Jorge Saenz De Viteri’s path to executive leadership began in community-based programs in the Bronx. It was there that he first saw how public policy, funding decisions, workforce conditions, and organizational leadership come together in the daily lives of children and families.
That experience shaped the central question of his career: How can public and nonprofit systems become more responsive, accountable, and effective for the communities that depend on them?
Jorge began his work close to children, families, educators, and community organizations. As his responsibilities grew, he carried that perspective into program administration, higher education, organizational leadership, regional technical assistance, and federal oversight. This progression gave him experience on both sides of public systems: implementing requirements at the local level and later helping guide performance and accountability across an entire federal region.
As Executive Director of the Bronx Community College Child Development Center, Jorge led a complex, publicly funded organization serving more than 250 children through multiple program models. He was responsible for strategy, enrollment, budgeting, staffing, facilities, regulatory compliance, family services, partnerships, and organizational performance.
The role required him to balance educational quality with financial and operational discipline. During his tenure, the organization generated a cumulative operating surplus of approximately $500,000 over five years. More importantly, the experience deepened his understanding that mission and management cannot be separated. Programs need sound finances, capable teams, reliable systems, and clear accountability to sustain quality services.
At Lehman College, Jorge helped expand professional opportunities for Spanish-speaking early childhood educators. He played a leading role in developing New York City’s first Spanish-language pathway to the Child Development Associate credential. The initiative addressed a practical barrier for workforce members whose skills and experience were not always recognized by traditional professional-development systems.
That work reflected an issue Jorge continued to address throughout his career: language should be treated as a professional and community asset, not an obstacle to advancement or participation.
Jorge later brought his program-level and workforce experience to the Head Start Training and Technical Assistance system. As the leader of the Region II system, he directed a $5.2 million contract and a multilingual team of 33 professionals supporting more than 160 organizations across New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
He introduced performance measures, dashboards, and reporting tools to support stronger decisions and organizational accountability. He also worked to translate federal requirements into practical strategies local leaders and staff could implement. Underlying this work was his belief that technical assistance should do more than explain compliance. It should help organizations build the capacity to solve problems, strengthen performance, and sustain improvement.
The region’s geographic and cultural diversity made bilingual and locally responsive leadership essential. Jorge helped establish the Spanish Outreach Ambassadors Committee, expanding access to Spanish-language professional learning and strengthening the visibility of bilingual professionals across the Head Start community.
His regional leadership was tested following Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and Fiona. In Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, programs faced damaged facilities, displaced staff and families, interrupted services, and unstable infrastructure. Jorge helped reorganize regional support, establish response priorities, and coordinate with federal and local partners. These efforts helped restore services for more than 12,000 children.
The experience reinforced a lesson that continues to influence his leadership: systems reveal their true strength during disruption. Effective crisis leadership requires clear priorities, trusted relationships, reliable information, and the ability to adapt without losing sight of the people affected.
Jorge later moved into a senior federal leadership assignment with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head Start. He helped guide strategy, accountability, risk management, and program oversight for a $1.2 billion portfolio encompassing 222 grants across four jurisdictions. His responsibilities required him to connect federal policy, fiscal stewardship, program performance, workforce realities, and local conditions.
His leadership also extends beyond his professional positions. Jorge is a Governor-appointed member and Co-Chair of the New York City Citizens Review Panel on Child Protective Services, where he contributes to independent oversight of the systems responsible for protecting children and supporting families.
He previously served on the New York State Board of Regents Early Childhood Workforce Blue Ribbon Committee and has contributed to advisory and policy initiatives involving the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, CUNY, and the New York City Council’s Universal Prekindergarten Workgroup.
Jorge has also worked to expand Latino representation and leadership within the early childhood field. He co-founded the Latino Coalition for Early Care and Education, serves as Co-Facilitator of the NAEYC Latino Interest Forum, and previously served as president of the New York City and Palisades affiliates of NAEYC. Through these roles, he has helped create space for Latino educators and leaders to contribute to the policies and professional conversations affecting their communities.
Jorge holds a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education from Lehman College, a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Human Services from Manhattan College, and permanent New York State teaching certification.
Today, his work focuses on modernizing public and nonprofit systems, strengthening organizational and workforce capacity, and closing the distance between policy decisions and people’s lived experiences.
For Jorge, leadership is not measured only by the size of a portfolio, budget, or team. It is measured by whether systems work better, organizations become stronger, and communities can see and trust the results.
Jorge Saenz De Viteri, MSEd. 