SAN ANTONIO – VIA Metropolitan Transit Board of Trustees chairman and former San Antonio City Councilman Rey Saldaña will become the president and CEO of Communities In Schools, a national nonprofit in Washington, DC.
Saldaña will lead a national office that partners with 137 independent CIS affiliates and licensed organizations to ensure all students have the academic and non-academic supports they need to realize their full potential in school and life, according to a news release.
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"Rey’s track record as a successful policymaker, an education advocate and a tireless champion for young people make him uniquely qualified to carry out our strategic plan to ensure that every student in America has a community of support inside and outside the classroom,” said CIS National Board Chair Elaine Wynn.
VIA board elects former city councilman Rey Saldaña as chairman
Saldaña, who is an alumnus of CIS, remembers the numerous challenges he faced living in poverty and how it carried over into the classroom.
"As a struggling student, I walked into the Communities In Schools office looking for help. Today, I walk into the role of President and CEO with an opportunity to pay it forward. Looking back, I never could have imagined this for myself," Saldaña said in a statement.
Saldaña served four terms as councilman. During his terms, he successfully campaigned for funding of Pre-K 4 SA and streamlined the city and county’s child truancy court.
He will begin his new job in mid-March.