Throughout his formative years, Rafael (Ralph) Serrano, experienced first-hand the detrimental effects of a public-school system that was broken, underfunded and routinely ignored. Not surprisingly, he fell through the cracks, showing disinterest in the system that showed no interest in him or his educational well-being. By the time he was well into his adolescence, Serrano had fallen in with a bad crowd and saw little to no opportunities on the horizon.

Fortunately, as he matured, Mr. Serrano realized the path he was on would get him nowhere. He willed himself into straightening out his life and, self-taught, immersed himself into the real estate sector, voraciously learning all he could.

Today, Rafael (Ralph) Serrano is the founder of Safe Harbor Equity and currently serves as its Managing Director. He is responsible for the strategic oversight of the company’s operations, including its asset acquisition, asset management, capital formation and administration.

Mr. Serrano now has more than two decades of experience in mortgage acquisitions and workouts, real estate development and investing. He has personally overseen the successful execution of hundreds of individual transactions totaling more than half a billion dollars in the residential and commercial real estate sectors, focusing the firm’s efforts primarily in South Florida, but remaining committed to seeking opportunistic deal flow across the continental United States as it arises.

A serial entrepreneur, Rafael (Ralph) Serrano also founded MTU, Inc., a commercial vehicle fleet maintenance and service provider, where he also served as CEO.

Throughout his success, Rafael (Ralph) Serrano was grateful for the educators that showed an interest in him, his wellbeing, and his studies, all factors he considered very material in overcoming adversity and an under-privileged environment during his early years. Later in life he often thought about these educators that unwittingly served as a source of support that both encouraged and inspired him during difficult times.

He then became passionate about remedying the situation.

From that passion, he envisioned the Education Reform Project, a non-profit organization committed to the positive transformation of our nation’s educational system, placing the needs of students and teachers at the forefront of public policy with a goal of effectuating worthwhile systematic change through innovation, creativity and common sense.

Dr. Pedro Cevallos has worked to increase student achievement in numerous capacities with school districts in Florida, Pennsylvania, and California for close to three decades. He currently serves as Executive Director of The Education Reform Project (EDURP), a Miami based nonprofit whose mission is “committed to the positive transformation of our nation’s educational system, placing the needs of students and teachers at the forefront of public policy and effectuating worthwhile systemic change through innovation, creativity, and common sense.”

Additionally, Dr. Cevallos served as Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) on two different grants from The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation which aimed to drastically increase the college readiness rates of underrepresented students. He is a lifelong public-school student and educator with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership & Entrepreneurship from UCLA, a MS in Curriculum & Instruction from Penn State, a BS in Social Studies Education from Florida International University, and a high school diploma from Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Pedro is anchored by his four core values: (1) Family is paramount, (2) Education is a civil right and instrumental for breaking the cycle of trans-generational poverty, (3) Children should always be more prosperous than their parents, and (4) Bilingualism and biliteracy are critical for the prosperity of both individuals and society as a whole.