Celebrating the Women of Rocketship California

Maricela Guerrero, Executive Director, Rocketship California

This Women’s History Month, I want to take a moment to honor and celebrate our educators who identify as women and non-binary femmes in our region. Leading a region where women hold decision-making roles fills me with immense pride. At present, a striking 83% of our school leaders identify as women, far surpassing the national average of 56%. We have female leaders throughout our region who I am very proud to work alongside every single day. And while historically and presently on average women make the majority of teachers in this country, we are proud that at Rocketship we have multiple programs to support the leadership development of our educators. Through the Latinx Teachers Fellowship, the Rising Leaders program, and others, we invest in developing women leaders in all areas of our classrooms, schools, and region.

I also want to shine a spotlight on the invaluable contributions of our working mothers on staff. When I see our working moms hustling to get their own kids to school on time while making sure they are ready to share their own professional contributions with the world, I am often reminded of my own mother who worked multiple jobs while taking care of my sister, my brother, and me. I distinctly remember her taking an operations specialist role at my middle school where she worked as a hall monitor. All of the kids and staff loved her because she consistently went above and beyond in her role. She cleaned our restrooms and always offered to help in the office, even though no one asked her to. She did this because of her deep commitment to education and the pride she took in her work. And of course, working at my school gave my mom the opportunity to keep an eye on her kids at all times. I loved having my mom work at my school and I know that many of our Rocketeers feel the same way when they see their mother figures as their role model in education. Being a working mom is not easy and often thankless, and so today I want to make sure you know that I’m so proud to work alongside so many working moms in this fight for educational equity.

Please join me in celebrating and extending heartfelt gratitude to our working moms, and ALL the women and non-binary femmes in our schools, from principals to ops specialists to teachers whose relentless efforts shape the lives of our Rocketeers every single day.

Published on March 10, 2024