Valerie Cuevas

Valerie leads early childhood education and transitional kindergarten through 12 grade partnership opportunities.

With expertise in educational equity, state legislative policy and K-12 governance, she most recently led the Education grantmaking strategy at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF). She joined the philanthropic sector after a tenure with The Education Trust-West, where she focused on public policy advocacy and program work that improved educational outcomes for all students pre-Kinder through college. Additionally, Cuevas served as a publicly elected school board member and education policymaker. She served as President of the West Contra Costa Unified Board of Education, a middle-sized, urban Bay area school district serving approximately 30,000 children, seventy-five percent of whom are English learners, low-income and/or foster youth students.

Cuevas is a proud product of California’s public education system and a staunch advocate for kids. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in political science and sociology from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in educational psychology, administration and counseling from California State University, Long Beach.