Our Story
Led by Executive Director and Founder Lisa Mosko Barros, SpEducational is made up of families of kids with exceptional needs coming together with urgency to lift up their kids and demand change in a broken system.
SpEducational is the culmination of countless conversations with families from all walks of life in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, and NYC who want to take action on the fundamental systemic inequities in special education their children are experiencing.
There are many incredible non-profit organizations channeling parent power to lift up underserved populations in schools, yet none focus on one of the most vulnerable and intersectional populations of all - students with disabilities. SpEducational was created to fill this need.
We are still building our organization and our movement. Please stay tuned for more updates!
About the Founder
Lisa Mosko Barros is a dedicated and passionate bi-lingual advocate for students with exceptional needs with over 13 years of both professional and personal experience.
Lisa served as the Chief Advocacy Officer for The Oakland REACH, a non-profit organization dedicated to lifting up Black and Latino students in public schools via family voice. Previously, Lisa was the founding Director of Special Education Advocacy at Speak UP, a parent powered non-profit dedicated to effecting positive change in public schools in Los Angeles Unified. At both organizations, Lisa developed and presented workshops on special education rights in Spanish and English to hundreds of parents, and organized scores of families to lift their collective voice at countless board meetings and state level committee and legislative meetings. Ms. Mosko Barros also served as chairperson for the Los Angeles Unified District’s Community Advisory Committee for Special Education (CAC) where she was re-elected for three consecutive years. During her time as chairperson, Lisa worked in community with parents, students, educators, administrators, the Office of the Superintendent and LA Unified school board members to advocate for positive change in special education. Specifically, Lisa successfully argued for a key revision in the Los Angeles Unified Special Education Local Plan that would further empower families and members of the CAC to serve the District’s special education community.
Ms. Mosko Barros’ advocacy has garnered her attention from the media where she has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the 74 Million, LAist, and La Opinión. Lisa has also been invited to speak as a panelist on Univisión and on Larry Mantle’s AirTalk on KPCC, a NPR member station. Lisa is known for her highly detailed knowledge of educational policy (local, state and federal), fierce advocacy and ability to collaborate and build consensus.
As a mother who has successfully fought in both district and public charter schools spanning three different districts to ensure that her own twice exceptional kids were given the support they needed to thrive, Lisa draws from her lived experience to help other parents do the same. It is Lisa’s mission to empower parents to understand their rights, navigate a seemingly overwhelming bureaucracy and to lift their collective voice to effect positive change in special education.
