Doris M. De Los Santos said she holds a “passion for changing lives.” De Los Santos, 38, has touched everything from Community Works Rhode Island to her local church. By day she serves as the coordinator for the R.I. Housing Resources Commission’s Healthy Homes Office, charged with protecting children from household lead posioning.
It’s a big job. The office enforces the state’s lead-mitigation law, credited with helping to reduce the instance of lead poisoning to 1.1 percent of children screened, down from 6.9 percent in 1999 when the law passed.
De Los Santos took the position in 2006, a year after arriving at the Housing Resources Commission. Before that she worked for Rhode Island Housing as an outreach coordinator, assisting with the organization’s lead-mitigation programs.
Prior to that job, she worked for the Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services – now Community Works RI – as the organization’s education coordinator. There she built relationships with a wide array of other nonprofit groups.
As an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, De Los Santos has remained close to the Latino Community in Rhode Island. She serves as president of the Rhode Island Latino Civic Fund and the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee. Through these organizations and others she has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for minority populations.
For five years she coordinated the Latina Leadership Institute, a four-month transformational program for emerging Latina leaders.
De Los Santos serves on the board of directors for the Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and Community Works. She is treasurer for her church and serves on the advisory board for the Jammat Housing and Community Development Corp.
“Community involvement … is an important component of my personal and professional life,” De Los Santos said. •
