Meet Luisa

Every once in a while, an individual comes home, brings their life and education experience with them, and pays it forward in a way that truly inspires and affects the next generation of students.

In a rapidly changing South Florida community, we need to ensure our students are prepared to take on the challenges of an ever-changing world, a job market that has yet to be created, and a democracy that is being tested. Their future is now, and because of that comes the next generation of School Board Members — Luisa Santos

A proud product of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, education advocate, successful entrepreneur and now the youngest ever School Board Member, Luisa Santos represents everything great about Miami Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) and is working to write the next chapter of student success in District 9.

She moved to Miami from Bogota, Colombia when she was eight and thanks to M-DCPS, was speaking fluent English by nine. During her junior year at Coral Reef Sr. High, Luisa discovered she was undocumented. She persisted — starting her higher education at Miami Dade College and eventually becoming a proud U.S. citizen.

Luisa went on to intern with the Undersecretary in President Obama’s U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC while completing her studies in Political Economy and Education at Georgetown University. She knows teachers and school staff can change lives — she saw it first-hand as a 4th-grade assistant teacher and leading a mentoring and advocacy literacy program for historically underserved students. Luisa eventually came home to Miami to launch her own business, Lulu’s Ice Cream, through which she has reimagined what students can learn in the workplace.

Luisa’s story has been featured in top publications, including Forbes, Glamour, The Miami Herald, and national TV ads. She even spoke at the White House for the Latinas in the U.S. Summit and was named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Florida by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Luisa has been a breath of fresh air on the school board since her election in 2020. She’s proven that innovative, brave, knowledgeable, and equity-minded leadership can deliver outcomes for the next generation.

Luisa’s career narrative as a change-agent, thought-leader, mentor, and education advocate was built on what our public schools taught her. She now serves as an elected leader to ensure all students have an excellent and equitable school experience that sets them up to succeed in the real world.