In celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Nora Cronin Presentation Academy [NCPA] students, faculty and staff welcomed Orange County Legislator Genesis Ramos as a guest speaker who spoke on leadership, individual goals and the importance of contributing their voice to their work and passions.

The month of March is nationally recognized as Women’s History Month and March 8 is globally recognized as International Women’s Day. Each of these celebrations highlight the importance of women and their contributions and accomplishments in history.

At the local level, NCPA is a private all girls Catholic middle school located in the City of Newburgh that primarily serves the students of low income families and incorporates the Catholic faith and its teachings into the education of these students. The school mainly serves students from fifth through eighth grade.

In her opening remarks to the students, Ramos thanked all the students for being there to listen and engage with her. For the gathered students, just like her who grew up in Newburgh, she shared that the students should be proud of where they come from and be proud of who they are. Ramos also recognized those women who have had an important role in the students’ lives such as grandmothers, mothers, aunts, teachers and sisters.

Ramos is a first generation Hondurian-American, born and raised in the city. She was also introduced as the youngest member voted into the Orange County Legislature. Ramos defeated Roger Ramjug for the legislature’s sixth district seat. In December 2021, Mount Saint Mary College named Ramos Executive Director of the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness. Ramos’s educational background includes an associates degree in human services that she received from SUNY Orange, a bachelor’s degree in sociology from SUNY New Paltz and a public administration masters degree from Marist College.

In her first year of her legislative term, Ramos admitted to the students that her first meeting was a difficult experience as she was surrounded by legislators that did not look like her.

“A lot of times we [women] get this messaging or at least ideas that our voices aren’t important, or that they aren’t necessary.

That’s completely untrue,” said Ramos. “Our voices and our perspectives are necessary in every single space. All of your voices are really important.”

In time as she progressed in her legislative work, Ramos shared that her mindset changed from if she was allowed to be there to why she belonged there in the first place.

“When people voted for me, they trusted me to represent them and to use my voice to ensure that their best interests were being put forward,” said Ramos. “What I started to think about instead, were all the girls that look like you [the students] that one day may be in my seat because that to me is what’s important.”

When searching for a career in the future, Ramos said it is ok to have a plan for a career in mind or to not know at all what lies ahead in the future. “We will go through life always figuring it out and that’s completely okay,” said Ramos. “What is important is that whatever it is that you choose, that it is truly what feels right for all of you.”

Ramos thanked the students for taking the time to listen and ended the discussion with answering students’ questions about local politics, her career, and whether or not she believed herself as a role model to younger women. At the conclusion of the presentation, Dr. Tammy Barnett, Principal of NCPA reflected on seeing the students ask questions and listening to Ramos’s words and thanked Ramos for taking some time to spend with the students. “International Women’s Day is a long time coming. It makes me very happy that we can have someone who is a role model for women of color. These little girls don’t get to see that often. And we thought this is a great opportunity to have Genesis [Ramos] in and have her speak to them,” said Barnett. “We’re (NCPA) very proud that we could host an event that would allow them to celebrate both the idea that women of color and women in general from around the world can stand up and make a difference. As Genesis said, take up space.”