Full Name
Carlos Mariani
Job Title
Executive Director
Company
MnEEP
Speaker Bio
Carlos Mariani Rosa is a distinguished leader in the nonprofit and public sector. Under his tenure, Minnesota Education Equity Partnership has increasingly strengthened its voice as a statewide authority on educational race equity in Minnesota through research on student academic outcomes and social realities, publishing policy briefs, and convening multi-cultural advocacy networks for shifting education policies and practices.
Representative Mariani was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1990, representing St. Paul district 65B. He is a member of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and has focused his efforts on issues affecting marginalized communities in areas as diverse as: education, economic development, and criminal justice reform. He served as Chair of the E-12 Education Policy Committee authoring and guiding several major race equity bills signed into law such as the; MN Prosperity (DREAM) Act for Undocumented students, the nation-leading Learning English for Academic Proficiency and Success (LEAPS) Act advancing an assets-based approach in promoting home languages as a vital element for overall academic achievement for emerging multi-linguals, and the Achievement and Integration in MN (AIM) Act re-establishing Minnesota’s school racial integration revenue program to combine accountability for academic outcomes with racial integration efforts.
Rep. Mariani also served as the Chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee where addressing racial disparities shaped the heart of its legislation. In response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, he organized, authored, and had passed into law the 2020 MN Police Accountability Act which reformed the use of deadly force by law enforcement and restructured the state police licensing board to proactively prevent, identify and discipline officers engaged in police brutality.
Under his Chairpersonship, the committee also oversaw major reforms in; advancing “second chance” opportunities for those convicted of crimes to better their lives, creating a prison and jail safety regulatory accountability process in response to negligent deaths occurring in facilities across our state, passed the nation’s first elimination of oppressive requirements that Indian Tribal police must be certified only with the permission of local Sheriffs and - in response to huge disparities in unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women - created an independent investigative office led by Indian American women to focus on solving these crimes.
Rep. Mariani is well-recognized for his leadership on social justice issues. Throughout his legislative career he has been constantly honored by a diversity education, anti-poverty, environmental and social justice association including: the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action, the Jobs Now Coalition, the MN School Boards Association, Literacy Minnesota, National TRIO Association, MN Mesa Latina, MN Immigration Law Center, Sierra Club, and many others, for outstanding advocacy as a legislator. The MN Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) conferred the prestigious Joan Growe Award for Distinguished Commitment to Expanding Access to Democracy and Justice in Minnesota.
In addition to simultaneously carrying major responsibilities directing an equity focused non-profit and lawmaking for racial justice, Carlos has been active in community groups serving on the boards of: Migizi, the Generation Next Leadership Council, Academia Cesar Chavez. As a Bush Fellow recipient, he used his scholarship funds to convene, facilitate and mentor a MN Latino Leadership Circle of local emerging Latino leaders.
A 1980 graduate of Macalester College, Carlos was a Mondale Policy Fellow at the U of M Hubert H Humphrey Institute in 1991, and a U.S. Delegation Member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders exchange to Argentina and Uruguay in 1996. Rep Mariani is a member of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials and the National Conference of Hispanic State Legislators. He is the recipient of Macalester College’s Alumni Distinguished Citizen Award and was awarded the prestigious Bush Fellowship in 2013 and was a Studio E Fellow in 2014.
Representative Mariani was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1990, representing St. Paul district 65B. He is a member of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and has focused his efforts on issues affecting marginalized communities in areas as diverse as: education, economic development, and criminal justice reform. He served as Chair of the E-12 Education Policy Committee authoring and guiding several major race equity bills signed into law such as the; MN Prosperity (DREAM) Act for Undocumented students, the nation-leading Learning English for Academic Proficiency and Success (LEAPS) Act advancing an assets-based approach in promoting home languages as a vital element for overall academic achievement for emerging multi-linguals, and the Achievement and Integration in MN (AIM) Act re-establishing Minnesota’s school racial integration revenue program to combine accountability for academic outcomes with racial integration efforts.
Rep. Mariani also served as the Chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee where addressing racial disparities shaped the heart of its legislation. In response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, he organized, authored, and had passed into law the 2020 MN Police Accountability Act which reformed the use of deadly force by law enforcement and restructured the state police licensing board to proactively prevent, identify and discipline officers engaged in police brutality.
Under his Chairpersonship, the committee also oversaw major reforms in; advancing “second chance” opportunities for those convicted of crimes to better their lives, creating a prison and jail safety regulatory accountability process in response to negligent deaths occurring in facilities across our state, passed the nation’s first elimination of oppressive requirements that Indian Tribal police must be certified only with the permission of local Sheriffs and - in response to huge disparities in unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women - created an independent investigative office led by Indian American women to focus on solving these crimes.
Rep. Mariani is well-recognized for his leadership on social justice issues. Throughout his legislative career he has been constantly honored by a diversity education, anti-poverty, environmental and social justice association including: the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action, the Jobs Now Coalition, the MN School Boards Association, Literacy Minnesota, National TRIO Association, MN Mesa Latina, MN Immigration Law Center, Sierra Club, and many others, for outstanding advocacy as a legislator. The MN Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) conferred the prestigious Joan Growe Award for Distinguished Commitment to Expanding Access to Democracy and Justice in Minnesota.
In addition to simultaneously carrying major responsibilities directing an equity focused non-profit and lawmaking for racial justice, Carlos has been active in community groups serving on the boards of: Migizi, the Generation Next Leadership Council, Academia Cesar Chavez. As a Bush Fellow recipient, he used his scholarship funds to convene, facilitate and mentor a MN Latino Leadership Circle of local emerging Latino leaders.
A 1980 graduate of Macalester College, Carlos was a Mondale Policy Fellow at the U of M Hubert H Humphrey Institute in 1991, and a U.S. Delegation Member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders exchange to Argentina and Uruguay in 1996. Rep Mariani is a member of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials and the National Conference of Hispanic State Legislators. He is the recipient of Macalester College’s Alumni Distinguished Citizen Award and was awarded the prestigious Bush Fellowship in 2013 and was a Studio E Fellow in 2014.
