Lupita Cortez Alcalá

Lupita Cortez Alcalá is the incoming executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) at Stanford University, where she will lead efforts to inform education policy and practice across California. Alcalá has spent more than two decades advancing educational outcomes for California’s children and adults as well as more than 10 years focused on government affairs in preK–12 and higher education policy.

Alcalá previously worked at the California Department of Education, where she was the first Latina to hold the position of chief deputy superintendent of public instruction. She also served for 12 years as deputy superintendent of the Instruction and Learning Support branch. In these positions, she championed the creation of the English Learner Division, revitalized the Migrant Education Program, launched the State Seal of Biliteracy, and oversaw development of the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework and Standards. She also guided major work in STEAM, career pathways (CTE), and whole-child policy.

Alcalá served as executive director of the California Student Aid Commission, where she elevated college affordability and basic needs policy; chaired the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls; and held leadership roles for the California School Boards Association and the Office of California Governor Gray Davis. Most recently, she was director of education with the Education Policy and Outcomes team at WestEd; there, she co-led the development of California’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care and advanced key initiatives to strengthen education system transitions from early learning through postsecondary education. She is on the advisory boards of the California Policy Lab and Inside California Education.

Throughout her career in education, Alcalá has been recognized for bridging policy and practice to expand educational opportunity, especially for underserved, immigrant, and multilingual students. Alcalá is a first-generation English learner born in Tijuana, Mexico; she and her siblings were first in their family to attend college in the United States. Alcalá earned a BA in political science and government from the University of California, San Diego; completed field research at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; and received an MEd in education, planning, and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

updated 2025