Ana Yris Guzmán

Ana Yris Guzmán is the co-founder and executive president of Nuestra Escuela, Inc. (Our School, Inc.). Nuestra Escuela is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 that practices an Alternative Education model for children and young people in the municipalities of Caguas and Loíza.

The center in Loíza empowers children from an early age to enjoy life through education, and the other center provides a life experience for the young who have left school without completing their high school education. They become part of the Nuestra Escuela community, so together they can embrace with love a new lifestyle to accomplish their goals for the well-being of their family, community and country. 
 
Ana is a specialist in the biopsychosocial academic approach and has focused on developing an educational service model that provides students and their families with personal development tools, leadership skills and healing. She has helped to impact and transform the lives of thousands of families through her centers.  
 
Ana’s work is widely recognized and Nuestra Escuela has received numerous awards. She serves on the executive committee of the board of selection for the Miranda Foundation’s Solidarity Award, and in 2014 she was recognized with the “Defender of Human Rights” award by the College of Professional Social Workers of Puerto Rico. Nuestra Escuela was honored with the Sor Isolina Ferré Medal for “Excellence in Service to Others” and the “Award for Solidarity” from the Miranda Foundation. In 2015, Nuestra Escuela received the Tina Hills Award for Outstanding Service to the Community from the Angel Ramos Foundation.
 
Ana completed a bachelor’s degree in Arts of Psychology at the Metropolitan University and is pursuing her master’s degree in Administration of Nonprofit Organizations with a minor in Schools Administration at the University of the Sacred Heart in Puerto Rico. She is certified in alternative education by the University of Puerto Rico.