Diego's commitment to social change grew, in part, from his work as a community organizer for the American Friends Service Committee- a Quaker humanitarian aid organization- while still in college. He then went on to accrue over twenty years of experience in research and management positions in the computer industry with Hewlett Packard Labs, Apple Computer, and NCR Corporation. He has also been the CEO of two successful high-tech start-up companies. Navarro began teaching at Cabrillo College when he founded ACE in 2002.