Program Director Marin – Bay Area Community Resources

Mariana Lopez Quintanilla is a native of Venezuela who started her journey in the educational field in 1998 working in early childhood education and academic support for students with ADHD. In 2007, she worked with refugee youth in Miami Dade County to ensure that families understood the educational system and that students received services that supported their academic and social development.

In 2009, Mariana joined Bay Area Community Resources, where she has worked in the afterschool field in different capacities serving thousands of students every year, and supporting a team of 60 afterschool and family services professionals. A few years later, continuing her efforts to support marginalized communities, Mariana started training volunteers in Cultural Sensitivity to equip them with tools before they started helping students in Title I schools. For the last seven years, she has been an active board member of San Rafael City Schools Foundation, HeadsUp, where she continues to be an advocate for immigrant children and families in Marin County.

In 2014, Mariana received the BACR Best Practices Award for After School Programs and a Golden Bell Award from the Marin County Office of Education. She completed a fellowship program in 2016 with the National Equity Project and a fellowship with the National After School Matters Initiative in 2020. She is passionate about equity in education, implementing strategies to develop quality after school programs, and finding resources that inspire students to learn.