Sandra Neal is a Registered Nurse, currently teaching Medical Assisting at East Los Angeles Occupational Center. She was hired as a Career Technical Education (CTE) Instructor for LAUSD-DACE, the largest public school district in Adult and Career Education over 10 years ago. Before earning her teaching credentials from the University of San Diego, her nursing specialties included: perioperative nursing, aesthetic nursing, clinical research studies, nurse manager in surgical aftercare, staff nursing at USC in the field of outpatient GYN surgery, labor and delivery, and home health. Born and raised in East LA, Sandra graduated from the East Los Angeles College School of Nursing, trained at the LAC-USC Medical Center, and worked for a renowned UCLA surgeon before changing her career path toward education, where Sandra felt was her true calling. The accomplishments Sandra is most proud of are:

• Being a proud mom to five children, and a super proud grandmother to five
• Having two of her children follow her career path, and are currently COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers.
• Returning to her (Licensed Vocational Nursing) LVN school to teach and mentor future healthcare leaders.
• Leading a team of curriculum developers to update the medical assistant program for the entire
• After residing in and serving her community of East Los Angeles for over 50 years, Sandra recently moved to Atlanta, Georgia to join her daughter and three grandchildren. She credits much of her success to her supportive husband of almost 20 years. Sandra continues to teach and mentor her students in California through distance learning to ensure they become the devoted healthcare workers of our next generation.