Former CEO of Hispanic empowerment group El Centro Inc. named next KCK chief of staff

Matti Gellman
·2 min read

Irene Caudillo — who led a metro area not-for-profit dedicated to supporting Latino communities — will be the first Hispanic woman to assume the role of Kansas City, Kansas, chief of staff, according to a Unified Government statement.

Caudillo stepped down from her position as president and CEO of El Centro Inc., a social service organization operating in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, on June 30 after 10 years of operating the group’s economic empowerment programs.

She will take over for Dr. Mildred Edwards, who resigned from Mayor Tyrone Garner’s Office on May 10, said Krystal McFeders, a spokeswoman for the Unified Government.

Edwards became one of at least five high-ranking Unified Government officials to resign over the last year.

Caudillo is one of two new hires announced by Mayor Tyrone Garner’s Office on Thursday, McFeders said.

Garner also hired Steve Williams, a 30-year Kansas City, Kansas, police veteran and former member of the Kansas City, Kansas Public School Police Department, as a community engagement and welfare advisor. He will be in charge of coordinating activities with community organizations.

Williams joined the mayor’s office on Thursday.

Caudillo begins work for the mayor’s office Monday.

“It is an honor to continue the work in our community,” Caudillo said following the announcement.

She told the Star in a previous interview that getting El Centro through the COVID-19 pandemic without having to close down the organization was a highlight of her decade-long tenure. She went on running the group’s early education and food programs despite financial challenges.

“Our community needed us,” she said in a June 8 interview.

Caudillo has worked for Swope Health Services and as the first minority outreach coordinator for the Kansas City Health Department. She’s also spent time with the Kansas City, Kansas, social services group Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas.

She will oversee the daily operations of Garner’s office, according to McFeders.