Hermelinda Sapien
ISO

In August 1999, the Board of Directors of the Center for Employment Training unanimously selected Hermelinda Sapien as President / Chief Executive Officer of CET following the retirement of Russell Tershy, who had served in this position for 32 years. Hermelinda Sapien has been a member of the Executive Management Team for The Center for Employment Training (CET) since the CET program was founded in 1967. Hermelinda Sapien is a graduate of Durham Business School and of Stanford University’s prestigious Executive Management Program.

Prior to CET, Hermelinda worked in a demonstration program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for the purpose of opening opportunities for Latinos in Manpower Development Training Act (MDTA) funded programs.

Mrs. Sapien was the first Executive Secretary at CET for Russell Tershy, the first Executive Director and co-founder of CET. She also carried out administrative duties for the CET Board of Directors and CET's co-founder, Dr. Antonio Soto. Because she was involved in the development and expansion of the program from the beginning, her responsibilities increased as the program grew. She was assigned to oversee CET’s administrative support units until she was appointed to establish and run the Corporate Department of Human Resources.

She directed this HR Department for 18 years. In this role, she developed procedures, systems and training programs for management and line staff, and was designated by the Board of Directors to be the Affirmative Action Officer and Grievance Officer for staff, students and community. For many years, Mrs. Sapien has been the representative for CET in legal and personnel matters.

In 1987, as the CET program began to gain national attention, the position of Deputy Director was created and Mrs. Sapien was appointed to this new post. The primary focus of this newly created executive position was direct supervision of training operations for the rapidly expanding family of CET vocational training centers.

Mrs. Sapien has led successful campaigns for funding initiatives and against funding cuts on behalf of CET students and employment training opportunities at the local, state and national levels. She has directed numerous CET community outreach programs, some of which have involved public events for over ten thousand people. During the 1970's Mrs. Sapien was a lecturer and ambassador in the Cursillo Movement: a dynamic leadership-training program in the Catholic Church, founded in Northern California by Dr. Antonio Soto.

Mrs. Sapien was recipient of the 1993 Human Relations Award in Santa Clara County and twice a nominee for the Women of Achievement Award. She received the annual Portraits of Success Award for 2001. Her parents and entire family (Hermelinda is one of nine children) were honored in 1992 as recipients of the Family of the Year Award in Santa Clara County for their exemplary commitment to improving the quality of life in their communities.

Hermelinda is a fellow of the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley; Board Member of Latinas Contra Cancer; the Workforce Alliance and the Association of Farm worker Opportunities Programs (both of Washington, DC). Hermelinda and her husband, Robert Sapien, Machinist/Engineer, reside in San Jose, California. They have two children: Corina, vice-principal of an elementary school, and Robert Sapien Jr., Battalion Chief, San Jose Fire Department.

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