Naomi Peña

LAC Co-Founder, Director of Community & Family Engagement

Naomi is our Director of Community Engagement. Naomi became involved in educational advocacy work when her oldest child was diagnosed with Dyslexia 17 years ago and given an IEP. She quickly had to learn how to navigate the special education bureaucracy in NYC and experienced first-hand the overwhelming complexity of the system. Through support from organizations, she learned the special education law and lent herself as a support for other special education parents in her community. In 2015 she joined the Community Education Council for School District 1, where she served as President for five of her eight years. As President of the CEC, and as a proud product of NYCHA, she helped develop and implement NYC’s first district-wide Diversity in Admissions system, and the first Family Resource Center in District 1. She has a professional background in legal, marketing, operations, and finance.