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Our Founder

Top of Page Meet the team

Paul Riordan, President Emeritus/Founder 

Retired SAUSD Administrator & Educator 

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Paul was born in New Haven, CT in 1931 and passed away in 2021. He graduated with an Economics degree from Yale and has been a pillar for education in the Santa Ana community. He was a Kiwanis Santa Ana and Elks Lodge member. He taught at Santa Ana High School for 39 years, crafting several programs including SAUSD's Regional Occupation Program. He founded AISS in 1997 and then launched it in 2001.

Congratulations Debbie Wells on receiving the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award from Chapman University!

Meet the Team

Staff

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Debbie Wells

Executive Director, MS ITM. MBA. BA CIS

 

Executive Director Debbie Wells obtained a bachelor's degree from Chapman University in Computer Information Systems, and two master's degrees in Information Technology Management and Business Administration from Webster University. Her background includes over 16 years in the international technology distribution giant, Ingram Micro, Inc. as a New Accounts Manager, IM Logistics Client Program Manager, and Government Account Manager. Debbie managed and supervised up to 35 people in several locations including Buffalo, New York; Miami, Florida; Mexico; and the Philippines​

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Debbie is uniquely qualified with over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Because of her commitment to serving her community, California State Senator Tom Umberg from District 34 recently recognized her as a Woman of Distinction for 2023. Debbie also received the 2021 Chapman University Distinguished Alumni Award and was honored as Person of the Year in 2019 by the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce at their annual Difference Makers Luncheon. She previously served as a mentor and board member for the Career Beginnings Mentoring Program, which previously partnered with the Achievement Institute on planned events. Debbie serves on the Kiwanis Santa Ana Board and chairs the Community Service Committee. Debbie graduated from OCTANE’s Nonprofit Accelerator Program and has a passion for guiding the educational, personal, and professional development of young people. Debbie is the only full-time staff member and has been working for the Achievement Institute for over 15 years.

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Elena Rose Lopez

Project Manager, BA Sociology​​

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Elena Lopez, an AISS Class of 2021 alumna, now serves as the AISS Program Manager. Collaborating closely with the executive director, she designs curriculum and evaluates scholars’ performance throughout their two-year program. Elena, who recently graduated early from UCSD with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology (with a concentration in Medicine Science), gained confidence in leadership roles during her AISS experience. Her passion for healthcare drives her aspiration to attend chiropractic school and open her own clinic, where she can promote healing through holistic medicine practices. In her role, Elena oversees scholars’ development, conducts alumni outreach, assists with research, and mentors students in professional skills, STEM career awareness, college readiness, team building, and leadership.

Staff Advisors

Angel Prado Calderon 

Alumni Staff AISS ' Alumni '23

Angel is attending the University of Southern California, pursuing a bachelor’s in chemical engineering with an emphasis in biological and pharmaceutical sciences. He graduated in 2023 from both Saddleback High School and AISS. He is involved with various organizations on campus, such as the Trojan Marching Band, and performs research in the Laboratory for Living Systems Engineering, focusing on optimizing fabrication protocols for hydrogels used in brain organoid testing. In his free time, he enjoys working out and playing video games. As a community-driven individual, Angel has returned to help as an advisor for the current AISS cohorts and hopes that the continued support of AISS will lead to more students pursuing careers in STEM.

Board

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Nicholas Richards, BA

Chairman of the Board

COO/CFO, Intellivision Entertainment

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Nick has over twenty-five years of entrepreneurial-driven innovation and execution leadership. As a co-founder of Intellivision, he is passionate about the video game company's focus on family and multi-generational dynamics that cater to different levels of sophistication in knowledge according to age. Nick was referred to AISS through our participation in the OCTANe Non-Profit Accelerator Program as a prospective board member. He comes to AISS at the ideal time to guide our board development as we transition from Founding to Governing/Managing to Fundraising Stages.

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Jacqueline Rojas, PhD

Vice-Chair

STEM and Science Education Consultant and Evaluator

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Dr. Rojas is a retired educator with extensive expertise and experience in teaching and learning science from Pre-K through doctoral levels. As a Board Member of the ARCS Foundation, she arranges for Achievement Institute Scholars to attend STEM research presentations by ARCS Scholars, Ph.D. Candidates at UCI. She is also serving as the Writing Instructor and supporting scholars as they complete their college application essays. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Dr. Rojas speaks Spanish fluently and enjoys engaging the parents of Achievement Institute Scholars.

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Efi (Efraim) Roe Kozorovitsky

Strategic Planning

Vice President Clinical Affairs - TMTT, Edwards Lifesciences

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Efi is the VP of Clinical Affairs for the Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies at Edwards Lifesciences. In over 20 years of working in Clinical Research, he has held several Leadership positions in companies in the USA and Europe. Efi has a long history of volunteering in the community from a young age: Volunteer Paramedic and EMT for 15 years in Israel, Board member in Andover Youth Hockey program, volunteer ice hockey coach and team manager for over a decade, and most recently a board member for the Achievement Institute.

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Nidia Garcia, BA, LSSGB, TPC

Secretary

Senior Technical Writer, Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation

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Nidia develops instructions for use and implant instructions for Spinal Cord and Deep Brain Stimulation Systems. Nidia graduated from CSU Long Beach with a BA in English Rhetoric & Composition. She earned a Six Sigma Green Belt certification and a Technical and Professional Communication Certificate. She has been volunteering with AISS since 2014. Education has been a gift of opportunity and a passion for Nidia since she could remember. She values and supports the AISS mission of giving students from an economically disadvantaged community, a background similar to her own, a greater opportunity to succeed by helping them make educated choices for their future.  

