Esmeralda “Mela” Perez is the Director of Community Services at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System.
She currently serves on numerous boards which include The Health Collaborative, Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Alamo Area Council of Governments, Texas Diaper Bank, Texas Workforce Solutions – Alamo, San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council, Northwest Vista Community College – Community Health Workers Certification, Catholic Charities of San Antonio and collaborates with many other community service agencies in San Antonio, New Braunfels, and San Marcos. Esmeralda has thirty-plus years working in the South and Central Texas nonprofit sector serving as lead strategist in the cultivation, coordination, and evaluation of key partnership engagements with the community-at-large. She has served in various roles such as Senior Community Health Director, Electronic Medical Records Systems Manager, Director of Community Relations, Manager of Communications & Community Development, Marketing Transplant Liaison, Human Resources Training Coordinator, Director of Career Services, Associate for Resource Development representing organizations to include United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County, University of the Incarnate Word, CHRISTUS Transplant Institute, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, and American Heart Association.
By focusing on identifying, cultivating and being accountable for opportunities supporting the organization’s mission-related goals, Esmeralda has been able to put her, BBA in Marketing and Executive MBA in Health earned at the University of Texas in SA to good use. Results-oriented, decisive leader with proven success in new market identification and strategic positioning for program collaboration. She has a proven record of accomplishments of increasing the base of constituents, donors, benefactors, collaborators, and engagements. She excels in a dynamic, demanding environments while remaining pragmatic and focused.
Over the years, she has continued to increase her base of knowledge in the development and implementation of health strategies, communications, multicultural and corporate health, and community engagement. She has garnered recognition for collaborating with individuals, schools, lawmakers, healthcare providers and business community leaders, as well as recruited, built, and engaged on strategic alliances and network of meaningful volunteers and community partnerships. She has served on local coalitions and partnerships that focus on building healthier communities – a better quality of life for all. When she is not working in the community, Esmeralda is actively working on her yard and loves spending time with her four children and only grandchild. They continue to be the foundation and true inspiration to building a better community for our next generation.