Angelica Infanté-Green, 48, is Rhode Island's new education commissioner. The daughter of Dominican immigrants, she grew up on public assistance, then became the first in her family to go to college. She started working as a teacher and rose to deputy commissioner in the New York state Department of Education.

She speaks English and Spanish, and is raising her children to be bilingual. As the mother of a child with autism, she understands the challenges of special needs education.