Jacqueline Rodio, Ed.D.

Dr. Jacqueline Rodio is the Director of Business Administration at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. In her role, Dr. Rodio oversees all aspects of administrative management and operations for the Center, including oversight of budget and finance, human resources, personnel management, space and resource management, and strategic planning. She works proactively with academic and campus leadership to develop and execute all aspects of the center’s strategic plan. She serves as the Vice President of Development of the UCLA Staff Assembly Executive Board, overseeing the UCLA Spark campaign dedicated to the UCLA and Bruin community.

Prior to her current role, Dr. Rodio served as an Associate Director of Program Services at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business. She was responsible for overseeing all aspects of program management and day-to-day operations related to the Master of Professional Accountancy and Master of Finance programs. She also worked in the Graduate Accountancy and Taxation programs at the University of San Diego Knauss School of Business. Early in her career, she served as Patient Billing and Customer Service Manager for a $4 billion national clinical laboratory, where she assisted senior management in strategic planning, development, and leadership as well as day-to-day operations of the company’s San Diego office.

Dr. Rodio holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Southern California, an M.S. from the University of San Diego Knauss School of Business, a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management from California State University, San Marcos, and a certificate in Project Management from the University of San Diego.

Angela James, Ph.D.

Dr. Angela James, Ph.D., is research director at the Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS), where she demonstrates her passion for creating positive change in educational systems. As a sociologist and demographer, she leverages her extensive expertise to design and oversee innovative mixed-methods research projects. With a deep commitment to addressing societal structures’ dynamics and their influence on educational systems, Dr. James spearheads projects that shed light on the intricate interplay between structure and social agency. Her primary focus at CTS lies in the development and implementation of effective education policies for systems-involved youth, particularly those in the juvenile justice and homeless systems. Additionally, she is interested in efforts fostering the well-being and success of Black students, tackling critical issues like school policing, racial disparities in suspensions, and identifying ‘bright spots’ in educational service delivery. Dr. James’ work across these areas promotes a more nuanced understanding of the educational impact of individual agency. Towards that end, she encourages a focus on understanding school-site strategies, as well as on recognizing the direct impact of student and community-led social justice efforts, on addressing educational inequities. Dr. Angela James’s unwavering dedication to bridging the gap between research and real-world application has made her an important collaborator in our Center’s mission to conduct research that supports equitable and transformative education.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Dr. James is deeply rooted in community-based social justice and grassroots organizations, where she actively engages as an ardent community organizer/activist and strategic consultant. Both professionally and personally, she has dedicated herself to understanding and eradicating social injustices, while also highlighting the empowering liberatory work undertaken by individuals and communities.

Joseph Bishop, Ph.D.

Dr. Joseph Bishop is co-founder and Executive Director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. He has held a number of state and national educational leadership positions with the Learning Policy Institute, the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign with the Schott Foundation for Public Education, Opportunity Action, the Coalition for Teaching Quality, the Partnership for 21st Century Learning and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. Bishop has been featured in a number of digital and print media sources, including NPR, The Washington Post, EdSource and Education Week.

He is the lead author and editor of Our Children Can’t Wait: The Urgency of Reinventing Education Policy from Teachers College Press and host of the accompanying podcast, Our Children Can’t Wait.

Lucrecia Santibanez, Ph.D.

Lucrecia Santibañez (Ph.D. Education, M.A. Economics, Stanford University) is Professor at UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies and Co-Faculty Director (with Dr. Tyrone Howard) of UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools. She previously taught at Claremont Graduate University, CIDE in Mexico City, and was Education Economist at the RAND Corporation. She studies how to improve teaching and learning for vulnerable populations including emergent bilingual students. Her academic research has been published by Educational Researcher, Economics of Education Review, Review of Educational Research, Teachers College Record, Education Policy Analysis Archives, and the International Journal of Educational Development, among others. She publishes in both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking journals. As Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator, she has received research grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund, The World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She is an affiliate of PACE in California, and a faculty affiliate at the Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) at UCLA. She is a native of Mexico and has three children.

Tyrone C. Howard, Ph.D.