Gustavo Balderas

Dr. Gustavo Balderas began his life as the child of migrant farm workers in Eastern Oregon and developed his love of learning and passion for education in Oregon Public Schools, from kindergarten in a small migrant community through his doctoral degree in educational leadership at the University of Oregon.

Balderas has been an educator for 35 years. He started his career in education as a high school teacher and counselor in Oregon. He has served as superintendent in California, Washington State, and Oregon and is currently the superintendent of schools in Beaverton, with 40,000 scholars.

His career highlights include being named the State of Oregon, AASA (The American Association of School Administrators), and the National Association for Bilingual Education Superintendent of the Year; the Oregon Latino Educator of the Year; receiving the ALAS Equity Leader Award; and the ERDI Mike Kneale Excellence in Leadership Award. Two positions that he is incredibly proud of serving in include his role as current President of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents and President of AASA.

In every district he has worked, he has closed both achievement and opportunity gaps for all students by infusing articulated systems to improve outcomes and by using data to help inform all decision making in the school system. He has worked diligently to diversify the workforce to be more reflective of the students each system has served.

Balderas has been and is involved in numerous state, regional, and national organizations, and committees, including having served on the Oregon State Board of Education as a superintendent liaison, the AASA Executive Committee, Chiefs for Change Board, is a co-founder and inaugural president of the Oregon Association of Latino Administrators. Dr. Balderas is also a volunteer consulting superintendent for the Educational Research and Development Institute, Suburban School Superintendents, and the Institute for Educational Innovation national organizations.

Read more about Gustavo Balderas.