Key Takeaways
- Paola Ramos and De’Ara Balenger live in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
- They met during the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign.
- De’Ara co-founded “maestra,” focusing on social impact strategy.
Paola Ramos, an American journalist who is the correspondent for “Vice,” is engaged to De’Ara Balenger, her fiancée and soon-to-be wife.
She resides in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, with De’Ara Balenger and their mini-goldendoodle, Dida.
They met during the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign, with Ramos working as Deputy Director for Hispanic Press.
As an author, Paolo published her first book, “Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity,” on October 20, 2020.
On page 232 of her book, she shares how her supportive partner, De’Ara Balenger, who is Black and Mexican (Blacxican), challenged her to rethink stereotypes and inclusivity within Latino communities during their time on the Clinton campaign.
De’Ara’s influence was so profound that Ramos believes she deserves more than just two pages and hints at dedicating an entire book to her in the future.
Maestra Co-Founder De’Ara Balenger: Mixed Heritage And Activism
De’Ara Balenger is the co-founder of “maestra,” an agency launched in 2019 for social impact and cultural strategy, and co-hosts the award-winning podcast “Pod Save the People” on Crooked Media.
Prior to her work with “maestra,” she devoted over a decade to public service, including domestic and global efforts to reform criminal justice systems and promote more excellent representation and voter engagement.
Initially, Balenger was a Senior Advisor at the US Department of State from 2009 to 2012 and subsequently served as Justice Advisor from 2012 to 2013.
After that, she served as the Executive Director of Vetting and Research at The Hillary Walker Agency from April 2013 to April 2014.
She then held the role of Director of Engagement at Hillary for America from April 2014 to November 2016.
De’Ara is active in the women’s movement and activism.
In 2016, she was a National Organizer for the historic Women’s March on Washington. For her role, she was named a 2017 Glamour Woman of the Year.
Additionally, she is the Board Co-Chair of the Lower Eastside Girls Club and a Board member of Campaign Zero, which focuses on eliminating police violence.
For her education, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Black Studies with minors in History and Political Science from Macalester College, where she studied from 1999 to 2003.
She also earned a Doctor of Law (JD) from Texas Southern University—Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
Born in 1981, De’Ara Balenger is 43 years old in 2024; she hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but spent her early childhood in Washington, DC.
She comes from a Black and Mexican American family and identifies as Afro-Latino-Mexican.
Her mother’s family hails from a vibrant Mexican community on the West Side of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Her grandmother, who passed away in 2016, was notable for being one of the rare women foremen in a factory during the 1970s and was deeply involved in political activities.
She said:
How I would have never come to be an attorney, a decade-long public servant, an entrepreneur, or an activist had my grandmother’s fate been what it would be under today’s policies.
She showcased her great-grandmother Esther Avaloz’s Avaloz Tacos recipe on “Cooking And Coping” in 2020.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Born in 1987, Paolo Ramos comes from a journalistic family. Her father, Jorge Ramos, is a notable Mexican journalist. She has Cuban, Mexican, and American heritage.
- She is an on-air contributor for Telemundo and MSNBC and a speaker with Lesbians Who Tech + Allies.
- She earned her master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and her Bachelor’s degree from Barnard College.
