By: Marissa Villa, Director of Communications

I was less than a year away from graduating high school when my journalism teacher pointed out in front of others that the story I had written for our school newspaper was well-written. Until then, I was a shy and quiet student who dreaded going to school every day, stayed out of academic extracurriculars, and settled for average grades. By the end of that year, I had come out of my shell, with several new friends, and a plan for my life. I would be a journalist.  

When I went to college the following year, I majored in Mass Communication and four years after that I was walking into my very first newsroom as the bilingual reporter and editor of a Spanish weekly and English daily. Never mind that the only Spanish classes I had ever taken were in high school and at my parents’ house, where I was taught to read with books called ‘Cuéntame una historia.’ In that newsroom, it didn’t matter — ya era una profesional.  

I had no idea what I was getting myself into as the person who had to cover immigration issues and all things related to the small, but growing, Latino community in a north Texas town. What others thought I knew, thought, and felt instinctively, I searched for online:  

“What’s a posada?”  

“Latino vs. Hispanic”  

“Latino high school and college graduation rates” 

And just like one comment from an educator changed the trajectory of my life, so did a simple online search that led me to research that opened with, “The gap in the number of Latino and white college students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree is wider even than the very substantial differences in high school completion and constitutes the greatest disparity in educational outcomes between the nation’s largest minority group and the white majority.”  

From that moment on, I covered education issues facing the Latino community whenever I could in my role as a reporter and I committed to highlighting positive stories of young Latinos. In other words, I wanted to say publicly that Latino students have something to offer, just like my journalism teacher did for me.  

In my new role as Director of Communications at Latinos for Education I am challenged to think about the educational policies that affect us, the leaders who have molded us, and the Latinos who have inspired us.  

I am thrilled for the opportunity to advance the conversation about why the voice and representation of Latinos in education is so important and how Latinos for Education is driving change. We develop Latino education leaders through our fellowships, empower Latino parents to have a voice, and advocate for positive change that will benefit Latino students. All things I am passionate about.  

From the moment I learned about the organization, I knew that Latinos for Education’s values and mission were closely aligned with my own values and mission as a communicator and Latina. I knew I wanted to be part of this movement. As I have grown to embrace my own identity in my career, both as a journalist and in various communications roles at higher ed institutions and equity and diversity-minded nonprofits, other Latinas and women of color have often stepped in to guide and support me as I have worked to become the profesional I always aimed to be. I’m looking forward to working with and learning from other Latino leaders, including the all-Latina executive leadership team.  I’m grateful that Latinos for Education has given me the opportunity to lead with my identity while working con ganas.  

My hope is that through my work in communications at Latinos for Education, many more people will learn about the powerful contributions that our Latino educators, students and families bring to our communities and that eventually we will not have to shout it aloud, but that it will be instinctively known, thought, and felt by all.  

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Marissa Villa is Latinos for Education’s Director of Communications. She is responsible for the organization’s communications strategy and implementation, both regionally and nationally. Previously, she was Director of Communications at the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, an organization dedicated to strengthening and growing educator preparation programs at Minority Serving Institutions, and UP Partnership, a cradle-to-career collective impact network in San Antonio, Texas. Marissa also has experience in print journalism and higher education communications and marketing. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Midwestern State University.