latin american youth center LAYC youth development latino

Lori M. Kaplan

Executive Director

Being named Washingtonian of the Year is a crowning career achievement, but for Lori Kaplan, it is just one of many awards and honors earned early. She has led the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) to its national prominence as an award winning network of youth programs in Washington DC since 1987. Under Lori Kaplan's direction, LAYC has helped guide thousands of low-income youth to better opportunity, while creating pioneering organizations and schools. To meet her, and encounter her boundless enthusiasm, energy, youthfulness, and sense of fun, you would think Lori was just hired. "Working with youth keeps you youthful" she says, and having a bilingual son at home under somewhat closer supervision (her son Max), keeps her even more connected. Start doing the multiplier effects for families, neighborhoods and citizen endeavors across the country who have learned from LAYC's lessons, and you will be at the adding machine for a very long time trying to compute Lori Kaplan's leadership effect.

Lori's leadership roles include selection as a board member of Leadership Washington, pioneering the way as a founding board member of The Nonprofit Roundtable, winning the Lewis Hine Award for her work on child labor issues, and steering LAYC to be chosen under her direction by the Annie E. Casey Foundation for its $500,000 Families Count Program honors. Several national organizations regularly seek her advice and invoke the model success of LAYC's innovative programs, including Georgetown University's Center on Poverty, The National Youth Employment Coalition, and The National Youth Policy Forum. She is the founding co-chair of the DC Alliance for Youth Advocates, and was on the founding board of Youth Radio and Youth Media International. Several DC Mayors have relied on Lori's leadership on youth issues, and many DC Council members.

However, it is the honors earned by LAYC under Lori's leadership of which she is most proud of: selection by President Obama's Social Innovation Fund as a key grantee from agencies across America, being pre-selected by Venture Philanthropy Partners for its portfolio of four from hundreds of nonprofits, and having Maryland leaders such as US Senator Barbara Mikulski, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett as advocates for LAYC's expansion to Maryland in 2005.

LAYC is one of the three nonprofits honored twice, most recently in 2011, by the The Washington Post for excellent management practices.

Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Lori speaks Spanish as well as she does English, and after getting a BA in anthropology at Antioch College, earned her master's in education at George Washington University in DC. A part of her extended family is from Mexico, and parts of her nuclear family hail from El Salvador. Her roots and interests led her to start volunteering at LAYC while a student. While proud that LAYC has been named one of the Top 25 Latino organizations in the US, she long ago widened its focus beyond Latino youth to youth of all backgrounds.

The common thread of Lori's leadership is to pioneer the way to innovation. From co-founding the first public charter school in DC, to leading the first massive multicultural mural painting endeavor in DC, to helping launch several organizations and initiatives, Lori Kaplan is a leader other leaders learn from. Thousands of youth reached by Lori's leadership include dozens of ethnic backgrounds - multicultural reach is a full commitment at LAYC. She is also proud of her role as a co-founder of three charter schools (Next Step, YouthBuild, and LAYC Career Academy), and as a founding board member of Asian American Lead, which has advanced the lives of hundreds of Asian Americans.

What lies in the future for Lori's leadership? "We want to expand our reach," says Lori -- "we want our models to be learned from, our success enhanced, and our difference-making to grow." "Come join us!"

Sandy Gutierrez

Chief Operating Officer

Puerto Rican born, Sandy Gutierrez joined LAYC as the Chief Operating Officer in 2008. She is responsible for day-to-day operations in D.C. and Maryland and brings over twenty-five years of youth development experience from her work in New York City where she successfully developed exciting youth engagement programs in a multiservice settings.

Before joining the LAYC, Sandy served as Chief Programs Officer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. In this role she was responsible for overseeing all of the programs at the clubs in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Prior to moving to the District of Columbia, she served as the Bronx Regional Director for the Children's Aid Society, a nationally recognized multi-service agency dedicated to supporting children and families in crisis. Sandy also served as the Executive Director of metaNetworks Center for the Next America, a national youth leadership development company where she implemented a national youth led research project for the US Department of Education. She launched her career in youth development and organizational development in the CityKids Foundation and has been a consultant to the After School Corporation, New York City Department of Education, Department of Health and United Way of NYC. She has held adjunct positions at Columbia University Teacher's College where she provided training in mediation and conflict resolution and at Vanderbilt University Peabody School teaching Organizational Development.

Sandy has a Master of Science in Public Administration from the College of Human Services in New York City and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Pace University .

Luisa Montero-Diaz

In 2005 LAYC added a new site to their family of organizations, the Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers (MMYC). Operating in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, MMYC’s purpose is to replicate LAYC’s proven model of serving youth. Luisa Montero-Diaz joined the LAYC in October 2005 as the Maryland Managing Director, and is responsible for the start-up and day-to-day management of the Maryland sites.

Luisa comes to LAYC with over twenty years of experience working on a variety of local, national and international projects. Prior to LAYC, she worked for the District of Columbia Government, as Director of Resource Development and as Deputy Director for the Office of Partnerships and Grants Development in the Executive Office of the Mayor. Previous to that, she was the Project Manager for an USAID international development project, which provided training to 1,100 Central Americans in the U.S. Her first job out of graduate school was with Prince George’s County Public Schools. Luisa was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador in the mid-80’s. She has a Master of Arts from the University of Maryland and Bachelor of Science from Appalachian State University. Luisa lives in Takoma Park, teaches meditation and enjoys time with her son, Julian.

Nicole Hanrahan

Chief Strategy Officer

As Chief Strategy Officer, Nicole Hanrahan supports LAYC's efforts to grow, replicate best practices, and deepen our work with youth in the region and across the country with a focus on sustainability. Nicole most recently served as a Director at Community Wealth Ventures (CWV) where she helped nonprofits and foundations build social enterprises and improve organizational sustainability. Prior to joining CWV, Nicole spent ten years in community economic development where she ran workforce development programs for low income people in New York, Chicago and Boston. Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Linn Shapiro

Development Director

Linn Shapiro comes to the Youth Center with over two decades of experience in development work for community-based nonprofits, international NGOs, and scholarly associations. Her previous positions include executive director of the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., and manager of new project development for the American Historical Association. She has a Ph.D. in American History and teaches writing to adult learners.