Luis Miranda
June 2021
Luis A. Miranda, Jr. has almost four decades of experience as a leader in the public and private sectors. A native of Puerto Rico, Luis was director of field services and research at the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, and held managerial positions at the Community Service Society, the NYC Department of Employment, the NYC Board of Education, and Aspira of New York. In the 1980s he was a special advisor for Hispanic Affairs to Mayor Edward I. Koch, and served as Director of the Mayor’s Office for Hispanic Affairs from 1987 to 1989. He was appointed to the Board of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation by Mayor Koch in 1989, served during the Dinkins administration and in 1993, was appointed its Chairman by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Under Luis' leadership the City’s vast public hospital network saw marked improvements in quality of care and financial stability. In 1990, Luis became the founding President of the Hispanic Federation, one of the nation’s leading Latino nonprofit organizations dedicated to addressing the human services and health needs of the Hispanic community. As President, Luis became one of New York City’s leading voices for increased support to Latino nonprofits and a widely admired partner for corporate and private philanthropic leaders. Luis, a founding partner of MirRam Group, has consulted on a number of successful political campaigns. He was part of the team that managed Hillary Rodham Clinton, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand’s successful campaigns for the U.S. Senate. In 2001 and 2005 he was one of the leaders of Fernando Ferrer’s historic mayoralty campaigns, and served as lead consultant to many candidates to the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly. Luis was lead consultant in the election of Letitia James as public advocate, the first African American woman elected citywide. Luis’ leadership extends beyond the world of public affairs. In 2000, he founded the Amber Charter School in East Harlem, one of the few charter schools in New York at the time to welcome unionized faculty. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and Campaign for Fiscal Equity. Luis is currently the chairperson of The Broadway League’s Latino audience development program, Viva Broadway. He is a Board Member of the John Jay College Foundation, vice-chair of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and a member of the advisory boards to Nielsen Ratings, and R.Evolucion Latina. Luis studied at the University of Puerto Rico and New York University.
Transcript
LM (0:13): Welcome. In 2019, I worked with my son, Lin-Manuel, and we took ‘Hamilton’ to Puerto Rico. The object of taking such an incredible piece of art was to raise funds for the arts and art groups in the Island. And we raised $15 million dollars as Lin-Manuel jumped on the stage, played HAMILTON again, and for three weeks, we raised $15 million dollars. Now, when we look back, 600 artists and art groups have actually gotten support from the Flamboyan Arts Fund that we created with the Flamboyan Foundation to help the arts and the artists in Puerto Rico. So now, we’re in this virtual reality project, and this virtual reality - THE HEART OF PUERTO RICO - it’s going to transport you to the island. You could see art in Mayagüez, in Orocovis, in San Juan. The same way you’re seeing my office right now, you will see studios of artists. You will see Jaime and Javier Suárez’s sculptural collaboration. You will even see ‘Y No Había Luz: The Parable of the Mango Tree’ when they first performed it after Huracán María. Mi gente, enjoy THE HEART OF PUERTO RICO.
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