Perla Rodriguez ’01
Perla Rodriguez ’01, senior director of education programs for the Hispanic Federation, is on City & State’s Higher Education Power 100 list for a second year as one of New York’s most influential college and university
leaders. City & State is a media outlet that covers local and state politics and policy
across New York state.
Rodriguez oversees the Hispanic Federation’s advocacy work in advancing educational
opportunities for Latino and other minority students. The nonprofit’s education programs
support students from early childhood through college-entry level. Rodriguez also
leads CREAR Futuros, the Federation’s mentorship program that connects college students
to social services and internships. In addition to education, the Federation advocates
for immigration, civic engagement, economic empowerment, and the environment.
“The work we do at the Hispanic Federation is so important and impactful,” Rodriguez
says. “I am proud to be part of a team that works so hard and accomplishes so much
to uplift our Latino communities.”
Rodriguez, who grew up in a large Dominican family in the Bronx, double majored in
English and Spanish at Skidmore. She taught English at a Bronx high school while pursuing
a master’s degree in secondary English education through the New York City Teaching
Fellows program.
Rodriguez also earned an MFA degree in creative writing with a concentration in children’s
writing at The New School. “I was always passionate about reading and writing, but
I never saw myself in the writers and literature I studied so extensively,” she says.
Her literary aspirations grew when she began looking for books for her children. “I
wanted to write for my kids, the kids I taught in the South Bronx, and the little
kid in me who didn’t have main characters who looked like me,” she says.
“Growing up in the Bronx and then teaching high school, I saw so many students, friends,
and family members defeated by our inequitable education system. I always knew it
was my purpose to work to make things better,” Rodriguez adds. “There is still so
much work to be done — in today’s political climate even more so — and I am proud
to work for an organization that recognizes this and keeps pushing for change.”
