About Thomas

Thomas Ray Garcia is a writer, educator, entrepreneur, and public servant from Pharr, Texas. 

 

Thomas is the author of the award-winning short story collection The River Runs: Stories and co-author of El Curso de la Raza: The Education of Aurelio Manuel Montemayor. He is the founder and board chair of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP). He is also the co-founder of Beyond Borders Books, an independent publishing press. Currently, he works on anti-poverty initiatives in the Economic Development Division of the Hidalgo County Judge's Office.

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At Princeton University, Thomas focused on expanding opportunities for first-generation, low-income college students. He co-founded the Princeton Hidden Minority Council, wrote student blogs on behalf of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and received the Ward Mathis Short Story Prize for his U.S.-Mexico borderlands fiction. He majored in English as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.

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Thomas pursued his 1st master's degree in English at UCLA, where he taught courses in Rhetoric & Composition, American Literature, and Creative Writing. He obtained his 2nd master's degree in Higher Education Administration at UTRGV.

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Through CSLAP, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in the Rio Grande Valley, Thomas teaches college access classes and connects near-peer mentors to high school students in the Rio Grande Valley. He founded CSLAP as a volunteer-led summer program at age 19. After graduating from college, he formed and taught a high school course at Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD based on CSLAP's curriculum. He served as executive director from 2019 to 2023, and he currently serves as chair of the board of directors.

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In 2022, Thomas ran for the Texas State Board of Education and earned endorsements from Run for Something, Texas AFL-CIO, and Texas AFT. He ran on a progressive platform focusing on expanding mental health resources, updating the statewide curriculum to focus on 21st-century topics like computer science & dual language, and protecting school worker rights.

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In 2023, Thomas entered county government to spearhead anti-poverty initiatives for the Hidalgo County Judge's Office. In 2024, he joined the English faculty at South Texas College.