Pearlette J Ramos International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

Pearlette J Ramos

Pearlette J. Ramos, Ph.D., J.D. is a lawyer, social justice advocate, transformational leader and entrepreneur with more than 25 years’ experience in advocacy, operations, compliance, and strategic and project management. Dr. Ramos serves as the Deputy Assistant Director and Corporate Compliance Officer with the Arizona Department of Economic Security-Division of Developmental Disabilities where she is responsible for regulatory and contractual compliance for the $2.7 billion managed care organization that serves 47,000 Arizonans. She also provides strategic leadership for her firm, Pearlette Ramos LLC, as well as Sisters Talk About Race, an Arizona nonprofit she co-created which is committed to connecting, educating, and activating women to end systemic racism and ensure justice. Born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in the housing projects, Pearlette’s childhood home was riddled with alcoholism, mental illness, and domestic violence. Due to the trauma, she fled her parents’ home when she was 15 years old. Within twelve months she was pregnant, married and a high school dropout. During her 20s, she struggled as a single mom who worked three jobs at a time just to make ends meet. These challenges prompted her to attend college-then law school school—where she dreamt of changing the laws and systems that disproportionately impacted women and children. Dr. Ramos is producing her first social impact film: Three (Extra)Ordinary Women. The documentary uses the imposing Mount Kilimanjaro as both a physical structure and a metaphor for our own personal journeys and battles with seemingly unsurmountable odds and challenges--like overcoming trauma, ending violence against women, and undoing racism. The film invites us into the personal and private lives of three brave and extra ordinary women as they acknowledge and share their individual life journeys and battles through the intense demands of getting ready to face and conquer a hike up Kilimanjaro. By changing the narrative about what's possible ---particularly for those who come from disenfranchised communities of color---the film aims to inspire girls and women to claim their power and make a unique difference while committing to end global violence against women, injustice, and racial inequality! See https://threeextraordinarywomen.com/ Dr. Ramos graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (1995) and practiced law as a civil litigator prior to attending Saybrook University (2012) where she earned a doctorate degree in psychology. Her dissertation, Well-Being: A Study of Attorney Believes, Attitudes, and Perceptions (2012), takes a critical look at the factors that influence well-being among Arizona lawyers. When she’s not working Dr. Ramos volunteers with various organizations including OneAZ Credit Union, OneAZ Community Foundation, Sisters Talk About Race, Arizona Black Bar, Arizona Equal Justice Alliance, the Arizona Collaborative Bar, Phoenix Rotary 100, State Bar of Arizona’s Council on Minorities and Women in the Law, and the Arizona Center for Civil Leadership (Flinn Brown).