Freddy Potoy Rosales
The Cora Foundation’s tireless work in the fight against bullying at schools has led to a major breakthrough with the approval of reforms to Pennsylvania’s HB 1293 bill. This amendment, which strengthens students’ rights and protections within the school environment, became a reality thanks to the efforts of Kiria Cora, founder of the Pittsburgh-based organization.
The foundation was created by Kiria and her husband, former Major League Baseball player Joey Cora, inspired by a painful personal experience involving their son. Since then, the couple has led a powerful movement to combat bullying not only at the state level but across the country, promoting awareness campaigns in partnership with media outlets like Univisión and Telemundo.
“We launched TV prevention campaigns every two to three months. The Cora Foundation is focused on educating to prevent bullying and advocating for fair consequences when rules are broken,” says Kiria. “These achievements have been possible thanks to media support and our mission to create safer school environments.”
The reform to HB 1293, signed into law in 2024, represents an unprecedented step forward in state legislation. According to Kiria, the amendment requires schools to notify the parents of all students involved in a bullying incident within five days. If the school fails to act within that timeframe, families have the right to bring the case to Civil Court within 15 days.
Born from Pain and Resilience
The Cora Foundation was founded in 2020 after Kiria and Joey’s son suffered what Kiria describes as “silent bullying.” For 28 days, he was completely ignored by his classmates—to the point that he felt invisible. The emotional toll was so severe that he had to be hospitalized for a month. “It was devastating post-traumatic stress. He was on the brink of death,” Kiria recalls.
With no meaningful response from the school, the family ultimately chose to relocate to a different city to provide a healthier and safer environment for their son.
Education, Prevention, and Community Action
Since then, The Cora Foundation has focused on prevention through educational workshops, particularly within Latino families and communities. They’ve trained hundreds of individuals and visited both public and private schools, working directly with students to teach them how to identify and prevent bullying through a simple yet effective approach.
This approach, developed by Kiria, is based on the COA model: Know, Observe, and Act. Her method is outlined in the book The Silenced Cry (El grito silenciado), which she authored and is available at http://www.kiriacora.com and on Amazon. The book was officially launched on June 5 at the Museum of Happiness in Madrid, Spain.
A National Impact
The legal reform, community workshops, and expansion of the COA model are clear signs of The Cora Foundation’s growing impact in Pennsylvania and beyond. Kiria and Joey’s efforts have paved the way for other families to gain the legal and emotional tools they need to face bullying—and for schools to become safer, more compassionate spaces. The Cora Foundation story shows how one family’s painful experience can be transformed into a lifelong mission with legislative, educational, and human impact. In Kiria’s words:
“We don’t want any other family to go through what we went through. If we can save just one life, then it’s all been worth it.”
This article was originally published in our July/August 2025 print edition.
