Meet CSTA’s new Professional Learning Manager.
Full Story
At the end of August, the CSTA welcomed Carlos Vazquez to our team. Learn more about Carlos, from well, Carlos himself.
I wanted to take this opportunity to formally introduce myself to the CSTA community. My name is Carlos Vazquez and I recently joined the CSTA team as the Professional Learning Manager. I have been with the team for just over a month and it truly has been an amazing experience. In my first few weeks in the role, we executed our first Virtual Teaching Summit of which I was happy to spearhead. It was great meeting new CSTA members and working with such a talented group of individuals motivated by ensuring equitable access to computer science.
Prior to joining CSTA, I spent the last 15 years in roles at the intersection of technology, education, and social justice. I started my formal education career as a 5th-grade teacher through a program called the New York City Teaching Fellows. After four years of teaching in the Bronx, I moved to San Francisco where I transitioned into the non-profit space as an Information Technology Instructor for an organization providing workforce training and mentorship for underserved young adults.
During the summer of 2012, I had the opportunity to move to Miami to launch a new workforce program at Miami Dade College that focused on increasing access to STEM careers for populations traditionally disconnected from those roles. That experience led me to work closely with college professors and the Miami-Dade County Public School CTE Department. I found my passion in providing professional development to K-12 educators as well as college faculty.
Most recently, I spent the past two and a half years advancing computer science initiatives in Miami-Dade as Founding President of the CSTA Miami Chapter and focused on education technology platforms and entrepreneurship. Currently, I’m enrolled in the Advanced Education Leadership program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and prior to this, I received my B.S. in Computer Science from Fordham University and hold an M.Ed. from the City College of New York and an M.S. in Web Strategy and Design from Mercy College.
I look forward to meeting and working with everyone in the CSTA community. Please feel free to email me at carlos.vazquez@csteachers.org if you have any questions about my role or any ideas and suggestions on topics for Professional Learning at CSTA. I hope to see many of you at upcoming sessions.