Community Relations Manager, Brilla Schools Network
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sandra Céspedes is the community relations manager for the Brilla Schools Network. Born and raised in Lima, Perú, Sandra considers herself one of the luckiest children in her class. Her father was a teacher, so she always had a role model at home to encourage learning beyond the classroom. Upon graduating high school and moving to New York City, Sandra started providing English classes to adult immigrants. She soon recognized the challenges faced by many low-income immigrants go beyond not being able to speak the language and significantly impact the newer generations, creating a wider achievement gap between them. This situation ignited Sandra’s commitment to equity and justice in education. Sandra brings eight years of experience in planning, executing, monitoring, and evaluating student management and instruction for schools and non-profit organizations. Her expertise lies in leading her teams in carrying out efficient and effective recruitment, enrollment, and retention processes. Before joining the Brilla Schools Network, she launched national programming for family engagement across six school districts in the United States and created a curriculum on The Science of Reading for the Division of Teaching and Learning Opportunities for the New York City Department of Education. Sandra has a BA in Bilingual Journalism from Lehman College and an MA in TESOL from Hunter College. In her personal time, Sandra loves running and spending time with family and friends.
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