Ricardo Espino

Ricardo Espino (Site Director) started with CISLA in 2022. He began as a site coordinator at Hollenbeck MS, later transitioning to the Site Director position at the school. As the site director, he is responsible for the delivery and execution of the CISLA model at HMS. He looks forward to continuing to provide students with the resources they need to feel supported inside and outside of school.

Ricardo previously worked at a Safe Place for Youth (SPY) where he began building his background in youth development and programming. At SPY, he started off as a site associate and his main priority was to provide direct assistance to SPY clients, transitional age youth, experiencing homelessness by providing support and services to residents. He was then promoted to the Education and Employment Specialist position where he focused on connecting SPY clients to valuable education and employment opportunities. It was in this role where Ricardo gained important skills in case management that would benefit him in his role at CISLA.

Ricardo holds a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies with a minor in Arabic Language, Literature, and culture from Swarthmore College. In his free time, he enjoys weightlifting, discovering new places to eat, and listening to music–he has yet to meet someone who can beat his record of listening to 162,389 minutes of music in a year.