending transactions. Joe also serves as the Leader of the SCMV Cross-Border Practice Group where he works in the areas of in-bound U.S./Mexico real estate, finance and business transactions.
Joe is active in his local community and has served on the non-profit boards of director for Harvard Club of San Diego, Southwestern College Foundation, San Diego Padres Hispanic Community Advisory Council, Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, San Diego Opera, Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and San Diego New Children’s Museum. He enjoys running, mountain biking, hiking, fishing and camping in the great outdoors and volunteers his time to improve Spanish and English literacy in children at local elementary schools. He earned his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College in 1992 with a concentration in Economics, and he earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1996 where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Latino Law Review.
JOSEPH "JOE" MARTINEZ
Harvard College '92, Harvard Law School '96
Steven Espinoza is a Harvard alum currently based in Los Angeles, California. He earned his undergraduate degree in 2020 with a concentration in Economics and currently works as a data scientist.
A son of Nicaraguan immigrants and a native of South Florida, Steven is excited to be part of the HLAA community and is passionate about building stronger community-based initiatives that support both the Latino community in Southern California and the Latino community at Harvard. Outside of work, his interests include urbanism, cycling, traveling, and hiking.
STEVEN ESPINOZA
Harvard College ‘20
Yaquelin Perez is an education policy director whose work focuses on advancing educational equity and opportunity for students and families in Los Angeles. Previously, she worked as legislative staff for the City of Los Angeles, and as a policy manager at an education advocacy nonprofit focused on legal representation and parent empowerment.
She is civically engaged through her involvement with the Working Families Party, Democratic Socialists of Los Angeles, and California Women’s List. Yaquelin earned a master’s degree in Education Policy and Management from HGSE and bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles. Outside of work, she enjoys long runs, iced coffee, modern art, and Latin American literature.
YAQUELIN PEREZ
Harvard Graduate School of Education ‘18
Marcos Rodriguez Maciel is a Senior Director at Bryson Gillette with a decade of experience working at the intersection of strategic communications and political consulting. He advises organizations, advocacy groups, and public leaders navigating politically charged environments, from crisis response to public affairs and bilingual communications campaigns.
Marcos has trained leaders at major technology, philanthropic, and public institutions and designed communications strategies reaching audiences in both English and Spanish. He has also guided Democratic candidates through highly competitive races at every level of government, developing paid media, digital, and bilingual outreach strategies grounded in polling, research, and storytelling.
MARCOS RODRIGUEZ MACIEL
Harvard College, ‘15
Hilda Martinez is a communications strategist, founder, and former journalist with more than 20 years of experience advancing health equity, public affairs, and systems change. She currently serves as senior communications officer at the California Health Care Foundation, where she leads journalism investments and communications initiatives focused on improving equitable access to health care. Hilda is also the founder of NourishOne, a wellness startup focused on helping women prioritize their health and well-being.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology, cum laude, from Harvard University, a Master of Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of San Diego. Hilda also serves on the boards of Shaping Bright Futures and California Press Foundation.
HILDA MARTINEZ
Harvard College ‘92
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