Ana Sandoval tapped to head ESTAR West on San Antonio’s West Side

Former Councilwoman Ana Sandoval is taking the reins as the first CEO and president of ESTAR West, a newly formed nonprofit that will assist West Side businesses, residents and charities.

ESTAR West was granted nonprofit status this summer. Previously, it was an informal coalition of more than 40 community groups, public institutions, businesses and others.

It launched in 2022 to help Latino small business owners access funding, advice and technology training. Founders at the time said their goal was to preserve neighborhoods and redevelop empty buildings.

“ESTAR West is not necessarily born today,” Sandoval said at a Tuesday news conference. “In fact, it is a powerful force for the West Side that already has the wind in its sails. I’m very lucky to be able to inherit this and help move it forward.”

So far, ESTAR West has landed $2 million in federal funding for housing initiatives and helped launch or manage programs, such as an entrepreneurship initiative at the University of Texas at San Antonio and Supply SA, which trains and assists small business owners to bid on local government contracts.  

The initiative began under the Washington, D.C.-based Aspen Institute City Learning and Action Lab, which aimed to bolster Latino businesses where the COVID-19 pandemic “exacerbated long-existing inequities.”

Former Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros chaired a nine-member advisory committee for ESTAR West — which has transitioned into the nonprofit’s board and governing body — to identify barriers for West Side businesses and find ways to help. 

The organization opted to become a nonprofit to provide more structure for future initiatives, Cisneros said.

He and the board interviewed five candidates to be president and CEO from a pool of about a dozen applicants. Cisneros said Sandoval’s time on City Council helped her stand out. 

“She was one of the most reasonable people who, I think, many people in San Antonio believed would one day be mayor, sort of inevitably — she was that strong,” Cisneros said of Sandoval’s time in local politics. “But she chose a different path, and it brought her to us.”

Sandoval grew up on San Antonio’s West Side and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from MIT, a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University and a Master of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

She worked in transportation planning for VIA Metropolitan Transit and then at an air pollution control agency in California. 

Sandoval represented the Northwest Side as a councilwoman from 2017 through 2023. She stepped down in January 2023, citing the need for a higher salary to pay for day care for her then-infant daughter. The departure came on the heels of her high-profile spat with then-councilman Mario Bravo, a former romantic partner who publicly berated Sandoval after a disagreement over a vote over how to spend a CPS Energy surplus.

When she left, Sandoval took a job tackling health equity matters at Bexar County-owned University Health. In 2024, she began overseeing special projects at the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, a role that she left last month to oversee ESTAR West. 

About a year ago, Sandoval began working with ESTAR West as a representative for NALCAB, connecting the local organization with national groups when needed. 

Sandoval is planning to hire two employees — one focused on development and another on operations and programs — by the end of the year.

She said the organization will soon unveil a study to highlight how the West Side can both welcome development and prevent people from being displaced by rising costs that often accompany economic growth.

The organization will have a list of goals for future work by the beginning of next year, but she said much of the group’s mission will remain unchanged.

“In terms of making sure that economic investment goes hand-in-hand with preserving the best of the West Side — that’s not changing at all,” Sandoval said.