Running for Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board Ward 4
Phoenix native Laura Pastor is a fifth-generation Arizonan who graduated from St. Mary’s High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Arizona State University. Her grandparents and great-grandparents worked in Eastern Arizona’s mining communities, and both her parents began their careers as classroom teachers.
For four years, Laura was also a classroom teacher in the Roosevelt and Isaac Elementary School Districts, working primarily with at-risk students. During that time, she created a volunteer program to provide after-school tutoring, and authored an accountability program for teachers, students, and parents.
Currently Laura is Director of the nationally recognized Achieving a College Education Program (ACE) at South Mountain Community College. ACE is dedicated to assisting students in their transition from high school through community college and on to earning a bachelor’s degree. In addition to working directly with students on their post-secondary plans, Laura oversees all fiscal and administrative management of the program — including the coordination, implementation, and outreach of ACE initiatives. She is charged with creating partnerships among national, state, and municipal agencies as well as private sector organizations.
Laura resides in Phoenix with her husband, Henry Cotto, a former major league baseball player and current minor league coach. They have four children, Henry Jr., Claudia, Eduardo and Sophia.