Ramon Carranza Bañuelos Jr. Alum (2007)

Ramón was raised in Peoria, Arizona by his parents who immigrated from Zacatecas, Mexico. After graduating from Bourgade Catholic High School, Ramón went on to attend college at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. In 2011, upon graduating with a B.A. in biology, Ramón joined Teach For America and returned to Phoenix where he taught 7th and 8th grade science at Pueblo Del Sol Elementary. After four years of being in the classroom, Ramón moved to Boston and later New York City where he worked on large political campaigns that advocated on behalf of underserved students that were seeking quality education. While in New York, Ramón completed his master's degree in sociology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

After completing graduate school, Ramón moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as an Education Policy Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives for The Committee on Education and Labor under the leadership of Chairman Bobby Scott. Most recently, Ramón moved to the Senate where he currently works as a Legislative Aide and handles education, labor, and postal issues for the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer from New York.

Ramón credits much of what he has been able to accomplish in his educational and professional trajectory to familial and community support. In particular, he recognizes and appreciates the mentorship and guidance that he has received over the years from many incredibly devoted educators, Mrs. H being one of them, and programs, such as AGUILA.

As an educator, Ramón was eager to find ways to influence and impact his students in the way AGUILA did for him. This led to the creation of the AGUILA Young Achievers Program (AYAP), a program that prepared junior high students for a successful high school experience, and created a foundation to further explore college in the future. It’s with great honor that Ramón speaks about AYAP, as many students who participated in the program are now in college. One example of AYAP’s success is Analyssa Flores, an AYAP and AGUILA alumnus, who now “pays it forward” to her community as the AGUILA Program Specialist and has helped evolve AYAP into what many know today as the AGUILA Academy.

AGUILA is much more than a college access program, it's a sanctuary, it’s a community, it’s family. AGUILA served as a critical source of empowerment for Ramón, it encouraged him to believe that college and what followed, were true possibilities. Ramón was not the first to have been impacted in this way by AGUILA, nor will he be the last. All Aguilitas come to this program with their own unique stories and aspirations, and when it's time to leave the nest and fly away, we recognize and understand that wherever our journey takes us we lead, serve, and pay it forward to our communities, because that is the AGUILA way.