Born and raised in Newark, Yolanda Ramirez is known affectionately as “Miss Jumpy” by the scores kids who attend her Jump 2 It Fitness & Fun program – where she teaches jump rope as the core exercise. Ms. Ramirez initially started out teaching dance when she founded and operated her Unity Dance Studio in 2001. After 9 years of teaching ballet, jazz, African and Liturgical (aka “praise dance”), along with coordinating and hosting major dance show events for which she designed and sewed her dancers’ costumes and created stage props, she hosted numerous community events and even filmed a network TV commercial for Channel 9 (which is forever immortalized on YouTube (Yolanda Ramirez “my neighborhood video”), she decided to segue from teaching kids dance to a fitness-based program because she saw a need. A need to teach kids the importance of maintaining their health and fitness in light of the growing childhood obesity rate in NJ (which has reached epidemic proportions). She was also motivated by seeing kids sitting down, preoccupied with playing games and engaging on social media with their Smartphones. She recognized a need to get children more engaged in physical activity and a need to inspire and motivate children to become their own personal best by sharpening their minds and encouraging them to tap into their creativity. Inasmuch, Ms. Ramirez uses the time in between her fitness demonstrations to mentor kids. Whether teaching them manners or a new word to add to their vocabulary – she uses every opportunity to educate, enlighten and empower kids. She also engages them in arts & crafts and old fashioned games such as hop scotch and jacks because kids nowadays have become so entrenched in relaying on computers for almost everything - from school work to playing video games on the computer, they no longer rely solely on their own capabilities. In addition to her kids fitness program, she also does facepainting and hosts children’s parties; oftentimes bringing along games for the kids to play that she created herself.
After graduating from Orange High School, Ms. Ramirez attended Essex County College with aspirations of becoming a nurse. However, she changed course and enrolled in a program funded by the City of Newark that enabled her to obtain a paralegal certification which led her into a career in the legal field that spanned six years. She worked in various genres of the legal industry (personal injury, real estate, matrimonial and intellectual property law). Thereafter, she worked for some notable companies such as Jive Records, Mecca USA, Comart Aniforms (a major advertising agency) and the highlight of her career was working as an Office Manager for ten years at the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare companies in the nation. Having such a diverse work background afforded her the benefit and opportunity to learn from and be mentored by some of the most knowledgeable doctorates, attorneys and executives in their respective fields, which in turn prepared her with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience that helped her to create and operate her own businesses (Unity Dance Studio and the Support Our Youth Organization) with expertise.
Ms. Ramirez, a self-published author, is currently employed by the State Attorney General’s Office. While she enjoys working in government, her true passion lies in working with children. It makes her happy being able to give children the chance to learn and experience the joys and good times that she experienced herself as a child. When asked what, beside her genuine love for kids inspires her to work with them – her answer is elementary, “children of today will become adults of tomorrow. We as parents, educators and mentors have an obligation to see to it that we nurture them, provide them with love and stability, teach them and guide them accordingly so that they will have the necessary skills, knowledge and resources because these are the people who will shape our future”.