Andrés
Quintanilla

As associate director of holistic student supports at Achieving the Dream, Andrés Quintanilla is responsible for working directly with partners in the Advising Success Network and proactively managing all network deliverables and deadlines. He also provides direct field support to test network solutions and deliver coaching and services with assigned college and ATD partner organizations.

Andrés is passionate about ensuring our higher education systems serve students in equitable ways. Most recently, while at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), Andrés worked on various projects focused on higher education completion efforts with a special emphasis on equitable outcomes for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students and their communities. Prior to IHEP, Andrés served as the Institutional Practices Manager at Excelencia in Education, a national nonprofit focused on research and policies that impact Latinx student success, where he helped share evidence-based practices with higher education institutions and leaders with the goal of replicating nd scaling effective strategies to better serve students.

Andrés is a DMV native and grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He is an avid D.C. sports fan and a proud son of immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras.

How has education changed your life/your family?

My parents came to the U.S. to create a better life for themselves and for their future generations. Education ensures my family’s sacrifices to be here were worth it. Not only do I help myself climb socio-economic classes, but I get to work towards generational wealth. Education is much more than just financial gains. It has allowed me to experience things I would have never thought I could experience before. Something as simple as handing out business cards, or as nerve wracking as presenting at conferences, or as important as working to improve a higher education system not made for everyone so that others like me can access the same opportunities.