Ruben Abrica serves as the Mayor of East Palo Alto and is an Instructor at De Anza Community College in the Intercultural/International Studies Division and serves as adjunct faculty in the Teacher Preparation Department of The National Hispanic University.
Mr. Abrica was born and raised in Mexico where he attended vocational school. He immigrated as a teenager and started his schooling in the U.S. the last part of 7th grade. Mr. Abrica received his M.A. in Education from Stanford University and did graduate work in Linguistics at UC San Diego. Mr. Abrica was involved in the incorporation movement and served on the first East Palo Alto City Council in the 1980’s. He is a founding member of the Ravenswood AYSO Soccer League for boys and girls, the Comité Latino and the East Palo Alto Council of Tenants. He has lived in East Palo Alto for 29 years.