Jorge Saenz De Viteri is a bilingual (English/Spanish) executive leader in early childhood education and human services. He is known for building strong teams, improving how programs operate, and helping communities deliver high-quality services for children and families.
In his federal leadership role with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head Start (Region II), Jorge helped guide strategic planning and oversight for a $1.2 billion grant portfolio supporting programs in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. His work focused on strengthening program quality, accountability, and equitable access across 222 grants.
Previously, Jorge led the Region II Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) system for Head Start programs, managing a $5.2 million contract and a 33-member multilingual team supporting 160 local agencies. He designed professional learning and support systems, launched performance dashboards to improve decision-making, aligned credentialing pathways with state standards, and co-founded the Spanish Outreach Ambassadors Committee to expand bilingual professional learning nationwide.
Jorge also led disaster recovery efforts after Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and Fiona. He reorganized team coverage, set response priorities, and coordinated with federal offices to help programs maintain services and recover in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Earlier in his career, Jorge served as Executive Director of the Bronx Community College Child Development Center, where he led a publicly funded early education program serving hundreds of families. He also worked at Lehman College (CUNY), where he helped strengthen educator credentialing pathways and created New York City’s first Spanish-language CDA credentialing program.
Jorge serves in advisory and leadership roles, including the NYC Citizens Review Panel on Child Protective Services (Governor’s Appointee), the NYS Board of Regents Early Childhood Workforce Blue Ribbon Committee, and the NAEYC Latino Interest Forum. He co-founded the Latino Coalition for Early Care and Education and served as president of the NYC and Palisades AEYC chapters. Jorge has contributed to multiple task forces under the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, CUNY, and the City Council UPK Workgroup.
Jorge shares insights and advocacy on social media, highlighting best practices, policy developments, and leadership lessons to support a strong early childhood workforce and safe, high-quality learning for every child.
His work continues to focus on modernizing public systems, supporting the workforce, and ensuring that all children have access to safe, high-quality early learning opportunities.
Jorge holds a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education from Lehman College (CUNY), a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Human Services from Manhattan University, and a New York State Teaching Certification (N–6).
Jorge Saenz De Viteri, MSEd. 