About me
Renato "Ray" de los Santos is a lifelong educator, counselor, and advocate for educational opportunity who has spent more than four decades helping young people, particularly first-generation college students, pursue higher education and build successful careers. Born in Brownsville, Texas, into a family with deep roots in South Texas, he later moved to Corpus Christi, where his commitment to service and education began to take shape.
After graduating from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, de los Santos attended Baylor College of Medicine, where he became active in student organizations addressing issues of inequality and discrimination. Following a period of international travel, he returned home determined to dedicate his career to expanding opportunity for others. That commitment led him back to the LULAC National Educational Service Centers (LNESC), an organization that had helped him navigate the college application process as a student. He began as a student advisor and rose to become Center Director in Corpus Christi, a position he held for nearly a decade.
De los Santos later earned a master's degree in counseling from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and pursued doctoral studies in counseling at the University of North Texas. In 1998, he took on the challenge of building the LNESC-Dallas center from the ground up. In those early years, he served not only as director but often as grant writer, recruiter, counselor, and office manager. Under his leadership, the center grew into one of LNESC's most successful programs, helping thousands of students across North Texas prepare for college, secure financial aid, and pursue careers that might otherwise have seemed out of reach.
Today, de los Santos serves as Director of the LULAC National Educational Service Center of Dallas and remains one of the organization's most respected education leaders. His career reflects a simple belief: talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not, and it is our responsibility to help close that gap.
