Dr. Juan A. Gomez is President & CEO of Worcester County’s largest minority-led, non-profit, human services provider. Under his leadership since 2007, CENTRO has grown from 23 employees and an operating budget of $1.1 Million, to an operating budget of over $11 Million, 77 employees and clients in 52 cities and towns of the Commonwealth. CENTRO’s mission is “To assist those striving to achieve self-sufficiency live purposeful lives through our unique mix of comprehensive integrated services, exceptional care, and an unequal cultural and linguistic competence”. In addition to his role at CENTRO, Dr. Gomez has served as an Adjunct Professor, teaching Intercultural Communication and State and Local Government at Becker College in Worcester MA.
Dr. Gomez became CENTRO’s Executive Director in April of 2007 after serving in a number of roles on the Board of Directors. He has an AA in Business from Quinsigamond Community College, a BA in Business Administration from Assumption College, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Clark University, and a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration, with highest honors, from Virginia University of Lynchburg, an HBCU. Dr. Gomez served 4 & ½ years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, Honorably Discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1989. He has served on the board of, and helped establish numerous civic, business and charitable organizations in Worcester and throughout MA. He is member of the MA Council of Human Service Providers Board of Directors, past founder and President of the Board of the Latino Business Association of Worcester County, past member of the World Affairs Council – Worcester Chapter, Worcester Rotary Club, and the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce of MA. He is also founder, Chairman & CEO of the only Minority-led Community Development Corporation in all Central MA (New Americans CDC). He served 5 ½ years on the Worcester City Council, and was its Vice Chairman from January 2004 to December 2005.
Among his scholarships and awards, he received recognition by the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund for his work in community service while at Assumption College, he is a two-time recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship award for public service while at QCC, the Greater Worcester Jay Cees Outstanding Young Leader Award in 1994, and on May of 2005, the Outstanding Dominican American Citizen award presented by the President of the Dominican Republic in a gala dinner at the Dominican Embassy in Washington, DC. This last award was presented as a result of his work as an elected official and for helping organize the New England response to the Jimany tragedy which occurred in 2004, in Jimany-Dominican Republic.
In 2004 Professor Jeffrey Gerson and Dr. Karol Hardy-Fanta published “Latino Politics in Massachusetts”, a recount of the political gains of Latinos across the Commonwealth. Dr. Gomez is the author of the chapter on Worcester. In 2010, along with 26 other Latinos, he traveled to Israel on a Peace Mission sponsored by ADL New England; and subsequently served on Worcester’s Latino-Jewish Dialogue. During the course of 24 months from 2013 to 2015, Juan was the convener of “Communities of Color Political Roundtable”, with the aim of bringing together members of Worcester’s Latino and Black communities to jointly pursue important political milestones. In 2014, Dr. Gomez collaborated with a number of other Latinos across the Commonwealth to organize a number of campaign activities on behalf of the Governor and Lt. Governor, within the Latino community. Most recently, Dr. Gomez was recognized as one of the top 50 graduates in the 50-year history of Quinsigamond Community College, and in 2016 was chosen among the “Powermeter 100”, most influential Latinos in MA.
Dr. Gomez is the proud father Juan Eric Gomez, 33, a School Adjustment Councilor, with a Masters in Counseling Psychology, from Anna Maria College; and James Andre Gomez, 30, who has a BA in Business from Anna Maria College, and is pursuing his own business as a music video producer and photographer. Dr. Gomez was born in Santurce Puerto Rico of Dominican and Puerto Rican parents, lived in Worcester 39 years, and along with his wife Lourdes, an MSW – Clinician, moved to Fitchburg, MA in 2016. Together they are expecting their first baby. They are both active in their church, CAVN.