2020 Board Sets New Direction For Centro’s 10th Year And Beyond

Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos has a new Board of Directors for its 10^th year. The board met in January to plan a year of organizational goals and community celebrations.

The executive officers for 2020 are:

President: Eduardo R. Rios

• Mr. Rios has been involved as a board member since April 2019 and helped the organization with governance by facilitating a review and update to the organization by-laws, vision, mission and core values that were approved in December 2019.
• He serves in other community organizations such as the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, San Marcos Education Foundation and works on education initiatives with the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District (SMCISD).

Vice-President: Sonja Villalobos

• Mrs. Villalobos is a resident of Martindale, Texas and a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Martindale.
• She has been the Centro Vice-President since 2017 and currently serves on the Martindale City Council – Place 1.
• She also serves on the Caldwell County Appraisal District Board of Directors and is a SMCISD Employee.

Secretary: Rosalba Merchant

• Mrs. Merchant was born and raised in San Marcos.
• She currently works as a Special Education teacher, Department Chair at DeZavala Elementary School.
• She has her master’s degree in education and received the Elementary Teacher of the Year award in 2016.
• She serves on the Community Action Incorporated board of Directors as Secretary.  She is also the youngest child of Centro lead founder, Ophelia Vasquez-Philo.

Treasurer: Frank Arredondo

• Mr. Arredondo has served as Mayor and City Councilman for the City of San Marcos.
• He was a Governor Dolph Briscoe staff member and worked in the Texas Department of Community Affairs under Governor Ann Richards.  He is a HUD Fellow – Community Builder.
• He was also a founder of the LULAC 654 – San Marcos chapter and received the Greater Dallas NAACP – Hero Award.

Parliamentarian: Nicholas “Nico” Costilla

• Mr. Costilla is a lifelong resident of San Marcos.  He is a 2012 Texas State graduate and remains active in the Texas State community serving as Vice-Chair on the Texas State Young Alumni Council.
• He is a member of the SMPD Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association and is Vice-President of the La Sociedad Mutualista Cuauhtemoc.
• He serves on the San Marcos City Commission Zoning Board of Adjustments and is the lead misdemeanor legal assistant in the office of the Hays County District Attorney’s Office in San Marcos.

Other board members: Mariana Zamora, John Diaz, Dr. Monica Valadez, Linda Kelsy-Jones, Celia Rosales and Frank Contreras.

Centro currently has four employees: Dr. Ricardo Espinoza – Executive Director, Gloria Salazar – Program Coordinator, Cathi Villalpando – Membership Coordinator, and Monica Hernandez – Admin/Bookkeeper.

Centro currently has two interns: Adam Rech and Grécia Dill.

Centro 2020 Strategic Plan 

From the Centro Board of Directors planning retreat, the following goals were set for our 2020 board.

• Start a $10M Capital Campaign – This will be essential for Centro to grow and establish a permanent residency in their current location and provide needed repairs to the current building.
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• Tell the “Centro” Story – This year they will celebrate 10 years through several initiatives that involve the community and collaborations with other community organizations.  They will have several key celebrations this year that will utilize the space behind the Centro building (referred to as Centro Main). This park area, in collaboration with San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, will be used to have several family-friendly events (referred to as Centro Park).

• New Programming for Adults/Seniors – In addition to rich programming for K-12, Centro will develop serval programs for Adults and Seniors this year!

• Increase Partnerships – Centro will increase current and develop new partnerships with the business in and around our community.

Celebrating 10 Years

Centro has plans for several key events throughout the year.  All except the annual “Noche de Gala” and Cinco de Mayo events will be free and open to the community.

In addition, there will be other smaller events that will occur each month. For more information you can visit their website at www.sanmarcoscentro.org

Key events include:

1. Spring Fiesta! (Saturday, March 14, 2020, from 12 pm – 5 pm at Centro Park) Free to attend!
2. Cinco de Mayo! (Friday, May 1, 2020) – Two events planned and will share more details as the event is organized.
3. Summer Fun Festival! (Saturday, June 13, 2020, from 12 pm – 5 pm at Centro Park) Free to attend!
4. Back to School! (Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020, from 12 pm – 5 pm at Centro Main) Free to attend!
5. Centro’s 10^th Birthday/Diez y Seis! (Sat., Sept. 12, 2020, from 12 pm – 5 pm at Centro Park) This is a double celebration and they can’t wait! Free to attend!
6. Noche de Gala (Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020) This is their annual Gala fundraising event. More details will be published as the event is organized.
7. Dia de los Muertos! (Saturday, Nov. 1, 2020) Big plans for this special time! Free to attend!
8. Holiday Celebration! (Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, from 12 pm – 5 pm at Centro Main) This will end the year of celebrations! Free to attend!

The board has set ambitious goals and a year of activities to establish a foundation for the next 10 years.