Category: Latinos in RI

Senior Manager of National Programs & Curricular Development at Generation Citizen

Juanita serves as Generation Citizen’s Senior Manager of National Program and Curricular Development, where she supports national programming and leads org-wide curricular strategy and innovation. Before joining the GC team in 2017, Juanita taught Action Civics and Social Studies in Providence middle schools for five years.

While teaching Action Civics at Roger Williams middle school, her students founded a Student Council, met with district officials to discuss strategies for increasing teacher diversity, and testified to the Superintendent and School Board about closing the achievement gap between Multi-Language Learners and their peers. What has made Juanita truly most proud is the long-lasting impact GC has made on her students with whom she still maintains relationships today. As a passionate advocate for educational social justice, Juanita has served on various advisory boards and working groups. As a Providence Public School parent and resident, Juanita was also a member of the RIDE Community Design Team.

Juanita holds a B.A. in Elementary Education with a content major in Social Studies from Rhode Island College, Feinstein School of Education. She is an alum of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice Core which equips nonprofit, public and social impact leaders with the skills, knowledge, and networks they need to make strategic, mission-driven decisions that center diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), and affect meaningful change in their organizations and beyond.

Real Estate Agent

Roger is a first-generation Colombian-American and a Rhode Island native where he currently lives with his wife. He attended Johnson and Wales University where he majored in business administration. Real estate has always played a major role in his life. His mother embedded the importance of owning and investing in real estate and so to no surprise, there is nothing else he would rather do. He offers 10 years of real estate expertise and dedication to his clients. Whether investing, flipping, buying or selling the objective remains the same, to provide attention to detail, consistency and communication.

RWU Law student & President of the Native American Law School Association

Growing up as a military kid, Taino and his sisters were born in many different parts of the world but always called the Bronx, New York home. During the 80’s and 90’s life in New York was distinctly different from the life they knew in Puerto Rico, however their family maintained a strong connection to their indigenous identity as Taino Indians, hence his name. It was important that they never forgot who they were and where they came from.  

In college, Taino participated in after-school tutoring that set him on the path of being an educator and advocate for the coming generations. Taino noticed that for the Latino middle school students he worked with it was hard to believe that someone just like them was able to attend college. He knew then how important it was to serve as a model; but even more so, how important it is for those in underrepresented positions to demystify the pathway to make it easier for those who come after them. This understanding led Taino to a decade-long career in community economic development and education reform. Today, Taino is a part of the Class of 2022 Roger Williams University Law School and serves as the President of the American Indian Law Student Association.

Taino points to the fact that Rhode Island will be a majority Latino state in the not so distant future. He believes that, “we are too numerous in this state and in this country to not flex our collective impact to develop policies and programs that benefit our communities.”

City Council President for the City of Central Falls

Born and raised to a Dominican family, Jessica Vega describes her inner circle as a very close-knit community within a community. When she migrated to the United States from La Romana, Dominican Republic, at a young age with her older sister, Central Falls was the first place they called home. As her family began their new life in Rhode Island, she also spent time in Providence and went through the Providence Public School system which allowed her to have friends and experiences in both cities. 

Attending schools where teachers’ expectations weren’t much of anything for their students, as a brown-skinned, non-native English speaker these experiences lit a fire for Jessica as to what her career would look like with her. Her goal was to dismantle the unnecessary challenges her community faced and she found her passion in working with youth. After receiving her Bachelor’s from Rhode Island College she worked as a high-school advisor, where she ran after-school programs and assisted students beginning their journey to college. 

Jessica wears many hats in her community from Chair of the Central Falls Juvenile Hearing Board working to prevent youth from any criminal justice involvement by keeping child behaviors as child behaviors instead of criminal offense, to teaching students the power of civic engagement through the Democratic process called Participatory Budgeting. Her ultimate goal is to teach our students about the power of civic engagement through the democratic process. 

For Jessica, as a Latina, through her experiences and her work she was fascinated and frustrated by the folks who make decisions for communities they’ve never set foot in. To change that narrative, Jessica ran for the city council in Central Falls in 2018 to support her community in a different capacity as a public servant. Jessica now serves as City Council President for the City of Central Falls. She believes it is crucial for Latinos and BIPOC communities to understand that politics affect their daily lives and access to resources even if it may not be of interest to them.

Policy Associate at The Latino Policy Institute

Joshua Seguí-Rodríguez was born in the United States to a Puerto Rican single mom. Raising five children by herself, there came a time when she had to make the difficult decision to send Joshua and two of his siblings to live with their father in Puerto Rico due to food insecurity. Although the circumstances of his move were difficult, Joshua points to this as an invaluable experience that connected him to his culture and created his passion for making meaningful contributions to his community. 

At a young age, Joshua’s mother sat him down to explain that some people were going to hate him simply because he was a man of color and a proud Boricua. Being Latino influenced him deeply because of his early understanding of prejudice and injustice. Embracing his Puerto Rican identity, he learned as much about his history as he could. By understanding the similarities and differences between the history of his people and other historically oppressed groups, Joshua developed a strong sense of solidarity with people who have been relegated to the margins of society. 

Living in the mountains of Puerto Rico without running water, where he had much less materially and yet he and his community were happier, has helped Joshua chart his career trajectory. People’s connections ran deeper and everyone was so quick to gather, simply to be together. After serving as an administrator and educator in higher education doing racial justice, diversity, equity and inclusion work, Joshua is excited to join the Latino Policy Institute’s team as a Policy Associate to do his part to build the sort of community he wants to live in. 

