The National Board of Directors of MANA, A National Latina Organization, has elected Dr. Sandra J. Rodriguez as the new Chair of the Board of Directors. Elections took place at the January 2006 meeting of the Board in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Rodriguez was elected to the National Board in 2003 for a three year term.

Dr. Rodriguez has a career dedicated to education and community service. She received her MA and BA in Education from the College of Santa Fe, focusing on at-risk students. She went on to receive her PhD in Multicultural Teacher and Childhood Education. Her early career was in education, teaching preschool at St. John’s Methodist Church, and then elementary school in the Albuquerque and Española Public School Districts. In 1993, she began teaching as adjunct faculty at the College of Santa Fe. She became an Associate Professor and served as the Assistant Chair for the Education Department. Today she is Director of the Education Department at the College of Santa Fe.

Dr. Rodriguez has served as Manuscript Reviewer for McGraw-Hill and is currently a columnist with Children’s Ministry Magazine. She has presented at several conferences, including with her daughter, Charlene Lopez, also an educator, at a New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children Conference.

Her community service includes serving on the Santa Fe Community College Early Childhood Education Advisory Board; Santa Fe County Maternal and Child Health Council; and as a member of the New Mexico Teacher Education Accountability Council. She is also an active member of National Association for Bilingual Education and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Rodriguez has proven to be a dedicated member of MANA since she first joined in 1999. She has served two terms as Chapter President of MANA del Norte in Santa Fe, and was an HERMANITAS® Coordinator and later Chair of the HERMANITAS® program until 2001. Dr. Rodriguez is an AvanZamos® Ford Fellow of the Class of 2002. On the National Board of Directors she served as Vice-Chair before becoming Chair. In the words of Alma Morales Riojas, President and CEO of the organization: “MANA is very proud and excited to have such a devoted member who firmly believes that positive changes for Latinas are possible through continued commitment to education and political activism.”

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MANA, A National Latina Organization, is a nonprofit, advocacy organization headquartered in the nation's capital, Washington, D. C. With chapters across the country, it is the oldest National Latina membership organization in the United States. MANA, whose mission is to empower Latinas through leadership development, community service, and advocacy, envisions a national community of informed Latina activists working to improve the quality of life for all Hispanics. MANA also has the only national young Latina's mentoring program for girls 11 to 17, "HERMANITAS®" which brings over 100 girls to Washington DC to a summer institute that includes a briefing at the White House and a visit to the girls' Congressional representatives Information on MANA can be obtained at the web site: www.hermana.org or send an e-mail to hermana2@aol.com