New Teacher Center (NTC) is pleased to announce that Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon, Ed.D., has joined the organization as our chief of staff. Her role is to provide leadership in the executive office, advocate for NTC stakeholders, and align strategic priorities with enterprise-level work to advance our mission.

“New Teacher Center’s vision is ambitious,” said NTC CEO Tommy Chang. “We bring over two decades of research-proven results to bridge the science of learning with equity-centered learning experiences for students and educators. We are thrilled to have Feliza join our team to influence national action in education in pursuit of a thriving, rigorous, and student-centered future for schools.”

The proud daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, Feliza has invested nearly 25 years in education. Her work has focused on issues of educational equity, specifically as it relates to Latino students and multilingual learners.

A committed champion for all students, Feliza has led and supported local, state, and national efforts to advance responsive policies and create equitable educational opportunities for underserved student populations through asset-based programs anchored in culturally and linguistically responsive approaches.

Before joining NTC, Feliza served as the chief policy and advocacy officer at Latinos for Education and as principal of education programs at UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza). These experiences enhanced Feliza’s passion for reshaping the narrative and opportunities afforded to Latinos. At the national level, she worked to:

• advance policies for equitable Latino representation within the education sector and teaching profession,
• improve outcomes for Latino students from birth to college, and
• ensure the voice of Latino leaders is represented from the classroom to the boardroom.

Feliza began her career as an elementary school teacher with Long Beach Unified School District. She also held positions as director of policy for Los Angeles Unified School District and director of college access for the Fulfillment Fund. Feliza holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in Political Science, a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in City and Regional Planning, and a doctoral degree in Education Leadership from the University of California, Irvine. In 2015, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Feliza to the California State Board of Education, where she served 6.2 million students for five fulfilling years. She is happily married to a seasoned educator in the Long Beach Unified School District, and they have two children attending a dual language program in the same district.