Danielle Gonzales is a native New Mexican, currently residing in the Albuquerque North Valley. With over two decades of experience, her professional journey has been deeply rooted in education policy and leadership. She started this journey as a fourth-grade teacher in south Texas and has spent the majority of her time in Washington, DC advocating for educational equity, early childhood education, social-emotional learning, and supporting education leaders at the state and local levels. Danielle moved home to NM in 2020 and ran for office in 2021.

Danielle began serving on the school board in January 2022. After nearly two years in office, Danielle is proud of many policy accomplishments, including re-writing the student discipline and dress code policies to prioritize equity and restorative justice and foster an educational environment that values, affirms and welcomes ALL students, rather than focus on punishment and control. She also partnered with Moms Demand Action to advance a student safety policy focused on securing firearms in the home. She has advocated for, and secured, policy and administrative changes to improve instructional quality in the district, with a focus on equity and culturally and linguistically responsive education.