Ms. Morales previously served as the Senior Executive Director for Student Services with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).  Ms. Morales directed career readiness and leadership development programs for undergraduate students in addition to HACU’s corporate internship and scholarship programs.  She launched the Hispanic-Serving School Districts’ affiliation working with school districts to better serve their Hispanic student populations and help increase the number of Hispanics in post-secondary education. Creating a better understanding between school districts and institutions of higher education, Ms. Morales first brought administrators together through the Hispanic Serving School District/ Hispanic Serving Institutions’ Advisory Council which later became the PreK-12/Higher Education Collaboration Symposium. 

Ms. Morales has more than 30 years of experience working with first-generation, under-represented populations. Her prior experience includes working with high school students interested in health careers while at the Center for Health Policy Development. She helped launch the Upward Bound Math & Science program at the University of Texas at San Antonio working with students from South Texas. At Communities in Schools of San Antonio, she worked with Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search programs assisting middle and high school students from rural communities develop their skills for post-secondary success. She created a grade specific curriculum to help students navigate their way through the college admission and financial aid processes.

Ms. Morales was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from St. Mary’s University and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Currently she is a doctoral candidate with the University of Texas at San Antonio, majoring in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a concentration in Higher Education Administration