College Possible is thrilled to announce Dr. Joanna Ramirez as the new executive director of College Possible Minnesota. In this role, Dr. Ramirez will be responsible for leading College Possible Minnesota in its mission to make college admission and success possible for students from low-income backgrounds.
Dr. Ramirez has a deep familiarity with College Possible Minnesota through her work as our vice president of site leadership in which she led a team of seven College Possible executive directors across the country for the past two years. In that role, she advised and coached College Possible executive directors on regional growth strategies including resource development, and she also facilitated a community of practice for executive directors sharing cross-site learning and innovations.
Having lived in St. Paul for 16 years, Dr. Ramirez is immersed in the Twin Cities community and is looking forward to bringing her skills to the regional level and focusing her attention on the Minnesota site.
I am honored to serve in this new role with College Possible and turn my attention fully to a community that I love. I look forward to working with the amazing staff, board members, and donors to help students across the state of MN achieve their goals.” said Dr. Ramirez.
Dr. Ramirez has had an impressive career spanning more than 20 years including work in higher education, foundation and corporate philanthropy and nonprofit leadership. The College Possible Minnesota board is excited about the future under Dr. Joanna’s leadership.
“I’ve had the chance to get to know Dr. Ramirez over the past year and I am excited to now have the opportunity to work more closely with her in her new role.” said Julio Vargas-Essex, College Possible Minnesota board chair. “We’ve come out of an unprecedented year and as we look to the opportunities this next year presents, I am looking forward to Dr. Ramirez’s leadership and partnership as we work to ensure every student in Minnesota can go as far as their talent and motivation will take them. ”
In addition to her work at College Possible, Dr. Ramirez currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits board of directors, is active in LatinoLEAD (a local group of Latinx leaders) and part of a cohort of Adaptive Leaders for Race Equity. Dr. Ramirez brings her passion and her prior experience as a Bush Leadership Fellow, vice president of business solutions with the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, and experience in both corporate and private philanthropy to benefit Minnesota students served by College Possible. Prior to coming to the Twin Cities, Dr. Ramirez was also a research scientist at the University of WI-Milwaukee and the University of Texas San Antonio. Dr. Ramirez earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas, Austin.
We’re excited for the experience and leadership Dr. Ramirez brings to College Possible in service of our mission to ensure every student can achieve their full potential.