Luis Antonio Miranda Concepción (born August 23, 1954) is a Puerto Rican

political strategist Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, and

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

consultant.

Early life

Miranda was born and raised in

Vega Alta, Puerto Rico Vega Alta () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico. Vega Alta is on the northern coast of the island, north of Morovis and Corozal; east of Vega Baja; and west of Dorado with an area of . Vega Alta is subdivided into seven barrios and Vega ...

. He migrated from Puerto Rico to New York City at 18 when he received a scholarship from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

and pursued graduate work in psychology at

Career and activism

In the 1980s, Miranda was a special advisor for Hispanic Affairs to the Mayor of New York City

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...

, serving as Director of the Mayor's Office for Hispanic Affairs from 1987 to 1989. In 1989, Luis was made a part of the Board of the

NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation NYC Health + Hospitals, officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City as a public benefit corporation. , HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the Uni ...

by Mayor Koch and also served on the board under the Dinkins administration. In 1993, Miranda was appointed by Mayor

Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

as chairman to the Board of the

. Miranda has served as a political consultant on several high-profile political campaigns, including those for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

. Both in 2001 and 2005, Miranda led

Fernando Ferrer Fernando James Ferrer (born April 30, 1950) is an American politician who was the borough president of The Bronx from 1987 to 2001. Ferrer was a candidate for mayor of New York City in 1997 and 2001 and was the Democratic Party nominee for may ...

's mayoral campaigns. Miranda was also a political consultant for

Letitia James Letitia Ann James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the current Attorney General of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed Attorney General Barbara Und ...

, the

Attorney General of New York The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...

. Miranda is a founding partner of the MirRam Group which focuses on political and advocacy consulting. Miranda was also a founder and first president of the

Hispanic Federation The Hispanic Federation (HF) is a U.S based non-governmental organization focused on supporting Hispanic communities through local, state, and national advocacy. The Federation was founded in New York City in 1990 by a small group of Latino leade ...

in 1990. Miranda was also the director of field services and research at the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, and held leadership positions at the Community Service Society, the NYC Department of Employment, the NYC Board of Education, and Aspira of New York. He is currently the chairperson of The Broadway League's Latino audience development program, Viva Broadway. Miranda is the vice-chair of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and a member of the advisory boards to

Nielsen Ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

and R.Evolucion Latina. Miranda founded the Amber Charter School in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

in 2000. Miranda currently serves as the board chair of the Latino Victory Fund and as a board member of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, NYC & Company, the non-profit The city, the John Jay College Foundation and

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

. He is the chair for the advisory boards to the Caribbean and Latin American Studies Department at the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the Ci ...

. ''Siempre, Luis'', a documentary directed by John James, is centered on Miranda and his years of activism. The film was a 2020 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection and premiered on HBO on October 6, 2020. In October 2021, The

American Association of Political Consultants The American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) is the trade group for the political consulting profession in the United States. Founded in 1969, it is the world's largest organization of political consultants, public affairs professio ...

(AAPC) announced that Luis A. Miranda Jr. was recognized by the organization with the President's Award for lifetime achievement. In 2023, Miranda supported the nomination of

Hector LaSalle Hector Daniel LaSalle (born 1967/1968) is an American lawyer and jurist who is the presiding judge of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department. He was unsuccessfully nominated by Governor Kathy Hochul to serve as ...

to the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

as a member of "Latinos for LaSalle". LaSalle's nomination was defeated.

Personal life

Luis is married to Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda. They have two biological children, Luz Miranda-Crespo and

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animate ...

and one adopted son, Miguel. They reside in the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

neighborhood of Washington Heights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miranda, Luis A., Jr. 1954 births American people of Puerto Rican descent American political activists Lin-Manuel Miranda Living people New York University alumni People from Vega Alta, Puerto Rico People from Washington Heights, Manhattan New York (state) Democrats University of Puerto Rico alumni

Early life

Career and activism

Personal life

See also

References