Join host Pablo Muñoz for a passionate conversation with his featured guest — Irella Pérez.

Irella is a transformative educational leader whose 35-year career spans from instructional assistant to superintendent. She is grounded in an unwavering commitment to equity and multilingual excellence. Irella is a Latina Chinese American immigrant scholar from Nicaragua and an author who brings a powerful voice to educational leadership.

1:03 - Introduction

2:14 - My Leadership Story

35:06 - Purpose and Resilience

44:24 - CLEAR

48:23 - Principal

53:37 - Suyensita and Her Adventures

58:15 - Leading with Humanity

1:00:39 - Board of Education

1:04:53 - Guiding Principles

Dr. Irella Pérez was born and raised in Nicaragua amid war, dictatorship, and revolution, and her life has been shaped by resilience, displacement, and hope. She has served as a superintendent, school board trustee, professor, consultant, executive leader, and author. Irella is Superintendent in Residence for Renaissance Learning, where she serves as a strategic advisor advancing systems reform, transformational leadership, and public affairs.

Irella received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature and a master’s degree in educational administration from California State University, Long Beach. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California. Irella is founder of the CALSA Hermanas Leading Network and co-founder of Athenas of Happiness.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-irella-perez-26a53036

Email: drirellaperez@yahoo.com

Latino Leaders is an award-winning podcast that was named a Silver Winner in the 4th Annual Signal Awards.

Latino Leaders publishes new episodes weekly on Mondays.

Latino Leaders podcast is a production of Muñoz & Company, an educational and leadership consulting organization.

Pablo is a leadership coach, teacher, trainer, and speaker who is also the author of The Leader’s Algorithm.

For additional information visit: themunozcompany.com

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LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pablo-muñoz-b30b2ab1

Email: pablo@themunozcompany.com