He received his PhD in Human and Community Development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998 and has since been working and doing research with Latino youth in educational contexts. From a research standpoint, Marcelo’s focus has been on understanding the culturally relevant ways in which Latino families and the American public school system view formal education and each other. Marcelo has also collaborated with ESL teachers and school administrators in creating after-school programs that target Latino students who are failing and at risk of dropping out of school due to systemic academic isolation. Marcelo’s unique contribution is to bring to education expertise in the fields of cultural studies and youth development, and how these disciplines can inform and shape culturally relevant frameworks in public education.