Meet the Members

 A resident of Montebello for over 60 years, Richard's entire public school education was as a student of the MUSD, culminating in his graduation from Montebello High School, while serving as ASB President.  After graduating from Occidental College, he went to work for the City of Montebello, where he spent his entire 32 year career, the last nearly 20 years as City Administrator.  Richard and his wife, Janice, have four children, all MUSD graduates.

President (2018-2020), former board member of the Montebello Unified School District (1991-1995), retired teacher (English Language Arts/Social Studies/AVID) and AVID Coordinator (1996-2018) at Jack F. Macy Intermediate, currently teaches as a substitute instructor at that same school, and is also a former paralegal/law office manager. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (California State University Los Angeles), and Masters degrees in Education and Educational Administration (Azusa Pacific University). Married to Richard Chavira, AIA (1974), mother to three adult sons, Anthony, Patrick, and Richard, graduates of Schurr High School, she is the proud recipient of the prestigious PTA Golden Oak Service Award (2014) which recognizes outstanding service to children and youth in the community.  

Most of my life has been associated with the Montebello Unified School District: first as a student, then as a teacher, and then as a parent of two sons who both attended Montebello Unified schools from kindergarten through their high school graduations. After graduating from Montebello High School, I attended Whittier College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, and later a Masters of Arts degree in Administration. I am a past president and founding member of the Montebello High School Alumni Association. Continuing my interest and affiliation with the MUSD I am a founding member of the FMUSDF Board. I have participated in other organizations in the community promoting  higher education as goals for young people. 

Montebello High Grad, Cal-Poly grad, U.S. Army veteran, MUSD Board of Education 20 years, Board Pres. 4 times Montebello Dist. Realty Board member, Past Pres. Montebello Chamber of Commerce Director, Past Pres. Montebello YMCA board member Montebello Kiwanis Past Pres. Beverly Hospital Foundation board member Montebello Christian Fellowship member Friends of MUSD Foundation Board member Montebello High School Alumni Hall of Fame Inductee So. Montebello Irrigation Dist. Board of Directors My wife, Sylvia and my 3 daughters all MHS grads Both grandsons attended MUSD schools and are now college graduates. 

As an alumnus and retired teacher of our school district it seemed a natural progression to join the board of FMUSDF and serve as founding president. I am proud and privileged to continue to serve on the board with oustanding individuals who value a rich and balanced education for children.  After retiring I wrote curriculum and was lead teacher for a pre-school program at Our Saviour Center in El Monte. For over three decades I have been an active member of the Music Center Education Guild and have found endless gratification in recruiting and organizing the 250 volunteers who help bring a day full of happiness to LAUSD and LACOE children who attend the annual Very Special Arts Festival. I find great joy in keeping a delicate balance between volunteering and home life. Coupled with being a wife, mother and grandmother, much of my time has been devoted to holding board positions and being a hands on member of many organizations. I was taught early in life that there is nothing more personally fulfilling than to help others.

I spent 40 of my 65 years on earth as an educator in the Montebello Unified School District. In retirement, I continue to support and promote public education via my participation in several scholarship organizations, providing consultation and guidance in several public school districts and participating in the Friends of the Montebello Unified School District Foundation. Public service is my mission and it is what I do. Throughout all these years, my family has been a constant partner with me and they have consistently supported my efforts to successfully achieve the objective of my mission; to give each student the opportunity to be the best that he or she can be.

 A product of Montebello Unified School District and graduate of Bell Gardens High School, Jason is a communications professional with over three decades of experience in local government. His distinguished record of accomplishments includes award winning print, web and television content, as well as successful campaigns on revenue measures that have created multi-million dollar revenue streams for local government agencies. He has an Associate of Arts Degree in Speech Communication from Cerritos College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from California State University, Fullerton. An ardent advocate for his community, Jason has volunteered for many causes and with many non profit organizations including the Los Angeles County Probation Department, Commerce Deserves Better, College Bound Today and more recently Tree People which is working with local residents to plant over 1,100 trees in the City of Commerce. In 2020 he launched the Madeline Gardea Social and Environmental Justice Scholarship in partnership with non-profit East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, named in honor of his late mother who was an environmental activist. Jason is a fourth generation resident of the City of Commerce where he and his wife Vanessa reside with three of their five children. 

 He is currently a Senior Specialist in Human Resources at Southern California Edison, where he has been since 2009. He is an active member and former Board member for the business resource group Latinos for Education Advancement and Development (LEAD). LEAD’s mission is to foster development for SCE employees, enable business strategy and give back to the community through outreach work.   He has served as a mentor College Bound Today working with high school students in Montebello.  Henry double-majored in Psychology and Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and earned his M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at New York University (NYU). He graduated from Pioneer High School in Whittier and currently lives with his wife and their two “children” (cats). In his free time, he enjoys travelling with his wife (esp. Hawaii) and playing music (mostly drums).   image0image1image2image3image4

I am a graduate of UCLA School of Law and have been serving as a Federal attorney in Los Angeles for approximately 50 years.  

Raised in the East Los Angeles and Montebello communities, Nancy Olivares is a proud Alumni of the Montebello Unified School District. After graduating Schurr High School, Nancy attended UC San Diego and received a degree in Political Science and Communications. During her college career, Nancy interned at the House Democratic Caucus in Congress under then Caucus Chair Congressmember Xavier Becerra. After returning back to her hometown, she went on to work at the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis. Over the past few years, Nancy has worked advocating for policies to improve the wellbeing of children and youth at The Children’s Partnership – a California state wide children’s issues policy and advocacy non-profit. Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s in Public Policy at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs and is a Graduate Student Researcher for the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families. After she graduates, Nancy hopes to continue championing policies that support underserved children and families.