Marie Rama
Marie Rama may be relatively new to the Yonkers community – she moved
here just four years ago from nearby Bronxville – but she has already
made tremendous contributions to the city and to Yonkers Partners in
Education. A former high school English teacher, Marie’s experience and
commitment to YPIE’s mission was a perfect fit.
After learning about YPIE in early 2008, Marie offered to host a meeting
at her house - to both meet more of her neighbors and introduce them to
YPIE’s programs and opportunities. She expected about 10 people to
attend, and so she was overwhelmed when over 30 people attended the
evening event. “The room was filled with wonderful, talented people who
all wanted to help,” she said. They were writers, filmmakers, artists,
and local businesspeople, all of whom had skills and energy to offer to
the Yonkers public schools. The outcome of the evening was really the
beginning of the YPIE Volunteer Program, to which Marie has been a
tremendous contributor.
Over the past two years, Marie has had an enormous impact on YPIE’s
work. From her efforts to develop a volunteer program for YPIE’s high
school College Centers, to her leadership on the YPIE Gala Committee, to
her work to develop a speakers’ bureau, nothing is too much for Marie.
She has made many valuable introductions for YPIE and is always looking
for opportunities to connect the organization to people who can help.
“Recently I was reminded of the concept of ‘servant leadership,’” said
Executive Director, Wendy Nadel. “A servant leader is someone who leads
quietly, with dignity, and without the expectation of anything in
return. This is Marie Rama,” she said.
Marie loves that when volunteering with YPIE, whoever contributes can
become a part of the decision-making process. “Every volunteer’s opinion
counts. You can see the tangible effects of your work and be proud of
what you’ve done.”
Once again this year, Marie is working hard on YPIE’s annual gala. “It’s
a great night for Yonkers and brings so many people together,” she said.
“We need volunteers for our many committees to make the night a
success.”
Outside of YPIE, Marie has varied and highly successful businesses. She
has co-authored the best-selling cookbooks, Grilling for Dummies and
Cooking for Dummies, Volumes I&II, and is getting ready to publish a new
cookbook later this year. In addition, she freelances as an English
Language Arts tutor and provides marketing and communications consulting
services.
