Harvesting Hope Inc.

Rachel Salinas Bueno is a former migrant farm worker student, and a successful product of the Miami-Dade Public School System. One of nine siblings, she grew up with little resources, doing harsh back-breaking work, while migrating the eastern stream to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. Weekends, holidays, and summers were spent in the fields or packing houses. Rachel came to love school and realized that education was her ticket out of a vicious cycle that permeated her community. She graduated with honors from South Dade High School and went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in education/psychology, a master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling, and recently, completed a specialist degree in Educational Leadership.

 

Ms. Salinas Bueno began her career with Miami Dade County Schools Title 1 Migrant Education Program over 35 years ago as a Peer Counselor. She has since worked her way up to Certified Teacher, School Guidance Counselor, and Educational Specialist. In her tenure, she has worked and advocated for thousands of migrant children and families in many capacities, including the effective identification and recruitment of migrant children in Miami-Dade County, employing educational strategies and techniques to improve progress and test scores of low achieving migrant students, facilitating meetings and conferences with stakeholders on behalf of her students, and empowering students with knowledge, self-awareness, and the belief that anything is possible with effort and positive self-efficacy!

 

​Outside of her work environment, Rachel has been a life-long community activist and volunteer for agencies that provide education and support service opportunities to the migrant farm worker community. In 2016, she founded Harvesting Hope Inc. to help migrant children and families gain access to support services fundamental for learning and thriving. Recently, she served as a board member/commissioner for the Homestead Housing Authority. She has also served on the Homestead Education Advisory Committee, Soroptimist of Homestead, Mexican American Council, and has volunteered with la Asociación Campesina, and The National Farmworkers Association in support of the DREAM Act, DACA, and other issues affecting migrant farmworker children. Ms. Salinas Bueno believes that we can transcend social and economic barriers through education, empathy and civic engagement. Her devotion to the migrant farm worker community is untiring and resolute.