Dr. Marianela Rivera and Kassie Infante, MEd, co-founders of HomePlace Collective, are Lawrence MA-based scholar-activists, community organizers, and former elected school committee members. They both believe in the power of activism as a tool for social change and a mindset for developing hope.
Dr. Rivera is a physical therapist and has focused the majority of her career on serving students receiving special education services. Her experiences while working for Lawrence Public Schools revealed systemic issues impacting her students and their families, which motivated her to run and win a last-minute write-in campaign for the Lawrence School Committee in 2015. Dr. Rivera’s efforts helped organize parents, teachers, students, activists, and concerned citizens to propel public education forward with the Fund Our Future campaign that led to the passing of the Student Opportunity Act. Dr. Rivera was one of the first Table Coordinators of the Greater Lawrence Education Justice Alliance, a role that was taken over by Kassie Infante in 2020.
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Participate in crucial policy wins such as the passing of the Student Opportunity Act, bringing an additional $21 million of needed funding to Lawrence Public Schools in MA
Certified Social and Behavioral Research Investigators for Critical/Youth Participatory Action Research by CITI Program
Effectively organizing community members via hosted forums while facilitating political action and collaboration with local elected delegations in the education justice movement
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Formerly elected school board members for an urban district
14 years of cumulative experience working in schools across areas of special education, and alumni/student support services
9 years of combined experience as activists, advocates, and community organizers at the state and local levels
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Facilitating courageous spaces across diverse perspectives
Designing pathways to action that achieve high-level results
Executing adult learning opportunities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice topics
Bilingual proficiency in Spanish
Public Speaking
Community organizing and political advocacy
Ms. Infante earned her B.S from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and has extensive experience working in the non- profit, educational development/philanthropy and political advocacy field. Her experience working in private schools, reconciled with her educational upbringing in public schools and the realization of deep disparities, led her to pursue a career advocating for equity and justice in public education. While serving on the Lawrence School Committee in 2020, Ms. Infante attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education and earned a Masters in Education. Her studies and interest lie in advancing progressive education policy, community organizing and critical participatory action research as methods to disrupt and dismantle systemic racism.