Ralph Carrero, Director: Lawrence Family Development Charter School

Ralph Carrero recently became the Director/Superintendent of the Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund and he Lawrence Family Development Charter School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. As the founding president of the Fund and the school, it is a fitting tribute that he continues the rich legacy that his predecessor Patricia Karl began back in 1992. The organization has a deep commitment to the development of youth leadership, new immigrants, and adult educational and training programs. Prior to assuming his new role, Ralph has spent the last eighteen years at the Greater Lawrence Technical High School where he served as he Coordinator of Student Services. Ralph Carrero migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic with his parents in 1962 to the City of New York and in 1967 moved to the City of Lawrence where he had lived for 37 years until 2005, with his wife Ana and their three children. His professional career stems close to thirty years, providing services in counseling, social work, criminal justice and education to residents in the City of Lawrence. In 1992 Ralph Carrero became the first Hispanic ever elected to serve in public office in the City of Lawrence. He went on to serve three consecutive terms on the Lawrence School Committee for ten years until December 2001. Ralph has served on many youth serving non- profit organization in the City. He was president and co-founder of the Lawrence Family Development Charter School, which provides a dual Language education development program to five hundred students grades K to 8. He was past president of both the Lawrence Youth Commission and the Family and Education Fund. He helped establish the Latino Scholarship Fund, a non -profit Organization that provides financial support to Hispanic youth seeking to enroll in private high schools and/or Colleges. He has also coached baseball for the Tower hill little league and Senior League. Ralph has gone on to serve on the Dominican-American National Round -Table based in Washington D.C. which provides advocacy to the United States Senators and Congressmen on the needs of the Dominican Community in the United States.