Brought to America by his mother, Robert immigrated to the United States when he was just 5 years old. He says becoming a citizen is his proudest moment, and it’s the reason he went into public service.
Robert is most widely known for his tenure as Long Beach mayor and his leadership of the city during the worst of the pandemic.
As an educator, I know the best economic development and anti-poverty program is a high quality education. The City of Long Beach is so lucky to have great educational partners. The Long Beach Unified School District has for years been one of the best urban school districts in the nation and was again named District of the Year by the national publication Education Dive. California State University, Long Beach received more than 100,000 undergraduate applications last year ranking it as one of the most popular universities in the country. Long Beach City College continues to be one of the top community colleges for transfers in California. Individually, these institutions are great—but working together as the Long Beach College Promise—we are creating a national model for partnerships in education.
In 2018, the Long Beach College Promise will celebrate its tenth anniversary. Since its creation, the College Promise has helped thousands of students prepare for and succeed in college and beyond. And all the institutions have worked to double the number of internships being offered to Long Beach students and expand access to early learning and preschool. We also look forward to celebrating the opening of the new Educare Center later this year that will serve about 900 students.