SUGENI PÉREZ-SADLER
Ridgefield Park,NJ
Summary
Experienced leader with two decades of demonstrated success in various education and nonprofit sectors. Skilled in developing a vision, setting strategy, cultivating teams, and leading organizational change. Strives to ensure equity in the realm of education, economic opportunity and the workplace. Passionate about remaining postsecondary pathways so that all students, particularly those historically excluded from economic and social mobility, can live out their dreams and not be limited by their identities or circumstances.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Language
Work History
Senior Director
New York City
New York, NY
01.2019 - Current
- Lead decision making, high-level project planning and citywide implementation strategy to ensure every student has equitable access to effective comprehensive school counseling program that removes barriers to academic learning, attend to students’ emotional and mental wellness and promote college and career readiness
- Manage cross-functional relationships across central, borough, and schools to build unified and consistent vision for effective comprehensive school counseling services across 1,600 schools aligned to revised NYSED state counseling regulations and national school counseling best practices
- Develop strategy and performance measurements, as well as the alignment, integration, and evaluation of postsecondary planning across the Division.
Senior Director
Office of Postsecondary Readiness
08.2016 - 12.2018
Associate Director
Readiness
08.2013 - 08.2016
- Lead decision-making and oversight of citywide initiatives that support the DOE’s agenda for postsecondary readiness and success for students in New York City’s 500+ public high schools and over 350,000 high school students
- Developed, introduced and implemented postsecondary access campaigns to catalyze school culture and student support to complete key milestones across high schools, averaging 85% of all schools participating in: College Application Week, Financial Aid Awareness Month, Career Exploration Month, SAT School Day and College Decision Day events
- Lead curriculum design and implementation of system-wide training and certification program for college counselors, reaching over 1900 staff across 80% of all NYC high schools to ensure at least one highly trained college counselor per school
- Responsible for developing and managing comprehensive professional and resource development for central, field support and school staff that synthesizes the work across DOE departments and offices on postsecondary readiness and success
- Supervised five full time staff and managed a team of consultants, facilitators and curriculum developers
- Assist with fiscal management, contract administration, reporting, and program evaluation for the team's $25M budget.
Associate Director of Admissions/Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment
Barnard College, Columbia University
New York, NY
07.2011 - 08.2013
- Responsible for working with college offices such as Dean of Studies and Office of Diversity Initiatives to develop, implement and evaluate a comprehensive multicultural recruitment admissions strategic plan
- Develop and implement multicultural recruitment initiatives, partnerships and programs targeting multicultural, first generation, and underrepresented students such as two major on-campus open houses for racially minoritized students, one for prospective students and one for admitted students
- Assisted with the supervision of the day-to-day operations of the Office of Admissions and directly supervised six admissions counselors
- Provided guidance and oversight regarding outreach and communications strategies to key educational external stakeholders for underserved populations
- Managed a geographic territory for recruitment; recommend, plan, execute and assess recruitment travel activities
- Evaluate first-year applications and render decisions for about 600 students applying from these territories
- Serve as chair over a portion of first-year admission committees.
Program Officer
New Visions for Public Schools
New York, NY
10.2008 - 07.2011
- Analyze student academic data and co-create academic intervention plans with teachers, students and their families at ten Bronx high schools with the goal of increasing the amount of at-risk 9th grade students promoted to 10th grade
- Lead professional development for school staff at ten Bronx high schools in the areas of early college awareness and college access specifically around the college application, financial aid and postsecondary transition process.
Youth Development Specialist
New York City Department of Education
Bronx, NY
11.2006 - 10.2008
- Served as both (1) Borough College Career Liaison and (2) Borough Youth Leadership Liaison; responsible for training 100 school counselors and keeping school staff informed on all matters related to college access and youth leadership opportunities for over 50,000 high school students in the Bronx
- Responsible for a subset of over thirty schools in the Bronx on all content areas covered by the Office of Youth Development, which include the areas of crisis intervention; child abuse and neglect prevention; guidance; attendance; drug and alcohol prevention and intervention; youth leadership and college awareness
- Worked closely with school principals and other school staff to develop capacity e.g
- Provide professional development and trainings; recommend intervention practices, support schools in their compliance with mandated responsibilities, and develop and design programs that promote youth development
Education
Doctorate - Education (EdD, Administration and Supervision
St John’s University, Leadership
01.2018 - 05.2022
Master - Public Affairs-Domestic Policy
Princeton University, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Master - Urban and Regional Planning
B.A. Dual - Psychology and Urban Studies/Political Science
Columbia University, Barnard College
Skills
Culture Transformation
Team Building and Motivation
Strategic planning
Building High Performance Team
Affiliations
ABAFAOILSS, Member July 2012- Present
National Association of Black Admissions and Financial Aid Officers of the Ivy League and Sisters Schools
The B.L.E.N.D., NYC Department of Education Founding Steering Committee Aug 2017-Present
The Black and Latino Employee Networking and Development, NYCDOE Employee Resource Group (ERG)
College Access Consortium of New York, Member July 2011-Present
Degrees NYC Counseling and Advising Task Force, Planning Committee Co-Lead Nov 2019-Present
Goddard Riverside Community Center, Board of Directors Jan 2013-Present
National Association of College Admissions Counseling, Member July 2011-Present
NYS Association of College Admissions Counseling, Member July 2014-Present
NYS School Counselor Association, Member & 2021 School Administrator of the Year Jan 2019-present
Accomplishments
New York State School Counseling Association 2021 School Administrator of the Year
Timeline
Senior Director
New York City
01.2019 - Current
Doctorate - Education (EdD, Administration and Supervision
St John’s University, Leadership
01.2018 - 05.2022
Senior Director
Office of Postsecondary Readiness
08.2016 - 12.2018
Associate Director
Readiness
08.2013 - 08.2016
Associate Director of Admissions/Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment
Barnard College, Columbia University
07.2011 - 08.2013
Program Officer
New Visions for Public Schools
10.2008 - 07.2011
Youth Development Specialist
New York City Department of Education
11.2006 - 10.2008
Master - Public Affairs-Domestic Policy
Princeton University, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Master - Urban and Regional Planning
B.A. Dual - Psychology and Urban Studies/Political Science
Columbia University, Barnard College