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About El Valor

Meet Recently Appointed Vice President Clara A. Lopez

El Valor recently announced the appointment of Clara A. Lopez as Vice President for Children's Programs. As Vice President of Children's Programs, Ms. Lopez will provide leadership for El Valor's Birth to Five Programs that include, Early Head Start, Head Start, Early Intervention for Children with Special Needs, the partnership with Action for Children and the partnership with Mexico. The Children's Programs division works with 2000 children under the age of five and their families. El Valor is the third largest provider of early childhood development and education in Chicago.

Ms. Lopez was instrumental in the start-up of El Valor's two family resource centers, the Guadalupe Reyes Children & Family Center and the Rey B. Gonzalez Children & Family Center. She is currently leading the start up of El Valor's third family resource center - the Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center. In 2004 Ms. Lopez co-chaired the Head Start Conference for Region V of the Department of Human Services. She has served on the advisory board of the Chicago Association for Education of Young Children, CAEYC. Ms. Lopez has coordinated El Valor's Connecting Early Childhood Research to Practice Initiative. In this capacity she has partnered with various universities to bring best practices to children and families in our communities. Ms. Lopez is one of two Latinas in the United States certified as a "trainer-of-trainers" in the "Keys to Care Giving" a program that helps parents and professionals bring out the social and emotional gifts of children.

Internationally, Ms. Lopez has distinguished herself by establishing working relationships with Mexico. Educators and government officials have engaged El Valor in a planning process to share expertise across borders. In 2004, Ms. Lopez was honored with the award Outstanding Citizen Outside of Mexico. "I am extremely fortunate to have Ms. Lopez as a colleague and partner on our El Valor leadership team," said Vincent A. Allocco, President of El Valor. "Clara is a visionary leader who has the ability to make El Valor's early childhood program a model of excellence for the nation." Ms. Lopez' twenty five years of exemplary leadership and her appointment as Vice President is a source of inspiration to young Latino early childhood education professionals, and our future national and international leaders.