National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually from September 15 to October 15 across the U.S. to celebrate and recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have inspired others to achieve success.

Palmetto Bay will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in our Village during October by showcasing two outstanding Hispanics that play a key role in the daily lives of our community. The first person we will recognize in this four-part series is Miami-Dade County District 9 School Board Member Luisa Santos.
Luisa Santos
Miami-Dade County
District 9 School Board Member
Luisa Santos was born in Bogota, Colombia and moved to the U.S. at the age of eight. She quickly learned English as a product of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Ms. Santos graduated from Coral Reef Senior High School, where she discovered she was undocumented. However, through her dedication and persistence, she became a proud U.S. Citizen and started her collegiate journey at Miami Dade College. She continued to excel and worked for President Obama’s U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC while completing her studies in Political Economy and Education at Georgetown University.

As an education advocate, Ms. Santos has seen first-hand the life-changing impacts educators and school staff can have on a student. She also dedicated her time to teaching fourth graders and led a mentoring and advocacy literacy program for historically underserved third graders. In November 2020, she took her commitment to education a step further and was elected as the Miami-Dade County Public Schools school board member to represent District 9 which includes Palmetto Bay. Ms. Santos is currently also involved with Palmetto Bay’s Education Advisory Council. In addition, she is the successful owner of Lulu’s Ice Cream in Miami.

Ms. Santos, thank you for your leadership and for working so hard to empower the next generation of leaders!

#PalmettoBayProud #HispanicHeritage2021
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