Taino Palermo

Dr. Taino Palermo is an educator and advocate working to address issues in policy and practice in the areas of organizational leadership, community and economic development, and urban education over the last twenty years. Dr. Palermo served as department chair of both the Community Development and Healthy Communities degree programs at Roger Williams University’s University College where he founded the state’s first and only graduate degree in Community Development. In 2019, Dr. Palermo left that role to pursue a law degree at Roger Williams University School of Law to better advocate for the Taino Indians of Puerto Rico. As a law student, Dr. Palermo co-founded the American Indian Law Student Association (AILSA), launched the law school’s first iteration of the legal education program, “Street Law,” in the state juvenile detention facility. Dr. Palermo has served on boards, committees, and commissions of numerous local and national organizations ranging from the arts and education to housing and public health. In 2022, Dr. Palermo co-founded the Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights, the east coast’s first and only pro bono law and policy center focused on the rights of indigenous peoples. Dr. Palermo’s areas of specialty include community and economic development, American Indian and international indigenous peoples rights, and education policy and practice reform.