Azalia Rios Bio

My name is Azalia Rios, and I have two children: a daughter named Sandra, and a son named Bob. In 1974, my son attended Head Start, which was his first educational program. At that time, I was a young mother and was determined to be a positive example for my children. In 1991, I started working at Head Start as an Assistant Facilitator. During my time there, Head Start encouraged me to pursue my education, and I eventually became a Facilitator Coordinator and then a Center Manager at one of the Head Start campuses.

In May 2012, I graduated with an Associate in Arts Interdisciplinary Studies. Later that year, in December, I earned my Associate of Social Science/Social Work from South Texas Community College. I continued my educational journey and graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American in May of 2014 with a Bachelor's in Social Work. I am grateful to Head Start for my education and have much respect for the program as it helped me and my family. I will always advocate for this wonderful program.

Currently, I am the Compliance, Monitoring, and Accountability Director for the Hidalgo County Head Start Program. As the Compliance, Monitoring, and Accountability Director, I am responsible for maintaining an overall monitoring plan to review and address monitoring requirements and provide guidance to all Department Directors, Campus Directors, and others to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and standards using written policies and procedures, training and staff development, monitoring, auditing, investigations, and reporting processes for their area assignment.