Guadalupe is a first generation American of Mexican descent. Her mother is from Culiacan, Sinaloa and her father from Autlán, Jalisco. She is the oldest of four and the first to go to college. Corona received a bachelor’s in Mexican American Studies with a Minor in Women Studies at San Diego State University and received her master’s in Leadership Studies (Thesis topic: Soulful Chicana Voices in Leadership) from the University of San Diego. She completed her doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of San Diego. Her dissertation titled, “Latina First Year Experience: Factors that Contribute to Persistence from the First to Second Year in Higher Education,” was completed in May of 2010.

Currently, she serves as the System-wide Director of Latino Achievement Initiative for Alliant International University. Through her work, the university has been deemed eligible to seek funding as a Hispanic Serving Institution in 2011. She lives in San Diego with her husband Cristian