The El Colegio Board of Directors are responsible for the well-being of the school, ensuring that the mission and vision is reflected in every facet of the organization.

The schedule of board meetings for the 2022-2023 school year can be viewed here, as well as the school’s Google Calendar (viewable on the right-hand sidebar). Other important documents such as meeting minutes and annual reports can be viewed on the Board Documents & Accountability page.

Are you an El Colegio parent, friend, or just passionate about education? Consider joining the Board of Directors! Check out our board member application, or reach out to any of our current board members!

Tony Aarts (Chair)

 

Education Specialist
Minnesota Department of Education
taarts@el-colegio.org

Tony Aarts is an Education Specialist at the MN Department of Education. Tony has worked in public education for 12 years. He holds a BA in English from UW-River Falls, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Greensboro-North Carolina. His experience in education centers on creative writing, literature studies, assessment design, and composition. Outside of education, Tony focuses on community organizing for racial justice and immigrant and refugee rights. He has been a board member since December 2019.  

Kent Fordyce (Treasurer)

 

Kent’s Accounting Services, LLC
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
kfordyce@el-colegio.org

Kent Fordyce is a degreed accountant with over 35 years experience providing accounting services for small businesses and the non-profit community. He began his career climbing the corporate ladder in the 70’s and early 80’s and found this direction was not personally rewarding. This lead him to establish an accounting service focusing initially in the social justice community. This has since expanded to include for profit small businesses as well. He takes a pro-active approach attempting to anticipate issues rather than being in the react mode. Kent has been a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor since 2005.

Ann Zukoski

 

Evaluation & Research Team Supervisor
Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives (OSHII)
Minnesota Department of Health
azukoski@el-colegio.org

Ann Zukoski leads the Evaluation and Surveillance Unit for the Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives at the Minnesota Department of Health. Ann has over 20 years of experience evaluating community based public health initiatives and grounds her work in participatory approaches. She has her doctorate in public health from U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health and her master’s in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her spare time, Ann loves walking her dogs and travelling with her family.

Tamara Ramirez-Torres

“My name is Tamara Ramirez-Torres. I teach Spanish and Reading here at El Colegio. I have been teaching for 39 years. I started my teaching career in Puerto Rico where I taught for 24 years. When I moved to Minnesota I taught for 3 years in St. Paul, 10 years in Minneapolis, and this is my 4th year here at El Colegio. Throughout my teaching career I have taught from preschool through high school. Here at El Colegio I get very excited when my students excel in their reading.”
Ms Tamara has been a board member since September 2016.

 

Dr Elizabeth Sumida Huaman

 

Associate Professor
Comparative & International Development Education
University of Minnesota

ehuaman@el-colegio.org

Elizabeth Sumida Huaman is Wanka and Quechua from the Mantaro Valley, Peru, and Associate Professor of Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her work focuses on the relationship between Indigenous lands and natural resources, cultural practices, and in and out-of-school educational development in the Americas. Her collaborative research includes participatory work with Indigenous communities and institutions that are rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems and that prioritize impacts of development and modernization, Indigenous community-based education and environmental sustainability, and Indigenous rights education. She utilizes Indigenous research methods that highlight Indigenous self-determination goals, and her aim is to contribute to Quechua educational research methodologies.

Madelaine Cahuas

Assistant Professor of Geography
University of Minnesota

Madelaine Cahuas is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota and is affiliated with the departments of Chicano & Latino Studies and American Studies, teaching courses on urban geography, race, migrant politics, place-making and social justice. She is originally from Tkaronto, Canada and has been actively involved in community organizing across Latinx-serving nonprofits and grassroots collectives for over a decade. As the daughter of immigrant parents, she is committed to building bridges between the academy and underrepresented communities through community-engaged scholarship, pedagogy and service.