be_ixf;ym_202403 d_18; ct_50 YES! I want to make a difference TODAY!

Leadership in Los Angeles

Our executive director, staff, alumni, board members and partners are committed to building a stronger Los Angeles by supporting and developing our AmeriCorps members as leaders in their schools and community.

Dr. Sandra Cano
Executive Director, City Year Los Angeles

Dr. Sandra Cano, City Year L.A.’s Executive Director

Dr. Sandra Cano is a lifelong educator who has held a variety of educational leadership positions throughout Southern California. Currently she serves as the Executive Director for City Year Los Angeles. City Year is a nationally recognized non-profit that places young adults as mentors, tutors and role models in systemically under-resourced schools to help students from all backgrounds thrive.

Dr. Cano is intimately familiar with the communities served by City Year L.A., having been raised in some of the same neighborhoods where our students currently live. She has worked in the field of education for over two decades, starting her career as a kindergarten teacher on an emergency credential to provide for her daughter as a young mother.

Dr. Cano went on to attend the Teacher Education Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her teaching credential and master’s in education. As an educator, she served as a teacher, a staff development specialist, coordinator, and served as a principal for ten years. She received her doctorate in education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where her dissertation focused on culturally and linguistically responsive practices for long term English learners.

Prior to joining City Year, she was an administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell program, coordinating all the district’s high school programs, which included 72 schools and 10,000 students. In that capacity, she worked with 12 non-profit organizations that provided the programming, and managed $15 million in private, federal, and state grants that funded the programs.

Dr. Cano’s personal narrative demonstrates her commitment and passion for educational equity. Her enthusiasm and desire to make a difference for students and young adults.

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