April 8, 2025
In celebration of Women’s History Month and this year’s theme — Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations — First 5 LA is shining a spotlight on remarkable women leading the way in early childhood education (ECE). In this bio and Q&A that follows, Dr. Alma Cortes shares her journey, the lessons she has learned, and her vision for a more inclusive, inspiring future for the next generation.
Dr. Alma Cortes is an Associate Professor of Child Development at Los Angeles Pierce College, where she brings over two decades of experience in early childhood education as a classroom teacher, administrator, and university professor. A native Texan, she holds a BA in English and Spanish from Rutgers University, a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA. Since 2009, she has taught at institutions such as UCLA, CSU Northridge, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles Valley College, and Pacific Oaks, all while nurturing her passion for preparing the next generation of early educators.
Since 2012, Dr. Cortes has contributed to PEACH, a Higher Education Collaborative focused on strengthening professional development pathways in early childhood education, where she has co-led the Equity and Anti-Racist Working Group and the Doctoral Working Group. In 2017, she joined the Board of Directors for the Child Care Resource Center, the largest Resource and Referral agency in the San Fernando Valley, where she participates in both program and policy committees. She was appointed by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, Third District, to serve as a First 5 LA Commissioner, further deepening her commitment to advancing equity and early childhood systems. Her research interests include supporting families in underserved communities, professionalizing the ECE workforce, and promoting developmentally appropriate teaching. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Pierce College Council, a body of shared governance on campus.
Q & A
What inspires you as a woman educator, mentor and leader?
I am often inspired when I listen to my colleagues who also teach Child Development/Early Childhood education. My colleagues who have come before me have inspired me by creating a strong legacy of teaching and advocating for children and families. I am working hard to continue this legacy of advocating for young children and fighting for our youngest learners. I have found myself in Sacramento a lot these days speaking to legislators and reminding them of the issues at stake for children and families and how they can support every child in California.
I am also inspired by speaking to aspiring leaders. When students come to me with questions about how to start their own preschool or how to apply for graduate school, they fuel me to continue to remind my current students about their choices in careers and education.
Finally, I am inspired by my mother who worked hard as a working parent and showed me that having a career and raising children but also showing your children the importance of how to fight for justice on behalf of others is so important. She taught me how to advocate for myself and for others.
Over your career of shaping future early educators, how do you inspire them to be the best educators they can be?
One of the messages I often give to my students is the message of who we should care for care. We have to be able to be caring and provide care not just to the children in our own care or in our neighborhoods but to children everywhere. We can get so busy in our daily lives thinking of our own communities, but we have to also learn how to think about caring for others. Children everywhere are depending on us to care for them, and we cannot let them down. We talk a lot in our coursework about our own biases that we carry and how we have to try to be the best version of ourselves for our children because they need us.
I also talk to my students about the importance of the early years and why they are so essential to the workforce. Every assignment they do, every time they watch and observe children or learn something new about young children, they are working on contributing to professionalizing the workforce. I encourage them to be the best version of themselves in all their classes so that they can work towards being that best version for the children they will work with.
What traits do you believe are most essential for an early educator to have to inspire their young students?
Most of the time when I am asked how I started my career, and I mention I was a preschool teacher I hear “Oh you must have so much patience.” I think that being patient is an important trait to have but early educators also have to be flexible, strong and incredibly resilient work with children and families. Often, they are managing multiple needs at once and narrating back to children what they need as well as navigating working with parents of different backgrounds. Early educators are superheroes who have amazing abilities to see children for who they are and guide them are some of the most strong and resilient people I know. It takes an incredibly strong and talented individual to be an early educator who loves to watch children grow and develop and sees them for who they really are.
You have a unique role in influencing future generations. If you could name one quality, you’d like for young children in an early education setting to leave with, what would it be and why?
It is hard to name one quality I would like children to leave with as they embark on the rest of their educational journey. If you asked me 10 years ago, I would say that they are kind or empathetic. However, in our changing world our children need to have a strong sense of resiliency. I think children need to be resilient so that they can navigate transitions and changes in their homes, schools and in their lives.
