This year, we are proud to announce our own MENTE President Gerardo Ochoa as our Keynote Speaker.

 

As a senior higher education executive, he has led enterprise-level strategy focused on growth, student success outcomes, and organizational transformation. With more than two decades of executive leadership experience, Gerardo has built systems that expand opportunity while strengthening institutional performance.

 

A first-generation college graduate, he is co-author of Path to Scholarships®, a college readiness curriculum that has helped thousands of students nationwide win millions of dollars in scholarships and achieve access to higher education. As a consultant, he partners with institutions and organizations to design strengths-based strategies that unlock talent, increase engagement, and drive measurable results—particularly for first-generation and historically underrepresented communities.

 

Gerardo’s keynote presentations challenge leaders to rethink how opportunity, belonging, and performance intersect. Drawing from his lived experience and executive leadership career, he speaks on resilience, grit, inclusive leadership, and ganas as a competitive advantage of investing in human potential. His story and insights have reached corporate executives, chambers of commerce, government leaders, foundations, and global audiences through his TEDx Talk.

 

He holds a Master’s degree in Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Oregon. Gerardo brings to every stage a powerful message: when inclusive organizations recognize and cultivate untapped talent, they don’t just change individual lives—they transform outcomes, culture, and long-term success.