Ricky Hurtado
Program Officer – Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
A son of working-class immigrants, Ricky Hurtado grew up in Sanford, North Carolina, and is a product of Lee County Public Schools. Throughout his career in public service, Ricky has focused on fostering engaged citizens in North Carolina and creating effective public policy to build strong, vibrant communities, primarily through public education.
Ricky is a former nonprofit practitioner and educator. In 2018, he co-founded LatinxEd, an organization working to advance education equity and Latine leadership. He also has taught at the UNC School of Education. His leadership on education issues has led him to serve North Carolina in different ways, including serving on Governor Cooper’s DRIVE Task Force on education equity and teacher diversity; as a commissioner of My Future NC, an initiative focused on college attainment across the state; and even as a NC House Representative, where he represented Alamance County (District 63) as the only Latino legislator of the 170-member body of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Most recently, Ricky served as Senior Consultant at Frontline Solutions, where he supported nonprofits nationwide to strengthen their racial equity approach and increase their impact through strategic planning. He is also currently the Chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs. Ricky received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University.
