Janine Ramirez is an education advocate with over a decade of experience and a track record of collaborating with community stakeholders to bring educational opportunities to underserved communities. As Regional Director of Community Engagement for Rocketship Public Schools in the South Bay, Janine Ramirez is responsible for regional leadership, strategy and vision setting for the home base of Rocketship Public Schools, where half of its schools reside. Janine is responsible for navigating external politics, elevating awareness in the region, showcasing Rocketship’s impact externally while fostering collaboration with external stakeholders.
Prior to joining the Rocketship family, Janine served as Regional Director for the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA), advocating for high-quality public schools in an increasingly hostile environment. During this role, Janine led the Charter Community of Silicon Valley, supported statewide policy efforts, represented charter schools in various events and hearings while bringing folks together to engage in collaborative opportunities.
Prior to entering the charter movement, Janine served as Executive Director of Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) for 7 years, an organization dedicated to creating partnerships among parents, students, and educators to further students’ academic achievement impacting nearly 2,500 students a year in her region alone. During her tenure there, Janine transformed the San Jose office into a leading office in the statewide organization for contracts, fundraising and healthy work culture.
Janine is a natural collaborative leader, who thrives on partnership and elevating opportunities for underserved communities, doing this in her professional career and in her personal time as well. Janine served on the board of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley (LCSV) for 6 years, serving in different capacities from Engaged Latina Leadership Activist (ELLA) Chair to President of the organization in 2017. She is a proud alum of the Latino Board Leadership Academy (LBLA), Latino Leadership Alliance (LLA) and is a current participant of the Leadership San Jose Class of 2020 through Silicon Valley Organization (SVO). Janine was named 40 under 40 in 2018 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Janine is originally from Fresno, but has been calling San Jose home for the last 9 years. She studied Psychology at UC Santa Cruz and is an ESTJ, although some say she is more of a P! In her free time, she enjoys socializing with friends, arts and crafts, hiking and nature.
