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Our Team
01
Staff
Araceli Simeón
Executive Director
Araceli is a dedicated advocate for family and community engagement, a champion of sound policy-making, and a skilled bridge builder and network weaver. As Executive Director of the California Family Engagement Network she promotes policies and practices that put families at the heart of student success.
She co-founded the Parent Organization Network in 2005 with Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, MALDEF, and Los Angeles Urban League and led it from 2013 to 2025.
Previously, she directed the National Parent School Partnership program at MALDEF for a decade and consulted for the Center for the Study of Social Policy on First 5 LA’s Best Start initiative. Araceli holds a B.A. in Sociology from Cal Poly Pomona and an M.P.P. from USC. She is a mother of two multilingual children, one in a public high school and the other in Cal Poly Pomona.
02
Advisory Board
CA-FEN is a fiscally sponsored project of Charitable Ventures. The Advisory Board provides strategic advice and support to CA-FEN, and the Charitable Ventures Board of Directors provides ultimate direction. The Advisory Board’s current focus is fundraising and governance.
03
Planning Team
CA-FEN’s Planning Team is an advisory committee focused on program and network development. The members provide strategy, lead projects, and help plan meetings and our annual event. The Planning Team is representative of the network’s members including family-serving and advocacy nonprofits, professional development providers, county offices of education, and higher education.
