Daniel Santo Prieto has nearly 25 years of international experience in the non-profit sector, with a focus on community development and advocacy. From 1998 to 2010, he served as Executive Director of the Hispanic Directors Association of NJ (HDANJ), a network of 32 Hispanic-led community organizations. During this time, he contributed to several state commissions, including Governor Whitman's Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Protection Services and the Governor's Early Childhood Advisory Commission. In 2005, he co-chaired Governor Corzine’s Department of Human Services transition advisory group and served on the boards of the NJ Immigration Policy Network and Citizen Action.
A passionate advocate for universal health coverage, Daniel Santo Prieto was a leader in the Consumer Voices for Coverage project, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and worked with the NJ Healthcare Coalition on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. After retiring, he continued his advocacy work as a member of the Steering Committee for the Latino Action Network (LAN), where he helped establish the LAN Foundation and served as Executive Director until relocating to San Diego in 2018.
Daniel Santo Prieto holds a B.A. from Harvard College, was a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil, and completed graduate studies in Political Science and Latin American Studies at Stanford University. Fluent in both Portuguese and Spanish, he is the proud parent of four children and seven grandchildren.