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Kelly Gonez proudly serves Board District 6, the East San Fernando Valley, on the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). As a Board Member, she has been a leader in advocating for increased public education funding and ensuring equitable resources for the East Valley. She has successfully fought for the creation of new dual language programs, removed barriers to college opportunity, and expanded access to ethnic studies for all students, including as a high school graduation requirement.
Her policy work has focused on the most vulnerable students, including multi-language learners, students experiencing homelessness, foster youth, LGBTQ youth, and students with disabilities. Amidst ongoing threats from the Trump Administration, she has been unequivocal in her support for immigrant families and LAUSD’s status as a sanctuary district. She led the Board in opposing cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, which funds critical district programs like Title I for low-income students and IDEA for students with disabilities, as well as Medicaid and the Federal School Meals program, which provide essential resources for LAUSD students and families.
Kelly chairs the Board’s Committee on Children and Families in Early Education. Her 2021 universal preschool resolution spurred LAUSD to become the first school district in California to open transitional kindergarten to all four-year-olds, a landmark expansion of free early education and support for student success. Kelly’s leadership has further led to more inclusive preschool programs for children with disabilities within LAUSD and support for educators to provide social and emotional support and trauma-informed care for early learners.
In advancement of environmental justice, Kelly led the Board to set a new standard that at least 30% of all school playgrounds must be comprised of green space, resulting in more than $1.2 billion earmarked for outdoor learning, shade, and play spaces. Since the passage of her initiative, more than 160 greening projects are underway at LAUSD schools.
A native Angeleno, Kelly is the daughter of an immigrant and was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She was the first in her family to graduate college and to earn an advanced degree. While earning her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley, she worked three jobs, over 50 hours a week, to pay her way through college and support her working family. After she graduated college, she returned to Los Angeles to become a teacher.
Kelly began as a high school geometry teacher and then taught middle school science in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. After earning a Master’s Degree in Education Policy, Kelly was appointed by President Obama to serve as an education policy advisor, where she led initiatives to support English Learners, unhoused students, immigrant students, and foster youth. She was first elected to the LAUSD Board in 2017, served as Board President from 2020-2023, and is currently serving her second term. Kelly is the parent of two LAUSD students and is youngest woman and Latina ever elected to the LAUSD School Board. She lives with her family in North Hollywood.
