Pearlette Ramos, Phd.

Pearlette J. Ramos, Ph.D., J.D. is a lawyer, social justice advocate, transformational leader and entrepreneur with more than 25 years’ experience in advocacy, operations, compliance, and strategic and project management.

Born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in the housing projects, Pearlette’s childhood home was poverty-stricken and riddled with substance abuse, domestic abuse and untreated mental illness. Due to the trauma, she fled her parents’ home when she was 15 years old. Within twelve months she was pregnant, married and a high school dropout. During her 20s, she struggled as a single mom who worked three jobs at a time just to make ends meet. These challenges prompted her to attend college-then law school school—where she dreamt of changing the laws and systems that disproportionately impacted women and children. 

She provides strategic leadership for Pearlette Ramos LLC as well as Sisters Talk About Race, an Arizona nonprofit she co-created, which is committed to connecting, educating, and activating women to end systemic racism and ensure justice. Dr. Ramos is producing her first social impact film: Three (Extra)Ordinary Women. The documentary uses the imposing Mount Kilimanjaro as both a physical structure and metaphor for overcoming one’s personal struggles with seemingly insurmountable odds-like complex trauma, violence, poverty and racism. The film invites viewers into the private lives of three brave women of color as they share their individual life journeys and battles through the intense demands of getting ready to face a hike up Kilimanjaro. By changing the narrative of what’s possible--particularly for those who come from disenfranchised communities of color--the film aims to inspire girls and women to claim their power and thrive in achieving their purpose! ThreeExtraordiaryWomen.com

Dr. Ramos graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (1995) and practiced law as a civil litigator prior to attending Saybrook University (2012) where she earned a doctorate degree in psychology. Her dissertation, Well-Being: A Study of Attorney Believes, Attitudes, and Perceptions (2012), takes a critical look at the factors that influence well-being among Arizona lawyers. When she’s not working or volunteering with the Arizona Black Bar, Dr. Ramos spends time working with various other community organizations including OneAZ Credit Union, OneAZ Community Foundation, Arizona Equal Justice Alliance, the State Bar of Arizona’s Council on Minorities and Women in the Law, Phoenix Rotary 100, and the Arizona Center for Civil Leadership (Flinn Brown). In her spare time, she loves to travel and has visited each of the seven continents and more than 70 countries.