Ref Rodriguez, an LMU alum (BA ’93) and adjunct faculty member in SOE’s Department of Educational Leadership, has been appointed to serve on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The commission is an agency in the executive branch of the California state government that oversees state standards and practices for educator preparation, licensing and credentialing.
An experienced educator and administrator, Rodriguez returned to his alma mater as an adjunct faculty member, where he helped develop a master’s degree and administrative credential program for aspiring charter school leaders. He brings his experience in the K-12 field to LMU where he teaches courses on public and charter school leadership.
Rodriguez has served as president and chief executive officer at Partners for Developing Futures since 2009, a social venture investment fund that primarily invests in high-potential, early-stage minority-led charter schools and charter school networks that serve underserved students. He is co-founder of Partnerships to Uplift Communities, where he has held multiple positions since 1999, including corporate treasurer and co-chief executive officer. The non-profit charter school management organization has elementary, middle and high schools serving students in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
He has been appointed to boards and commissions that focus on serving those most in need. Rodriguez served on the Board of the California Charter Schools Association for four years during a critical stage in the organization’s foundation and growth. He was appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a commissioner on the Rent Adjustment Commission for the City of Los Angeles where he served a two-year term. In 2007, Rodriguez was elected by the residents of Glassell Park to the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council. He currently serves on the Boards of Partnerships to Uplift Communities, Green Dot Public Schools and the Alliance for a Better Community. He is a fellow of the Aspen Institute-NewSchools Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education (Class of 2007) and was selected to the German Marshall Fund’s Marshall Memorial Fellowship Program (Class of 2011).
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing was created in 1970 and is the oldest of the autonomous state standards boards in the nation. The commission consists of nineteen members: fifteen voting members and four ex-officio, non-voting members. Shane P. Martin, dean and professor of the LMU School of Education, is an ex-officio member of the commission representing the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.
