The CEO of Charlotte Bilingual Preschool understands the value – and price – of education
In 1998, Ana Silva Rey moved to North Carolina with a plan to return to Mexico after she graduated from UNC Charlotte. But she never left, and soon enough, she faced the confusing and daunting process of guiding her children through an unfamiliar education system.
Motivated to help parents and students who face similar challenges, Rey, who had experience in management consulting and real estate, joined the board of Latin Americans Working for Achievement in 2012. The nonprofit raises money for scholarships and educational programs to support Latino students. In 1992, when a group of concerned women founded the organization, the scholarships totaled about $500.
In 2019, Rey took over as executive director, and under her leadership, the nonprofit’s budget ballooned and sponsorships doubled. She made new partnerships with colleges and universities, and eight of them match the organization’s scholarships. Including those contributions, in 2023, the organization granted $270,000 to Latino students.
In March, Rey, 48, left the association to become CEO of Charlotte Bilingual Preschool. For 25 years, the school has focused on preparing Spanish-speaking students and their parents for success in the U.S. education system and beyond. The school’s mission and ethos, built on the concept of comunidad, reflects Rey’s personal and professional experience.
When Rey moved to Charlotte, people of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.4% of the city’s population. That figure has since doubled to 15%. More than 270,000 Latinos live in the Charlotte region, and nearly a third of students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are Latino. Last year, CMS reported that just 14.7% of Hispanic students are “college and career ready,” and their four-year graduation rate, 70.8%, trails the system average of 82.6%.
With both organizations, Rey has worked to expand their access to information and funds to seek higher education, which she believes can transform individuals and communities. She comes by her conviction honestly: When she was young, her parents told her that her only obligation was to get good grades.
Here’s Rey in her own words, lightly edited for concision and clarity.
I WAS BORN and raised in Mexico. I lived in a smaller city, Cuernavaca, which is just 70 miles south of Mexico City. My parents live in the same house to this day. Every time that I go visit, I stay in my childhood room. My father is a physicist, my mom is a businesswoman, and my brother is now a vascular surgeon.
I GREW UP around my grandparents. I learned how to play every card game with my grandmothers. They instilled in me not cheating, having fun, and not being a sore loser. They would never let me win, but I would win often. I never let my kids win, either.
I WAS A GOOD STUDENT. At college, I asked to sit in the front. My daughter says that I was a teacher’s pet. I loved partying, and I did all that, but my responsibility was to study, so I did well and I liked it. My thought was always to be a chef or a diplomat, but then I came to the realization with my dad that international business was something that could give me both lives.
I FINISHED high school in Mexico, and I went to live in Paris for a year. I studied French civilization and language at the Sorbonne. It was an opportunity to meet people from all over the world and talk about what their experiences were as high schoolers because 99% of us were recent high school graduates. I ate to my delight. My love of cheese and pastry was fully cemented.
IT WAS THE BEGINNING of independent living. I look back at how strong my parents were and how trusting they were to send me so far away. Calling through the phone was incredibly expensive. It was a leap of faith for my parents. You have to make your own decisions, the good ones and bad ones, and you have to live with the consequences.
BEFORE I GRADUATED high school, I met my now-husband, so we’re high school sweethearts. When I came back from Paris, I started my bachelor’s degree in Mexico at a very prestigious university, and I did two years there. We got married, and then we moved to Charlotte. I came to finish my bachelor’s. My husband came to study for his master’s degree. I graduated from UNC Charlotte with a major in international business. Our plan was to go back to Mexico. That was January 1998.
I REMEMBER vividly the day that we came. We were newlyweds. It was so fun. We had to be very frugal. Our favorite night out was to go to Chili’s or Outback. We’d each have a beer and share a Bloomin’ Onion. It was probably $16 with tip, but it was our big night out.
I LOVE Charlotte. It’s a great place to live, a great place to raise children, to have a business, to be a nonprofit leader. It’s a very charitable city. When we first moved here, I thought it was the boonies. We went to three different nightclubs. I don’t think they exist anymore. I thought, Wow, this is so little. But I loved being here.
WHEN I ENROLLED my kids into the public school system, I didn’t know how you went about it. Back in Mexico, we have a different system. We were lucky that we have the language, but there was a cultural difference. When my kids were super little, other parents were like, “Oh, have you applied for preschool?” And I’m like, “Well, preschool starts in October or September of next year.” They’re like, “Oh, no, you need to apply the year before.” And I thought, This is insane.
THE POWER of social capital is very important. I was volunteering on a weekly basis at my kids’ school, and I did see the power of information, of access, of being able to know that there are individuals and organizations that are there to help you succeed. Getting the information to the parents is just as important because, especially for higher ed, it is a family decision. It is a family sacrifice—emotional, economic, or financial.
I STARTED on the board of directors with LAWA in 2012. Five years ago, the first executive director retired, and I stepped into the organization at that time. We’ve increased the amount of money we give but also the opportunities that the scholarship program brings. Before, it was a check. Now, you get a check, you get mentorship, you get internships, you get workshops for networking and soft skills, even imposter syndrome and suicide prevention.
TWO YEARS AGO, LAWA had an event at Queens University. This young lady decided that day that that was the university she wanted to go to. She was already a senior but had not applied anywhere and had never been to a university before. We include our college students as part of the agenda, and she said, “I saw them, and I thought, I want to be just like them.” Fast forward two months, and she comes to me at another event and says, “I was so inspired. My teacher helped me, and I applied to the university and was accepted.” She has a full ride with internships and an offer for a full-time job when she graduates. It was full-on waterworks because we were so excited.
I’M EXCITED for the extension of my role (at Charlotte Bilingual Preschool). It’s very ambitious, and I am a go-getter. Mostly, I’m excited about continuing to make an impact in the community. This will augment the impact that I have, where the work that I do will make even more of a ripple effect because the students are so young, and it’s a pipeline for great students for CMS, and just to see how we can change the trajectory at such a young age, so they can be successful in whatever they want to do.
WHEN I STARTED the path for my children to be enrolled into school, I wish there had been an organization like this that would know how to help me set up my child and my family for success. Part of what I like about this position is that I will pay it forward or help pave the way for somebody who does not know, that’s new, like I was myself.
WE HAVE a son who goes to Queens, which I love, and a senior who will be going to College of Charleston in the fall, so I am living what I am trying to help others to achieve.
WE’RE INSTILLING in our children that education is uplifting. Nobody can take it away from you. It is yours. It is a privilege to study, and it’s also a responsibility, as parents who had the opportunity, to help others who have challenges that you might not have faced. Education should be a safe space to grow, to make mistakes, to get to know yourself.
IN HIGH SCHOOL, there are so many opportunities for those who want them, but they cannot study or pursue them if the information is not given to them properly. I see the electives my kids took in high school, and I think, Oh my God, I wish I had all those opportunities. And then it’s its own microcosmos inside a college campus, and I do see the relationship between applying yourself academically and socially and your outcomes. You are a much more rounded individual if you put yourself out there, and one thing I know now is that immigrants have a special power of adaptability. We’ve left what we’ve known to embrace the unknown and to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
ALLISON BRADEN is a contributing editor.
Allison Braden
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