Ricardo Valdez, Ed.D.
Grant Writer
Dr. Ricardo Valdez is an Educational Evaluator, Researcher and Grant-Writer specializing in research projects, program evaluations and resource development. He has twenty years of experience working in local, state and federal grant programs serving low-income students and families in communities of color. His various university experience includes the management, evaluation and research projects focusing on economically and educationally disadvantaged students of color.
Before RGI Corporation, Dr. Valdez was an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University in the Doctor of Education Program. He also served as Principal Investigator of a Title V grant at Heritage University aimed at increasing Latinx representation in the STEM teaching fields.
For a decade, Dr. Valdez served as Director of the University of Washington’s Yakima Valley Community Partnerships Program responsible for a wide range of local student and faculty projects and research initiatives. He also served as an affiliate faculty member for the Center for Intercultural Learning and Teaching at Heritage University. Dr. Valdez has a broad array of experience and strengths in educational programs including over 15 years in higher education working with local communities and K-12 education.
Dr. Valdez is from the diverse Yakima Valley, raised on the Yakama Indian Reservation, a first-generation Latino college student, bilingual/ bicultural, knows the community and understands from personal experience the barriers at-risk students encounter to achieving educational and career success.
In 2016, Dr. Ricardo Valdez received a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington. His research focused on first-generation college students’ self-efficacy, validation, retention and persistence. He earned a Master’s in Educational Administration from Heritage University and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.