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 televisi ...

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

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, and author of the book ''Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America''.

Early life

Miranda was born and raised in

Vega Alta, Puerto Rico Vega Alta () is a Vega Alta barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico. Vega Alta is on the northern coast of the island, north of Morovis and Corozal, Puerto Rico, Corozal; east of Vega Baja; and west of ...

. He moved 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 university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

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. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

, 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 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 disbarred 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 fr ...

as chairman to the Board of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. 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, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

and

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

. 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 "Tish" James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 67th Attorney General of New York, attorney general of New York (NYAG), having won the 2018 New York Attorney General election, 2018 ...

, 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 (state), New York and head of the Department of Law of the government of New York (state), state government. The office has existed in various forms since ...

. 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 lead ...

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 , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

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 an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

. 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 postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...

. ''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 professi ...

(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 to the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

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

Book

Miranda's memoir titled, “Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit that Is Transforming America” was released on May 7, 2024. In his book, Miranda shares his reflections about his upbringing in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, career as a political strategist and activist, and understanding the Latino voter.

Personal life

Miranda is married to 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, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...

and one adopted son, Miguel. They reside in the

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

neighborhood of Washington Heights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miranda, Luis A., Jr. 1954 births American people of Puerto Rican descent American 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 2024 United States presidential electors

Early life

Career and activism

Book

Personal life

See also

References