Manager of Early Childhood Initiatives 

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Marinel grew up around family, immersed in her culture. Although all of that changed at the ripe age of 16 when her mom, siblings and herself immigrated to the United States to reunite with her father. This was a huge uproot for a teenager, new country, new language and new surroundings. Her  parents were determined to overcome those difficult moments to create a beautiful new life filled with opportunities for their family. 

After graduating high school, Marinel graduated from Baruch College in New York. It was also there that she met her husband and they returned to Rhode Island where he had grown up to begin a family. After having her two oldest daughters, Marinel felt she wanted to do more professionally than her marketing analyst position. For her, teaching young English learners was a full circle passion for her as she understood the challenges they faced and their struggles. It was during her student teaching that she was introduced to an opportunity at the Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children working to assess the quality of childcare programs in Rhode Island. In her current role as Manager of Early Childhood Initiatives, she oversees initiatives such as T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood RI, a scholarship and workforce development program that provides financial opportunities and counseling support to the early childhood workforce. 

As a Latina woman, Marinel points to her heritage as an influence for the way she approaches her work with the same conviction and passion as the food she feeds her family. She wants her daughters to grow up feeling just as proud. Latinos enrich our world from their emphasis on family, culture and history. To her, they are Americans who also don’t forget where they come from. 

Executive Director of Youth in Action

Growing up in Worcester, MA as a first generation Salvadoran, Elliot Rivera did not have the access to most resources. What he did have were two dedicated parents working countless hours in manufacturing and janitorial services to get by. Never really thinking he would end up working with people, opportunities to support his communities from fighting within a union for undocumented worker rights to supporting youth in multiple settings came naturally to Elliot. 

As a person of Latine heritage, Elliot’s connection to his work and the journey of it is rooted in his deep core connection to all aspects of his culture. Now proudly calling Providence RI home, in his current role as the Executive Director of Youth in Action he is not only to amplify the stories and journeys of the next generation but also support them in their own journeys by opening doors to experiences and opportunities he was never afforded. 

For Elliot, the Latinx experience is a story of strife, persistence and love with an eye for community. Across all aspects of music, food and storytelling, He finds connections to his people through stories of his predecessors and their journeys and uses them to continue that legacy today and forward.  Celebrating each individual wholey– con mucho ritmo!

Clinical Faculty, Collaborative Partnerships for Preventative Mental Health Services 

Jennifer grew up in Central Falls and Pawtucket while holding on to her family’s roots in Colombia. Every summer, and nearly every Christmas, growing up was spent in Don Matias, Antioquia. 

Today, she works at Thundermist Health Center where she provides mental health and telemental health to adults, children and families. Jennifer also supervises, teaches and mentors Social Work RIC students.

In 2018, Jennifer became one of the co-founders of the Latino Mental Health Network of RI where they aim to recruit and retain aspiring and current Latinx mental health professionals. “Being Latinx has shaped my work immensely. My work focuses on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, decreasing mental health stigma in our community and encouraging Latinx folks to enter the field of mental health, either as nurses, therapists, psychiatric nurse practitioners or psychiatrists.”

Associate Professor of Journalism at RWU

Paola Prado was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, nestled beneath the iconic statue of Christ that overlooks the city and the greenery of the rainforest. Born a year prior to the military coup that cracked down on freedom of expression and launched 21 years of dictatorship, Paola experienced the stark contrast between stunning natural beauty and extreme injustice. These experiences set her path towards a career in the news media and, later, in the academy.

With a fascinating upbringing surrounded by Brazil’s most talented artists and musicians, as well as journalists and media professionals, Paola came to the U.S. at the age of 18 to study film, at Denison University in Ohio and Sorbonne in Paris later to attend Georgetown University and join the press corps. 

Today, Paola is an Associate Professor of Journalism teaching Digital Journalism and Multimedia Productions and the Program Coordinator of Latin American and Latino Studies. In 2019 she was an editor for the newly published book “Climate Change, Media & Culture: Critical Issues in Global Environmental Communication.”

Co-Founder & CEO of the Nuñez Co.

Ray Nuñez has a life-long passion for creative storytelling, inclusive community engagement, and equitable brand-building. Since arriving in the United States from Los Reyes, Michoacán, Mexico, in 1999, Ray has been recognized nationally for his innovative work in marketing, design, and leadership.

In 2015, Ray graduated from College Leadership Rhode Island; in 2017, Ray received his Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design and Digital Media from Johnson & Wales University. In 2020, Ray and his equally-driven partner Taryn Nuñez launched Nuñez, a multi-cultural marketing agency with an anti-racist focus that embodies the diversity and equity they want to see globally. Ray’s bet is on the untapped creative potential born out of defiance of dominant culture. As such, he’s placing his chips in gathering a culturally diverse team at Nuñez to create a unique, fresh perspective on the way businesses and individuals tell their stories at the intersection of 4 focus points: data, design, disruption, and diversity.

Ray’s efforts led him to be named ‘2022 Who To Watch’ by Providence Monthly and receive a ‘Next Tech Generation 2021 Tech10 Award’ by The Tech Collective. Ray resides in Riverside, Rhode Island, with his wife, Taryn, their son Ramon, and three dogs; Frida, Diego, and Pancho.