welcome our new director of development, alexandra céspedes-kent!

We are thrilled to introduce our newest staff member, Alexandra Céspedes-Kent. Alexandra first gained a love of writing in the eighth grade when she had a dynamic, engaging English teacher at her East San Jose public school.     

Before starting at Chapter 510 in 2022, Alexandra was Development Director for one of the nation’s longest-running immigrant organizations. There, she helped double the operating budget and completed a capital campaign to build an affordable 48-student preschool in San Francisco. She also served at Encore.org as Director of The Purpose Prize, a $17 million campaign to identify, invest in and bring together innovators over the age of 60 who are solving major social problems.

A graduate of Amherst College (BA in English Literature), Alexandra is on the board of the Catalino Tapia Scholarship Foundation and a past board member at CompassPoint. She and her husband, both of whom were born in Colombia, live in the East Bay with their teenage daughter and family dog.

WHY CHAPTER 510, A MESSAGE FROM ALEXANDRIA

My mom came with me to the United States from Colombia when I was an infant. She was a teacher by profession in Colombia, and she loved to read and write nonstop. I have lots of early memories of her sitting in a chair, completely invested in a book or magazine. Looking back, literature was probably a comfort as she adapted to living in a new country.

Another person who shaped me was my 8th-grade English teacher, Mr. Lovelace. He would read entire books aloud to my classmates and me, and take us on field trips to see local authors' homes. As a public school student in East San Jose, he was the first teacher to help me see myself as someone who could become a writer and creator. In fact, he entered a paper I wrote into a local contest and I was so thrilled to win third place and $50.

As an adult, I have spent 20+ years building the capacity for organizations focused on social justice and systems change, particularly for BIPOC children and teens. As the new Development Director at Chapter 510, I want to make it easy for people to invest in Oakland youth so they can think, write, create, and fight for a better future.