Meeting Change With Purpose: How Gina Gamnis Is Shaping the Future of AVID’s Work

Education is changing fast, and schools are navigating new challenges while keeping students on track toward their goals. Leading AVID’s efforts to support educators and students amidst that change is Gina Gamnis, Vice President of Emerging Products and Services, whose work sits at the intersection of listening, imagining, and building. The work of Gina and her team is focused on helping partners respond to today’s realities while preparing for what’s ahead. 

Meeting Challenges With Meaningful Solutions 

Gina leads the Emerging Products and Services Team at AVID Center with a clear systems-level focus: understanding the challenges schools are facing and turning those realities into practical, meaningful solutions. Her work centers on surveying the landscape of education to discover the ways that AVID can best partner with schools to address their most pressing challenges. 

That partnership mindset is especially critical as education continues to shift. She explains, “As education evolves and new challenges arise or intensify, we need to work alongside schools to help find solutions and ease those challenges, so they don’t interfere with the students’ pathways to achieving their goals.” Her work helps ensure that AVID’s offerings remain responsive, relevant, and deeply connected to the day-to-day realities of classrooms and leadership teams. 

Gina is energized by what’s ahead, particularly around work supporting educators at pivotal moments in their careers and strengthening AVID’s ability to meet emerging needs. Two areas she’s especially excited about are: 

AVID Certified Educator Program 
A point of pride for Gina, this program reflects her belief in supporting educators’ growth and impact in meaningful, sustainable ways. 

AVID Early Career Educator Academy 
This is an initiative she’s currently exploring and building that’s designed to support educators early in their careers, when guidance, community, and strong practices matter most. 

Across all this work, Gina’s focus remains steady in helping schools stay centered on what matters most: students and their futures. 

From the Classroom to a Calling 

Gina’s journey with AVID began where many powerful stories do: in the classroom. 

She was a new middle school science teacher when a pivotal moment changed the trajectory of her career. “My principal saw something in me and offered me the great honor of becoming our school’s first AVID teacher.” 

Becoming an AVID teacher and seeing the shift it sparked in her students fundamentally changed how Gina experienced her role in the classroom. AVID helped her students believe in themselves and, in the process, strengthened that same belief in her as a teacher. “I want all teachers to experience their role the way I did when I taught AVID,” she says. “And I want all students to experience school the way AVID students do.” 

After years of seeing AVID’s impact firsthand, Gina took on the role of AVID District Director, working to expand the program across all secondary schools and then into elementary schools. When an opportunity opened to become an Elementary Program Manager at AVID Center, she knew it was the right next step. “It was a calling, the exact-right next move.” 

The Beliefs That Shape Her Work 

What gives Gina the most energy during the day is when she is ideating with colleagues and educators. Collaboration is central to how she works, grounded in the belief that the strongest ideas emerge when people think together and make space for multiple perspectives. 

That philosophy also shows up in her favorite AVID strategy: Numbered Heads. She values it because “it’s so important to give students the opportunities to share their thinking in ways that are low risk and comfortable,” ensuring every voice has a place and helping students build confidence in their thinking. 

The importance of that kind of learning became even clearer to Gina through her own family. Watching her children—who were not in the AVID Elective—move through school highlighted for her “how much more they could have benefited from intentional opportunities to build and practice the skills that matter most for success beyond school.” That insight continues to fuel her commitment to expanding access to the learning experiences that AVID makes possible for both students and educators. 

Outside of work, Gina brings the same openness and good humor to weeknight trivia with friends. “I’m absolutely horrible at it,” she says, “but it’s really fun.” A fan of the podcast Armchair Expert, which celebrates the messiness of being human, Gina brings forth a willingness to learn, laugh, and show up fully—even when she doesn’t have all the answers. 

Try This: What to Carry Forward 

Gina’s perspective invites educators and leaders to notice what’s already within reach and to lean into it with intention. 

Start with presence. 
In the midst of competing priorities, Gina reminds us to center on the quiet power of consistency and care. “It has never been more important for young people to have caring adults in their lives.” The small, everyday moments—how students are welcomed, listened to, and encouraged—can be the ones that change trajectories. 

Trust the impact of small moves. 
Not every action needs to be big to matter. Gina shares, “Every small move you make each day has the power to completely change a student’s life for the better.” Paying attention to what’s within your control helps keep the work sustainable and grounded. 

Lean into community. 
Finally, Gina points to connection as a source of strength. “I’ve never experienced a community quite like AVID educators and leaders.” Staying engaged with the broader AVID community creates space to learn alongside others, share challenges, and grow impact together. 

Taken together, these ideas form an invitation to stay connected, lead with care, and remember that this work is stronger when it’s shared.