María I. Reinat-Pumarejo

María I. Reinat-Pumarejo is co-director of ilé: Institute for Latino Empowerment, an organization committed to anti-oppression organizing in Puerto Rico and the US, which she co-founded in 1992. She has been organizing against racism and other forms of oppression since the early 1980s. Her passion, conviction, and vision are matched by her skill and knowledge in areas that include: history, cultural studies, counseling psychology, spirituality, healing arts, transformative education, and organizational development.

María is also a Core Trainer with The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, based in New Orleans, LA, and is an influential member of their national multi-racial network of anti-racism organizers. She works closely with women’s organizations in Puerto Rico, the US, and internationally to support and join the leadership of other women of color. She is a member of the East Asia-US-Puerto Rico Women’s Network Against Militarism’s steering committee, and speaks frequently to denounce the globalization of the “culture of imposition” in local, national, and international forums.

María worked as Youth Program Coordinator of the Peace Development Fund, a progressive national foundation, where she supported efforts across the US to teach young people about dismantling racism, sexism, ageism, and militarism, and to promote youth empowerment. She also worked in a number of key roles at Casa Latina, a Latino community organization in Northampton, MA. Her commitment to end militarism and colonialism has included civil disobedience actions to oppose the US Navy’s presence in Vieques, leading on two occasions to her arrest and incarceration. She was nominated in 2005 for the Nobel Peace Prize as part of 1000 Women for Peace.