Our Founder
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.
Meet the Team
Staff
Debbie Wells, Executive Director
MBA/MITM, BSCIS
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Debbie obtained her master's degrees in Information Technology Management and Business Administration from Webster University. She earned her bachelor's degree from Chapman University in Computer Information Systems and received her project management certification from UC Irvine. Debbie’s professional background includes over 25 years in management with 16 of those years at the international technology distribution giant, Ingram Micro, Inc., where she managed and supervised people in several locations, including Buffalo, New York, Miami, Florida, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Debbie has over 17 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Since high school, she’s been in a leadership role, where she was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army JROTC. She is currently on the Kiwanis Santa Ana Board and Chairs the Community Services Committee. Debbie volunteers her free time as a mentor and board member for the Career Beginnings Mentoring Program (CBMP), which mentors first-year college students. Debbie is also a graduate of OCTANE’s Nonprofit Accelerator Program. She has a passion for guiding the educational, personal, and professional development of young people. Debbie has been working for the Achievement Institute for over 11 years.
Debbie Wells, Executive Director
MBA/MITM, BSCIS
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Debbie obtained her master's degrees in Information Technology Management and Business Administration from Webster University. She earned her bachelor's degree from Chapman University in Computer Information Systems and received her project management certification from UC Irvine. Debbie’s professional background includes over 25 years in management with 16 of those years at the international technology distribution giant, Ingram Micro, Inc., where she managed and supervised people in several locations, including Buffalo, New York, Miami, Florida, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Debbie has over 17 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Since high school, she’s been in a leadership role, where she was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army JROTC. She is currently on the Kiwanis Santa Ana Board and Chairs the Community Services Committee. Debbie volunteers her free time as a mentor and board member for the Career Beginnings Mentoring Program (CBMP), which mentors first-year college students. Debbie is also a graduate of OCTANE’s Nonprofit Accelerator Program. She has a passion for guiding the educational, personal, and professional development of young people. Debbie has been working for the Achievement Institute for over 11 years.
Congratulations Debbie Wells on receiving the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award from Chapman University!
Jonathan Arellanes, Program Manager/Lead Instructor
BA
Program Management, Oversee Scholars' Performance and Development
Jonathan graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2019 with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. He is planning to go back to receive his Master’s in Educational Leadership. Born and raised in the city of Santa Ana, and he graduated from Saddleback High School in 2015. His dream job is to become a principal within the Santa Unified School District.
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Salvador Rojas, Program Student Advisor/Instructor
BA
Coaching, Mentoring, Instruction, Workshop & Activities for Scholars
Salvador graduated from The University of Redlands in 2008 with a BA in History. He developed leadership and problem-solving through Eagle Scout training, and communication and interpersonal skills through Disneyland customer service. By posing a Question of the Day prior to each class session, scholars say, “he helps us learn about each other outside of the program and think about events that shaped us into the people we are today.” A dual citizen of the United States and Chile, Salvador enjoys speaking Spanish and visiting his father’s homeland biennially.
Alumni, Staff Advisors
Omar Carino
Alumni Staff
AISS ' Alumni '23
Omar graduated from Boston University in 2021 with a B.S. in Mathematics Education. Born and raised in Santa Ana he graduated from Segerstrom High School in 2017. He hopes to continue pursue a masters or teach internationally in Asia or Australia.
Julissa Mendoza
Alumni Staff
AISS ' Alumna '23
Nicole is attending California State University, Fullerton, to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration.
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Lizeth Mendoza
Alumni Staff
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Nicole Pacheco
Alumni Staff
AISS ' Alumna '23
Nicole is attending Chapman University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. She is currently AISS's Digital Marketing Associate Intern and an advisor for the Class of 2025. She is involved with a few clubs at her school. She is in the process of declaring her major and potentially doing a double major.
Hieu Pham
Alumni Staff
AISS ' Alumni '23
Hieu is attending California State University, Fullerton, to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance. He currently assists as a mentor to the scholars, manages AISS' social media accounts, and picks out laptops for the scholars
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Daniela Salazar
Alumni Staff
AISS ' Alumna '21
Daniela is attending Northeastern University and pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering. As an Alumni Staff she has assisted in working on the newsletters, the website, and teaching the scholars over the summer.
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Board
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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
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.
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.
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.
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.