President and Chief Executive Officer
El Centro, Inc.
Irene received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After graduating college, she developed children and youth programs for nonprofit organizations including El Centro and Wyandotte Mental Health Association in Wyandotte County. In 1994, she took a job with the Kansas City Missouri Health Department as the first minority health outreach coordinator. Her duties included educating health providers on how cultural beliefs and practices impact health behavior. In 1997, she returned to Wyandotte County as the Executive Director for Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., an agency devoted to developing and maintaining collaborative efforts, advocating, and supporting services to improve the quality of life for Wyandotte County youth. In 2004, Caudillo joined Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas as the Director of Family Strengthening where she directed and managed their social services throughout their 21-county service area. In 2011, Caudillo became Director of Clinic Operations for Swope Health Services where she provided day to day, operational leadership and direction to their satellite clinics. Caudillo ensured clinic operations meet expected financial and operational targets and that all clinics were functioning in a highly efficient and effective manner. For the last nine years, Caudillo has led the agency she started her career with, serving as President/Chief Executive Officer for El Centro. She oversees the day-to-day operations for the agency. Caudillo is a member of numerous community boards including the Wyandotte Health Foundation, Health Forward Foundation, KU Advancement Board, Greater Kansas City United Way and the University of St. Mary Board of Trustee. She has received numerous honors for her work, including named by City Union Mission as one of five women in 2010 as the recipient of Women who Changed the Heart of the City award, the 2015 NFL’s Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award, the 2015 Donnelly College’s Delta Award, the 2016 Legend of Diversity award from the Wyandotte Ethnic Festival Committee, 2020 the Sisters of Charity Vincentian Charism Award, 2021 Olathe NAACP Diversity Advocate in Community Involvement award and 2022 Kansas City Kansas Community College Hall of Fame. Irene is married and the proud parent of three young adults.