Andrea Sáenz

First Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Public Library
Former Congreso VP of Employment Training and Education, Early 2000s

Andrea Sáenz serves as First Deputy Commissioner for the Chicago Public Library, a system of 80 branches supporting all Chicago neighborhoods.  She is responsible for program planning, design and evaluation, as well as system-wide strategy and organizational development.  Before joining the Library leadership team, she served as Chief of Staff to the Chicago Public Schools CEO, where she led strategic planning and implementation of district-wide initiatives and oversaw foundation, corporate and government grant development. Sáenz was previously policy advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Vocational and Adult Education at the United States Department of Education in Washington, DC and executive director of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE), a national organization based in Chicago where she collaborated with business and non-profit employers, universities and high schools to increase Latinos’ access to and success in professional and management careers.

Before moving to Chicago, Andrea was a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government in Philadelphia, where she worked on data-driven performance management projects for the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Works, Inc.  Sáenz began her career in non-profit leadership at Congreso de Latinos Unidos where she led adult education and workforce development programs and drove a city-wide initiative to open the first bilingual one-stop career center in Pennsylvania. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Scripps College and a Master’s degree in Government Administration (MGA) from the University of Pennsylvania. Andrea is from Quito, Ecuador and grew up in Los Angeles, California.  She was a 2010 Broad Resident and a 2007-08 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. She serves on the board of directors of Blair Thomas & Company and the Professional Diversity Network.