Ray’s Farewell: A Tribute to Raymond Ocasio

Please join us to say ‘farewell’ to Raymond Ocasio with this video tribute in honor of his 23 years of service as La Casa de Don Pedro’s esteemed Executive Director.

Raymond (Ray) Ocasio served as Executive Director of La Casa de Don Pedro from 1998 until his departure on September 30.

Ray will be remembered as a fierce advocate for the community development nonprofit sector and his leadership style of service by example. Passionate about ensuring government preserve its role in providing essential services and support to the country’s most vulnerable, Ray consistently lent his voice to countless advocacy and policy groups to enhance critical service and assistance programs. Ray shepherded La Casa through several economic crises, including the housing crisis, that ultimately left La Casa in its strongest financial position. Ray departed from La Casa with a portfolio of more than 30 programs and services, a staff of 270, and a FY22 budget of $26M.

Ray came to La Casa de Don Pedro with extensive community development experience.  His work took him across the Americas, from his early days as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia, to New York City and Newark’s public sectors, to consulting in Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, and Washington D.C., to serving as LISC’s program vice president.

As La Casa de Don Pedro approaches its 50th anniversary in  2022, La Casa is positioned for a new agenda that continues to be grounded in its mission, with Black and Brown excellence as our central priority.