Keri Rodrigues

Keri Rodrigues is Matthew, Miles, and David’s mom and the Founding President of the National Parents Union. Called “arguably the most successful — parent organizer in education advocacy today,” her outstanding commitment to social, economic, and educational equity for children and families spans decades. Following her own difficult experience surviving the Massachusetts public school system and receiving her GED from Boston Public Schools, Rodrigues was not surprised when she struggled to navigate the education system with her own children. Knowing that schools were not adequately meeting the needs of students and parents, she turned her focus to education activism, eventually helping other families across the Commonwealth identify and use their voice and place kids at the center of the education discussion. Rodrigues began her career as an award-winning journalist and continued her career in advocacy as a long-time labor activist, communicator, and organizer with the world’s largest local labor union, 1199SEIU, leading major campaigns across the country. Armed with this experience and success, Rodrigues has served as founder and Mom-in-Chief of Massachusetts Parents United, the largest parent advocacy organization in the Commonwealth, reaching more than 250,000 families across Massachusetts since 2016. Rodrigues has also worked as a senior advisor on dozens of nonprofit, ballot-issue and political organizing campaigns both locally and nationally. Keri sits on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s “Influence 100” advisory group to transform the pipeline to education leadership to be more reflective of the composition of the Commonwealth as well as the Superintendent Rubric Refinement Project.