Maria Esther “Mari” Magaloni Ramos (she/her) is pursuing a MDiv at PSR for Unitarian Universalist congregational ministry. She obtained an Advanced Degree in Acting from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Her career as a comedic character actor led her to stand-up comedy. Her credits include membership in the in-house sketch comedy troupe for Caroline’s on Broadway and an eight-year run with Will Durst’s Big Fat Year End Kiss OffComedy Show. She and her partner, Improviser Michael Bossier created the Mike and Mari Show which aired on radio during the pandemic.
Bilingual in English and Spanish, Mari graduated with honors in Medical Interpreting from National Hispanic University and served her community as a Certified in-person Medical Interpreter at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA for four years before she moved to video interpretation as an independent contractor for hospitals, clinics, jails and prisons across the country.
Mari is a member of the board of trustees at First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, where she is a Worship Associate, a member of the Healthy Congregations team and a founding member of the Journey to Wholeness team which prioritizes racial justice by supporting voting efforts in underserved communities of color through UU the Vote. She’s also a member of UUSF’s Writers Against Fascism and its Immigrant Protection Group which collaborates with Nuevo Sol Day Labor and Domestic Worker Center where she helped to establish the Adopt-a-Corner project to accompany day laborers in San Francisco. Mari volunteers at the Faithful Fools, a non-profit organization which fosters awareness and facilitates individual and collective responses to social conditions as seen from the level of the streets in the Tenderloin.
As the student trustee, Mari hopes to be a conduit for intercommunication between students and board members in support of PSR’s mission of radical inclusion, social justice and leadership from historically marginalized communities.