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Irene Celeste Lee, BSBME

Member & AISS Alumna '13

Medical Device Engineer I

 

Irene graduated with a 4.6 GPA from Segerstrom High School and the AISS Program in 2013. She earned a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California Irvine in 2017. She served as the AISS Writing Instructor for several years and created a special COVID 19 Emergency Response Team project for Spring Semester 2020. Irene is now an Achievement Institute Board Member who says, “I was first introduced to Biomedical Engineering in a couple of study trips organized by AISS. During my first summer of the program, we went to biotech companies like Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic in Irvine. We toured the manufacturing floor, office spaces, and had a chance to meet different engineering teams. At the time, it was small steps towards a dream that the Achievement Institute was helping me achieve. While at UCI, I made long-lasting relationships and utilized soft skills that I had learned through the Achievement Institute.”

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John Houten

Member

Executive Vice President, Sunwest Bank (Retired)

 

John Houten is a member of the Sunwest Bank Executive Management Team and is the Head of Real Estate Lending. He brings more than 30 years of real estate finance experience with both banking and mortgage banking backgrounds. His responsibilities are to expand the bank's real estate related lending activities for permanent, bridge and construction debt.

Ambassadors & Advisors

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Karla Ramirez, BSME

Marketing Chair & AISS Alumna '09

CO-Founder, Tera Engineering

 

Karla Perez graduated from Century High School and the AISS Program in 2009. After earning three AA degrees from Santa Ana College, she obtained a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from California State University Long Beach in 2015. While completing her education, she served as the AISS Program Math Instructor. Karla married engineer Sean Ramirez and they became entrepreneurs, co-founding their own company Tera Engineering. Karla serves as the Vice President of Operations with 30 employees in the city of Santa Ana. She now serves as an Achievement Institute Board Member and the Marketing Chair. She is a generous donor and offers factory tours and internships to our scholars. 

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Lisette Martinez-Acebo, MSW

Secretary/Communications & AISS Alumna '11

Program Director Children & Youth Engagement (CYE) Latino Health Access
 

Lisette graduated from Saddleback High School and the AISS Program in 2011. As a first-generation college student, she obtained a Bachelor’s in Psychology at Chapman University, with minors in Sociology and Latin American Studies. After achieving a Master’s in Social Work from USC, Lisette joined Chapman University as a Student Affairs Case Manager through the Dean of Students office. While facilitating a partnership between Chapman and AISS, Lisette worked as an AISS Writing Instructor and coordinated our Alumni Association. Lisette now works as a Family and Community Engagement Specialist for the Santa Ana Unified School District, where she supports many of the students who participate in our program.

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Edgar Sanchez, PhD

Member & AISS Alumna '03

Previous Acting COO for Celltrion USA Inc / Team Leader for Celltrion Inc USA Business Team

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Edgar graduated from Santa Ana High School in 2003, and he was in the first ever AISS cohort He pursued a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis (Class of 2007), and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering at MIT (Class of 2015) focusing his research on developing biological tools to improve future studies of non-small cell lung carcinoma and breast cancer to help discover new potential therapeutic targets. In Cambridge, Edgar met his wife, and they moved to South Korea, where he worked for a pharmaceutical company that specializes in developing cancer therapeutics, and was tasked to bring these products to the U.S. patient population. Recently returning to the US, Edgar joined the board at AISS and was the keynote speaker at BTG10.

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Carmen Chavez

 

Carmen graduated with an Associate degree in Communications at Orange Coast College. She Graduated with 8 different honor societies and transferred to Chapman University with Scholarships.  Today she is studying to get her BA in Strategic Corporate Communications at Chapman University and a minor in Leadership.

Danielle C. Lara

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a Leadership Coach and Team Development Consultant helping individuals and organizations recognize and leverage their strengths, in order to be better leaders and build more cohesive,  collaborative work cultures. Serves as an Ambassador for AISS.

Luis Mier

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The Creator of OC Biz and Cohost of FTP

For the People. He served our board for two years and now serves as an Ambassador for AISS.

Cynthia Ong

 

Cynthia is a Research Scientist at Edwards Lifesciences. She facilitates their HOLA Program.

Judy Greenspon


For 20 years, Judy has served as President and founder of NPI Services- an electronics manufacturing services company in Costa Mesa. Judy serves as an AISS Ambassador.

Dr. Luis Ortiz-Franco

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Dr. Ortiz-Franco has also taught at Orange Coast College. He has served the Achievement Institute for nearly 10 years, including as Math Instructor, Formal board committee participant, and Chair.

Carlos Muniz

 

Carlos is the  Vice President for the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Active in the community always willing to help out our youth. Carlos Muniz serves on AISS' Advisory Board.

Nino Polizzi

 

Nino is an AISS program facilitator and volunteer on the AISS Advisory Committee. He is a part of Rocket Science Tutors and teaches a Science and Engineering class during the scholars' summer program.

Staff
Board
Ambassadors & Advisors
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Dr. Ron Raya

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With years of experience in education and unified school districts across Orange County, Dr. Raya serves as an Ambassador for AISS.

Gloria Strayer

 

Gloria Strayer is President at Design & Print Resources. Gloria serves as an AISS Ambassador and sponsors one of our alumni, as they continue their college degrees.

Michael Stanislawczyk

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Cerebrum Consulting a leader in Information Services, Technology, and Education. Serves as an Ambassador for AISS and volunteers as an Instructor.

Taylor Thompson

 

Taylor is the Financial Advisor at Thompson/Katzaroff Financial Group. Now serves as an ambassador for AISS.

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