José A. Rico is an immigrant from Mexico living in Chicago since 1976. He grew up and lives in the Pilsen/Little Village community with his wife Angelíca and three children. For the last 15 years, he has focused on transformational education as a way to improve our community. Mr. José A. Rico graduated from Whitney Young High School and attending the University of Illinois at Urbana where he earned an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership. While at the University, he was a student leader that inaugurated the Latin@ Studies Program. He has worked as a community organizer and educator promoting cultural education as a means for empowering our youth. He also worked to establish the Little Village/Lawndale High School through a community –wide effort sparked by a 19-day hunger strike. Mr. Rico is the founding principal of the Multicultural Arts School, a place for students, parents, and teachers to learn, inspire and create themselves.