LAUSD Student Board Member Works to Elevate Latino, Student voices

By Mallika Seshadri
Originally published in EdSource on January 26, 2024

Karen R. is a senior at Girls Academic Leadership Academy in Los Angeles, an affiliate school of the Young Women’s Leadership Network.

Karen has made it her mission to promote student leadership across the district and to support the district’s Latino community as the board’s first Latina student board member. A critical forum for [her] to amplify student voices is through LAUSD’s school board meetings, where she speaks on behalf of students and co-sponsors resolutions, including one honoring Latino heritage.

Beyond attending regular school board meetings, Ramirez has attended leadership conferences, appeared on television for Latino heritage month, reached out for collaboration with the Mexican Consulate and is working to launch a podcast later this year.

The podcast, she said, is in Spanish and will specifically cover topics pertinent to English learners. “That’s a community that’s really close to my heart and I always want to support,” she added.

Ramirez said her education at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy — LAUSD’s only all-girls school — has been especially formative in developing her confidence, not only as a board member, but as a leader in her high school’s student body and various clubs.

“Being in that environment around so many women, I felt like my confidence grew. In school, we always like to support each other,” Ramirez said. “I bring that confidence and that energy anywhere I go.”