Dr. Lisa R. Ramírez is currently the Director of Partnerships and Public Engagement. Previously she has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the US Department of Education. Prior roles include the Director of the Office of Migrant Education and the Director for the Office of School Support and Rural Programs in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) at the U.S. Department of Education. She brings a unique combination of personal and professional experiences to help improve the academic success of students across the country. Lisa joined the U.S. Department of Education in 2006, when she was appointed group leader for the discretionary grants team, which plans and coordinates the High School Equivalency Program (HEP), College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), and the then active Migrant Education Even Start (MEES) program. She was promoted to Director of the Office of Migrant Education, where she has remained. Under Lisa?s leadership, the Office of Migrant Education has gained significant recognition among the offices within OESE as well as the entire Education Department. A daughter of migrant workers and a former migrant worker herself, Lisa left the fields to serve in the United States Army Reserves. She financed portions of her college education through the GI Bill and began her career as an educator in 1992, first as a middle and high school teacher in English and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in Texas, then serving as Assistant Principal and Principal. In 2004, Lisa took on the challenge of opening the Lubbock Independent School District?s first charter campus, the Ramírez Charter School. Born in Chicago, but a Texan at heart, Lisa received her B.A., M.Ed., and Ed.D. Degrees from Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas. She is an alumna of the Executive Leadership program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the National Hispana Leadership Institute. Lisa enjoys running, writing and the study of film/world cinema. She is CEO at Olive 13 Paloma Consulting, and author of Dulcified: Sweetened by the Education of Life, an autobiography. Lisa currently lives with her husband, two children and two family dogs in Alexandria, VA.