Dr. Alma Cortes is an Associate Professor of Child Development at Los Angeles Pierce College. For the last 22 years, she has worked in the field of early childhood as a classroom teacher, administrator, and university professor. A native Texan, Dr. Cortes earned her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City and her BA in English and Spanish from Rutgers University in New Jersey. She also holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from UCLA. Since 2009, Dr. Cortes has actively pursued her passion for academia and has taught at various institutions including University of California, Los Angeles, California State University Northridge, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles Valley College and Pacific Oaks.
Since 2012, Dr. Cortes has been a part of PEACH, a Higher Education Collaborative that advocates to strengthen and support academic professional development pathways related to the early childhood education workforce. In her work at PEACH, she has co-lead the Equity and Anti-Racist Working Group, the Doctoral working group.
In 2017, Dr. Cortes began to serve on the Board of Directors for the Child Care Resources Center, the largest Resource and Referral agency in the San Fernando Valley. She has participated in CCRC’s program and policy committees. Dr. Cortes is passionate about research topics such as child care specifically working to support families in underserved communities, professionalizing the ECE work force and developmentally appropriate approaches to teaching. Dr. Cortes is currently Vice Chair of the Pierce College Council, one of the bodies of shared governance at Pierce College.
