 Quezada pursued her bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating in 1975 with honors, and received her master's from Cal State Sacramento.Despite earning a teaching credential, she was unable to get a job as a teacher in the Los Angeles school district, as the district did not consider her specialty, bilingual education, to be needed.Before joining the school board she worked for the Chicana Service Action Center in Los Angeles
and as a community relations manager for the Carnation Company.