Ana Celia Báez, of Puerto Rican descent and raised on Milwaukee’s East Side, is a proud graduate of Milwaukee Public Schools. She has served as a bilingual school counselor at South Division High School in Milwaukee for 11 years, working with grades nine through 12. Báez earned a Bachelor of Science in human development and family studies with a certificate in Latino studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was a Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) Program scholar and a McNair scholar. She also completed a Master of Science in counseling psychology with an emphasis on school counseling at UW-Madison. While there, she cofounded the Kappa Gamma Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma, a Latina-based multicultural sorority.

Báez’s dedication to her students is fueled by her experiences growing up navigating poverty, language barriers, learning struggles and loss. She strives to ensure students from similar backgrounds have ample opportunities. Since 2013, as the only Spanish-speaking counselor at South Division, she has spearheaded resources for multilingual students, including an in-house scholarship for those unable to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, with awards given in 2023 and 2024. Báez is a member of the Wisconsin School Counselor Association and serves as the recording secretary for the Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education.

Recognized as one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Latinos in 2017 by Madison 365, Báez was recently honored as a 2024 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation teacher fellow and selected as the 2025 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. Her priorities include advocating for equitable education and fostering an environment where all students feel seen and valued.