Strategic Leadership Team
Soraya M. Sesto
President, Casa Grande Interactive Communications
President, Casa Grande Interactive Communications
Soraya M. Sesto is president of Casa Grande Interactive Communications, a private enterprise dedicated to transformation and innovation through service, education and creativity. Graduated in 1987 from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Soraya holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Latin American Studies, and a master’s degree in Communications with a major in Public Relations. After working with international public relations firms, she founded Casa Grande where for 25 years she has developed strategies to integrate interactive technology for the improvement of our societies through training and development, communications and analytical evaluative processes. She originally focused on business and, for the past 15 years, has used her expertise to impact public education.
The programs Casa Grande created include Operation Exito, an academic platform that for 10 years inspired students and teachers by integrating interactive web, gaming and internet technology to academic content, impacting more than 1 million students and 50,000 teachers in Puerto Rico and other countries. The Intensive Treatment intervention program was developed to support and change the future of schools at risk of closing. The New Virtual School, a comprehensive and interactive academic platform with a unique methodology, achieved a 25% improvement in academic results among participating students and made them more likely to study careers in science and mathematics.
This experience promoted the creation in 2012 of One on One, an intervention model based on the integration of mentoring, technology, tutoring and training aimed at students who are likely to abandon school. In its first year, this innovative program achieved an increase in graduation rates from 49% to 95% and has continued its success rate for the past six years expanding to nine communities.
Born and raised in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Soraya works with film director and husband Noel Quiñones. She has been a speaker at various conferences on public relations in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Toledo and Barcelona, Spain; Lima, Perú and Medellín, Colombia and has participated in multiple professional organizations including: the Board of Trustees of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico; the Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism (AMERICORPS - appointed Commissioner since 2008); Public Relations Society of America; the American Society for Training and Development; the Organizational Development Network, Puerto Rico Chapter; the Society for the Marketing Executive, Puerto Rico Chapter; and the Association of Public Relations Professionals of Puerto Rico.