Hector Calderon

For over 20 years, Héctor Calderón has been a respected leader at El Puente, a community-based, holistic learning and development organization in Brooklyn. He is a co-founder of El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice, a public high school established in 1993 through a joint initiative by the New York City Board of Education and El Puente.  

Thanks in large part to Mr. Calderón's vision, the Academy has received national recognition as a community-school model, dedicated to nurturing leadership for peace and justice. He has been a driving force in the development of the Academy's integrated project-based curriculum focused on human rights and community development. His leadership as a Principal has made the Academy one of the highest achieving schools in the city of New York. He is the recipient of EL DIARIO’s “EL” award, which recognizes the 25 most influential Latinos in the tri-state area. Héctor is also a member of the founding Cohort of New Leaders for New Schools. A passionate proponent of progressive teaching and learning, he has lectured at a wide range of New York City educational forums including Maxine Greene's Center for Social Imagination, the Arts and Education at Teacher's College, Columbia University; the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College; Harvard School of Education, and the PEW Forum on Education. He has been featured in Dollars and Sense, Rethinking Schools, The Village Voice, The Source, and Human Rights and Wrongs on PBS. He has supported over 100 new Principals through the New School Intensive at the Leadership Academy. Mr. Calderon lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons, Gabriel Amani and Camilo Mandela.