Mariela serves as KIPP NYC’s Regional Director of Advocacy on the External Affairs Team; in this role, she creates and implements strategies to engage a growing network of 18 schools partnering with over 8,300 KIPP families, students, and 2,780 alumni. Most recently, Mariela completed the CORO Leadership NY fellowship, a 9 month program to develop leadership capacity and to collaborate with other civic leaders across multiple sectors to improve NYC.

She has served as a committee member for Youth and Education on Bronx community board 1 and completed a term on Teach For America’s NYC Collective Board. Mariela was part of the founding NY cohort of ERN’s Leaders of Color Fellowship in 2020, where she further developed as a leader in her community by building her education policy knowledge and honing campaigning skills with an equity lens.

Mariela is the oldest of five and a first-generation Mexican-American graduate from Hamilton College. Upon graduation from Hamilton, Mariela joined Teach for America and taught in South Carolina while earning her Masters in Education from Francis Marion University. As a proud Bronxite, Mariela returned to her home borough in 2015 with the aim of building better communities, strengthening partnerships and providing high quality education options to the families of New York.