CHICAGO, IL — Start Early is pleased to announce the appointment of Celena Sarillo as its next President, effective August 1, 2026.
An executive with over two decades of transformative leadership in early childhood systems, Sarillo will steer Start Early’s mission of scale, ensuring top-tier models and policy pipelines continue to reach underserved communities across the nation.
“We are at a critical juncture for early childhood education policies,” said Celena Sarillo. “Start Early remains uniquely positioned to translate programmatic success into permanent legislative reform. I look forward to working with our diverse national partners and state stakeholders.”
Sarillo previously led multi-site implementation metrics throughout several key urban educational programs, bringing direct experience with the complex funding matrices required to keep childhood development programs resilient.
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