Sandra Serrano Sewell

This is dedicated to our former Executive Director of nearly fifty years, Sandra Serrano Sewell.

In April 2021, Sandra passed away leaving us with enormous gratitude for her tireless dedication to the Centro community. Sandra started at Centro in 1973, tasked to lead a non-profit low to no cost child development center for underrepresented children. For over fifty years, she implored award winning educational programs and provided these children with needed social services.

Sandra's mission was [to] ensure the children graduated from Centro prepared academically, emotionally and ready to succeed in public school. The programs she created include bilingual STEM programming, an outdoor learning and musical garden, environmental programs, advocacy education, and countless more programs that enriched and prepared the children at Centro for nearly five decades.

Sandra spoke at conferences about the programs at Centro several times, most recently at a child development conference at University of Oxford. Sandra's name has become synonymous with advocating for children in Los Angeles and beyond. She developed vital partnerships with elected officials and community organizations to ensure that funding and services would continue. Her meticulous attention to licensing and audits made sure that the program received the highest marks from the State of California. Her unmatched spirit of service and devotion to the mission of Centro has ensured that generations of underrepresented children access needed services and skills to succeed. It is because of her efforts that Centro is a vibrant, engaging center of learning that is a model for educating young children. In her name, we meet the challenges of the future to ensure Centro will continue to be a force for children in Los Angeles for decades to come.