Our Founders
“As a mother of four young children, I was interested in education. So I went door to door and asked the other mothers on my block what they thought was needed in the neighborhood. They said ‘a good pre-school for our children!’ Although we had no clue what we were doing or getting ourselves into, we had the passion and commitment to make our vision a reality.”
– Carmen Ward (1938 – 2019), Founder and Former Board Chair
East Harlem Block Nursery’s Founding Group (as East Harlem Block Schools)
- Carmen Ward – initiated the discussion as an outgrowth of her involvement with another community organization, The Block Development Project (BDP).
- Sonia Medina
- Connie Arevalo
- Rosie Gueits
- Florence Ali
- Marguerita Maristany
- Romona Harvey
- Lucy Vasquez
- Antonia (Toni) Perez
Past East Harlem Block Nursery Executive Directors:
- Tony Ward. Dates of Service: 1965 to 1969 and 1981 to 1985
- Dorothy Stoneman. Dates of Service: 1969 to 1971
- Judi Macaulay. Dates of Service: 1971 to 1981
- Gardenia White. Dates of Service: 1986 to 1991; 1995 to 2000; and 2003 to 2006
- Dianne Morales. Dates of Service: 2000 to 2002