By Justin Alley

Noelia’s roots, both with San Mateo and One San Mateo, run deep. She was born and raised in San Mateo. Likewise, she was a charter member of One San Mateo. Meaning that in both cases she has been with us since the beginning. 

From a family of Guatemalan immigrants, Noelia has long recognized the importance of and played a part in working for a San Mateo that has a place for all people. She has put in innumerable hours working for her community, engaging with some of the central issues of our time: housing, immigration, education.

One of the most inspiring things about Noelia is a dogged passion coupled with a tireless follow-through in execution. When she sets her sights on something, no amount of time or effort required to achieve it seems to daunt her. This is doubly inspiring when one considers that her work is often done for the good of others rather than for immediate selfish gain. As such, we think she has a great future ahead of her as an advocate for those who most need one in San Mateo. 

After having worked with Faith in Action and helped fan the earliest embers of One San Mateo, she did something quite bold, something that many of us might think of doing, but never quite have the courage to actually undertake: she made a decisive shift from working on housing and immigration, to working on behalf of kids with special needs. And let me just speak personally here for a moment. As someone whose own mother and sister spent significant times in their lives working for people with special needs, I know firsthand what this kind of service says about a person. 

All throughout the long hours of working on behalf of various causes for her community, we have witnessed one other telling constant in Noelia’s makeup as a person: her pure and centering devotion to her son, Mikey. It might also be noted that Mikey, when he is not diligently tagging along with his mom from one meeting or event to another, is a student in the San Mateo school system—the same system that produced Noelia, the same system that Noelia now seeks to help lead. 

Noelia is a force to be reckoned with. From our vantage point, we couldn’t be more bowled over by the campaign she has been running for a chance to serve on the San Mateo-Foster City School Board. She has been running a campaign of the first-rank, which is just another indication of her abilities. We are humbly proud to stand alongside a list of other notable endorsers (Kevin Mullin, Don Horsely, David Lim, Rick Bonilla, and Chelsea Bonini, to name just a few—a fuller list can be found on Noelia’s website) in wholeheartedly supporting Noelia Corzo for the San Mateo-Foster City School Board.

We wish Noelia the best of luck in her race to bring some of One San Mateo’s dream of a city of, by, and for all its people to the San Mateo-Foster City school system!