Two exceptional women, former grassroots organizer and founder of Parents Invincible, Shirley Irizarry, and award-winning educator, mother, speaker and K12 education expert, Anashay Wright, will join diverse Board
Boston, MA (July 28, 2022) — The National Parents Union, an education advocacy organization founded and led by parents for families, announced today the appointment of two new board members, who will help lead its diverse network of parent activists. The new members were appointed in June 2022 and will join five others who have guided the organization to channel the power of parents.
“The National Parents Union is committed to empowering diverse parents from all walks of life to speak truth to power and change policy and politics behind a common goal of fighting for a better future for their children,” said Keri Rodrigues, co-founder, president and board member of the National Parents Union. “We are proud to welcome our newest Board members, two exceptional women, whose diverse perspectives and life experiences will help us better serve our network of parent activists.
Newly Appointed Board Members of the National Parents Union:
- Shirley Irizarry- Irizarry is the founder of Parents Invincible. A resident of Camden, New Jersey, she was determined to have better education options for her two daughters and began volunteering with local initiatives and nonprofit organizations that helped to bring the community together, all the while advocating for better schools for Camden. She believes in parent power and works toward informing, empowering, and elevating over 7,000 parent voices in Camden, New Jersey.
- Anashay Wright- Wright is the founder & Chief Disruptor of Disruptive Partners consulting firm. She brings over 20 years of experience at every level of the K-12 education system and higher-Ed as an adjunct professor. Anashay has led teams at national education and community-based organizations including Leading Educators, TNTP and The Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes Foundation. Her social Impact firm, Disruptive Partners (DP), trains, coaches and advises Black students & families on how to create and advance their collective vision for K12 and post-secondary success. DP also trains educators, organizations, and elected officials on how to effectively partner, engage and lead change alongside communities of color. DP’s innovative approach to “disrupting for good” in education has received national recognition.
Current National Parents Union Board Members
- Peter Cunningham- Cunningham is the founder of Education Post. He served as assistant secretary for communications and outreach in the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration’s first term. He is a father and musician based in Chicago.
- Arthur Soriano- Soriano is the President CEO of Youth Empowerment, a non-profit community-organization that leads a grassroots effort to engage at-risk youth and adult gang-members. He was raised in East San Diego, where he fell into the pitfalls of a gang and a personal destructive path into the prison institution for 23 years. His passion for the community brought him back to participate in a positive way. He and his wife Gabby have four kids ages 2-21.
- Vincent Slaughter– Slaughter, along with his wife, are foster parents, on the path to adoption. He is a former budget officer at the Georgia Department of Transportation and a long-time volunteer of the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles mentoring program.
- Maria del Carmen Parro de Cano– Cano and her husband have four children, three girls and a boy in the spirit world. She is an entrepreneur and founder/Executive Director of Cihuapactli Collective, an organization dedicated to providing healing for Indigenous women and their families.
- Dr. Paul Bloomberg- Bloomberg is the CEO of The Core Collaborative, a learning network that specializes in student-centered approaches to learning. Bloomberg and his husband have two grown sons.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARENTS UNION
The National Parents Union is a network of highly effective parent organizations and grassroots activists across the country that is united behind a set of common goals and principles to channel the power of parents. Our family advocates improve the quality of life for children across the United States and define the education conversation. https://nationalparentsunion.org/