Maureen completed the Masters Program in Advocacy and Political Leadership at the University of Minnesota Duluth in May 2007. She received her bachelor's deegree in English and Spanish at Marquette University in 1999. Previously, Ramirez worked at the University of Minnesota as an Admission Counselor and as an advisor in the TRiO Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. She has more than six years experience helping low-income and first generation college students find pathways to college and graduate school.

Ramirez was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota in 2007. She is the first student from UMD, the first Latina and the first non-traditional student to be on the Board. She is the mother of two, and most recently completed an internship with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota