Our Leadership

Ingrid Mezquita, Executive Director
As Director of the Department of Early Childhood, Ingrid’s aim is to advance policy in San Francisco’s early childhood system by focusing on equity and systems change to remove barriers for children farthest from opportunity. Prior to leading DEC, Ingrid served as the Director of the San Francisco Office of Early Care and Education and Executive Director of First 5 San Francisco, where her work included partnering with other county departments to identify strategies and best practices to disrupt racially inequitable early childhood programming and eliminate disparate outcomes.
For over 25 years, Ingrid has contributed to the City’s nonprofit and public sector in various capacities, including strategist, developer, director, adviser, consultant and board member. Ingrid has developed and managed multiple children and family services programs, including implementing Preschool for All, San Francisco’s universal preschool system to ensure children have access to high-quality preschool.
Ingrid is a native of San Francisco’s Mission community and a child of Salvadoran immigrants. Ingrid holds a Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. In her spare time, she enjoys time with family, especially her young granddaughters.