Prior to GOOD TROUBLE, Jose Perez was a founding executive, policy director and board member of Bridgemakers, a youth-led Minnesota nonprofit. His struggles with conventional education inspired his passion for transforming schooling. An English learner with dyslexia, Jose failed the first and ninth grades and has justice system experience. He’s the son of a father deported to El Salvador when he was one and raised by a single mother, a Guatemalan immigrant.
Jose also launched and co-led Bridgemakers’ Transforming Schools to Transform Lives initiative. He has testified five times against closing teacher licensure pathways at the Minnesota Legislature. Jose has presented at several national conferences, including Reclaiming Youth at Risk, Education Reimagined, Annie E. Casey Foundation and Bush Foundation. An R&B artist and St. Paul native, he’s a graduate of the High School for Recording Arts in St. Paul.
