Who We Are

A Message from Our Executive Director

As an organization that was founded and is led by parents, we know first hand the injustices that the education system inflicts upon our children. We also know the power that our voices have when we come together and build collective power. PLEE is committed to design spaces where families are at the center and drive every decision we make. We will never stop fighting for the right of families to be at every decision making space and have real decision making power

Ramona Santos Torres,

Co-Founder and Executive Director of PLEE

Our Milestones

PLEE Founded

Founded in 2018, became an official 501c3 in 2021

First Funding

We received our first funding in 2019

First Office

We moved to our first office in 2020

Our Vision

Leverage

our collective knowledge and power amongst RI families to exercise our right to advocate for high-quality and equitable public schools and for policies that impact our children.

Demand

the voice of families in education decision making at the local and state level.

Advocate

for policies that positively impact outcomes for children of color

Collaborate

with other RI organizations aligned with PLEE’s mission and vision

Our Staff

Ramona Santos Torres

Co-Founder and Executive Director of PLEE

Ramona Santos Torres has been a parent advocate for over 10 years primarily working with families of students with disabilities within the school system and other systems of care.

Ramona Santos Torres

Co-Founder and Executive Director of PLEE

Ramona Santos Torres has been a parent advocate for over 10 years primarily working with families of students with disabilities within the school system and other systems of care. She is the Executive Director and one of the Co-founders of Parents Leading for Educational Equity (PLEE), a parent-led, grassroots organization with a mission to fight for parent voice in education decision-making, and for access to a high-quality public school option for all children of color. She moved to Providence from Sosua, Dominican Republic sixteen years ago with her oldest daughter Esther. She is also mother to Rachel, who is attending Classical high school in Providence. Ramona graduated from Rhode Island College in May 2018 with a Bachelors in Social Work.

Joselyn Ramirez

Deputy Director of PLEE

Joselyn Ramirez

Deputy Director of PLEE

Born and raised in Providence, RI to parents of Guatemalan heritage. Joselyn graduated from Classical High School and then went on to graduate from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor’s in Psychology. Throughout her undergraduate education, she served the local communities by interpreting for meetings with the Providence School department and their families. She also worked as a teacher’s assistant at a Providence elementary school. Being a Providence native and seeing the issues of discrimination and lack of equity in schools both personally and then professionally, led her to join PLEE. She hopes to help those families who have felt helpless in their children’s education, find their voice.

Phone:401-239-3809
Email:jramirez@pleeri.org

Stevent Cleto Garcia

Bilingual Project Manager for MLL Family Programs

Immigrated from the Dominican Republic, at the age of 7 to New York City. He speaks three languages (English, Spanish, Italian). Stevent received B.A from Wheaton College Massachusetts in 2022, he seeks to create social justice and equity across our Rhode Island communities, through policy and advocacy work.

Stevent Cleto Garcia

Bilingual Project Manager for MLL Family Programs

Our Board

Ramona Santos Torres

Co-Founder and Executive Director of PLEE

Ramona Santos Torres has been a parent advocate for over 10 years primarily working with families of students with disabilities within the school system and other systems of care.

Ramona Santos Torres

Co-Founder and Executive Director of PLEE

Stephanie Gonzalez

President of the Board of Trustees of Central Falls School Districts

Stephanie was raised in Central Falls and is the daughter of Colombian parents. She graduated from Central Falls High School and Boston College.

Stephanie Gonzalez

President of the Board of Trustees of Central Falls School Districts

Stephanie was raised in Central Falls and is the daughter of Colombian parents. She graduated from Central Falls High School and Boston College. Today she is a law student at Roger Williams University from where she will graduate in May 2021. Since November of last year, she is the President of the Central Falls District School Board, a position that has given her the opportunity to fight for funds and the school system that the children of Central Falls deserve. Seeing that there was no organization that

Karla Vigil

CEO, Equity Institute

Karla Vigil serves as the CEO and co-founder of the Equity Institute, an organization whose mission is to develop innovative systems that cultivate culturally responsive schools and communities.

Karla Vigil

CEO, Equity Institute

Born in El Salvador and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, Karla Vigil serves as the CEO and co-founder of the Equity Institute, an organization whose mission is to develop innovative systems that cultivate culturally responsive schools and communities. Karla oversees the creative vision of the organization and leads strategic initiatives that focus on developing equitable policies and practices. She has also been a great advocate in her status and beyond expressing the importance of recruiting and retaining teachers of color. Karla has a wealth of knowledge and experience in creating and leading initiatives in the K-12 education sector. Most recently, Karla was a Senior Associate for School and District Design at the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE), where she worked as a thought partner in developing frameworks and resources focused on equity, culturally responsive teaching, and personalized learning. While she has worked in a variety of organizations, one of her most valuable experiences was serving as a fourth grade classroom teacher dedicated to broadening students' perspectives through multicultural and social justice education. Karla was a Deeper Learning Equity member and was recently selected as a member of the Pahara NextGen, Winter 2020 cohort. She lives in East Providence with her partner and her three children.

Janie Segui Rodriguez

Community Organizer and Co-founder of PLEE

Janie Seguí Rodriguez recently graduated from Roger Williams University with a Master's degree in Community Development and is a candidate for Room 5 of the Pawtucket city council.

Janie Segui Rodriguez

Community Organizer and Co-founder of PLEE

Janie Seguí Rodriguez recently graduated from Roger Williams University with a Master's degree in Community Development and is a candidate for Room 5 of the Pawtucket city council. Janie is a parent advocate, community organizer, lifelong learner, and a passionate advocate for strong educational policies and programs that promote liberation and justice! She is the proud mother of two daughters, Destiny, who is 11, and Kailani, who is 5. She has tirelessly advocated for appropriate services to support her daughters' academic progress over the years, and has on occasion been defeated as a system. It is designed to reject parents. After years of tireless efforts, their path crossed with Ramona Santos and Stephanie González, and they embarked on a journey to build a grassroots, parent-leader organization, Parents Leading for Educational Equity (PLEE), with a mission to fight for the voice of parents in the educational decision-making, and to access high-quality public school options for all children of color.

Agi Gai-Kah

PLEE Board Member

My family and I migrated from The Gambia at the age of six, initially arriving in New York City. In 5th grade, we moved to Rhode Island and planted roots in Pawtucket.

Agi Gai-Kah

PLEE Board Member

My family and I migrated from The Gambia at the age of six, initially arriving in New York City. In 5th grade, we moved to Rhode Island and planted roots in Pawtucket. Through Little Sisters of the Poor volunteering became a part of my life. My first job was at age 14 and I worked throughout highschool while being the Class President until graduation. My whole life has been marked by my hunger to succeed because I wanted my mother to get a good return on her investment. She had worked overtime to ensure we focused on our education. Living in Philadelphia while earning my degree at Temple University opened my eyes and when I returned to Pawtucket I was saddened to see the stagnation in our school district. First I worked as a substitute in the schools department and now as a college access counselor, I have spent the last five years of my life working intimately with Pawtuckets youth and families listening to the challenges they face everyday. My students, and my kids, are the reason I passionately believe equity can be achieved best via education! All Pawtucket families deserve a school district they’re proud to send their kids to.

Who We Are

A Message from Our Executive Director

Our Milestones

PLEE Founded

First Funding

First Office