Jose Blanco, GALEO Program Coordinator for Leadership Development

Jose Blanco

José has been involved in his professional career with international companies such as Baxter Travenol and Cabot Corporation, organizations that took José out of Puerto Rico, to countries throughout Latin America, incl. Mexico, where he lived with his family for several years. With Cabot, José traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, as he introduced management development and product quality improvement programs throughout multiple sites.

In Atlanta, where he has been since 1986, and where his 3 children grew, attended schools and entered the professional world, José worked with the Weather Channel, its domestic and Latin America networks, providing the full range of human resources services to the Staff, incl. relocation of personnel from their countries of origin, immigration support related to work permit visas, personnel administration and the other myriad functions associated with the role of HR Director.

Before GALEO, José joined the not-for-profit world, having spent some time with a refugee resettlement organization – RRISA - in Decatur, GA. There José got first hand immersion in the life and needs of immigrants, as he resettled families and individuals in the Decatur area, new to this culture and community life.

Presently he holds the Program Coordinator role with GALEO, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. In that role he coordinates and supports the multiple activities of the ongoing and exciting Institute for Leadership, focusing on developing skills and promoting community involvement of Latino and other leaders. Since its inception this program has graduated close to 400 participants, who leave the program bent on applying the leadership skills on community needs they come across.

José’s professional life thus, has revolved around people, in roles as varied as Management, Organizational Development (OD), Training and Development (T&D), and the one most close to him that of Personal Development, where affectionally he has been called “Coach” by many that worked with him. For fun outside of work, José enjoys running, his piano playing, and recently, he got a Certificate s Yoga Therapist, incorporating his passion for yoga and people in one discipline.