El Concilio Hires a New Chief

Ventura County’s largest Latino advocacy group hired a new executive director Wednesday, tapping Oxnard resident Yvonne Gutierrez, an 18-year veteran of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, to lead the organization.

Gutierrez, 41, becomes the first woman to head the Oxnard-based group. She takes over at a time when El Concilio is trying to broaden its range of social services, from programs combating youth violence to a new push to extend health care benefits to low-income youngsters.

She also takes the reins at a time when the organization is trying to more firmly establish itself in the community by purchasing its own building and leasing space to like-minded nonprofit service providers.

After nearly two decades of working her way up through the agency, Gutierrez said Wednesday she believes she is up to the challenge.

“I always tell people that I’m a graduate of El Concilio, so who better to bring the organization into the new millennium?” asked Gutierrez, a mother of four who went to work for El Concilio shortly after earning her bachelor’s degree in 1982 from Cal State Northridge.

“I’m excited about the possibilities we have here to bring about some positive changes,” she added. “If we do that for the Latino community, we also do it for the community at large.”

El Concilio’s top job had been vacant since last summer, when Francisco Dominguez announced he would step down to pursue private business opportunities.

Board President Hank Lacayo, who had been handling many of the administrative duties, said board members were unanimous in their agreement to hire Gutierrez for the $58,000-a-year job. They were impressed as much by her ability to tackle tough assignments as by her commitment to the organization.

“We talk a lot about Latino empowerment, so we decided to practice what we preach,” Lacayo said. “We looked within and empowered a Latina to lead us into a new era.”

Created in 1975 as an umbrella group for more than a dozen Latino organizations in the county, El Concilio has developed into a leading service provider with an annual budget of about $1 million and a staff of 19 employees.

Through the years, it has launched programs to curb alcohol-related problems in the Latino community, helped guide permanent residents toward U.S. citizenship, and led efforts to achieve an accurate Latino head count in the 2000 census.

Lacayo said El Concilio is now trying to return to its original position as an umbrella group for the county’s nonprofit agencies and that Gutierrez, with her deep community roots, is the perfect person to take it there.

Born and raised in El Paso, Gutierrez came to Ventura County with her family when she was 15. She graduated from Hueneme High School in Oxnard in 1978 and attended Oxnard College before transferring to Cal State Northridge.

She had applied for the top job at El Concilio once before, but wasn’t hired. This time, her timing was right.

“After having gone through all that I’ve gone through with the organization, the development of new programs and tough financial times, I do have the qualifications to have this job,” Gutierrez said. “I’ve got a lot to do in front of me. But I’m up for the challenge.”