In this episode of Capital for Good we speak with Luis Miranda, one of New York's, and the country’s, most dynamic cross-sector leaders, with more than four decades of experience in government, business, politics and advocacy, community development, and the arts. Miranda is the founding partner of the MirRam Group, founding president of the Hispanic Federation, and board chair of the Latino Victory Fund, the Public Theater, and the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance. In the words of his son Lin-Manuel, Miranda is relentless.
We begin with Miranda’s childhood and formative years in Vega Alta, a small town in Puerto Rico where he was born and raised before leaving for New York to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology at NYU. Although he left Puerto Rico as a very young man, the place has remained central to his identity and family — and, as beautifully told in the award-winning HBO documentary Siempre, Luis, a place he returns to regularly, including to lead much of the rebuilding effort after hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Once settled in New York, Miranda discovered that work as a clinical psychologist didn’t suit him, but the city “fit like a glove.” Inspired by his parents, who were deeply engaged in public service, Miranda became a community activist, first via nonprofit organizations, then in government when he “came to understand the role that politics can play in changing lives, making communities better.” Miranda would go on to serve in three Mayoral administrations — Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani — and became increasingly involved in local, state, and national politics, helping to elect officials to the New York City Council, the New York State Assembly, and all of New York’s recent representatives in the US Senate: Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Charles Schumer, and Kirsten Gillibrand. Miranda also chairs Latino Victory, focused on building power in the Latino community by electing more Latinos to office.
We end with a discussion of the arts — and the ways in which Miranda’s commitment to the arts, politics, community activism, and inclusion all come together. His many recent and large-scale arts projects include bringing Hamilton to Puerto Rico as part of the hurricane recovery effort, leading the restoration of the United Palace theater in Washington Heights, and chairing the board of The Public Theater, where he is leading its Fund for Free Theater campaign. “The arts feed the soul; they bring people together,” Miranda says. “We have to ensure they are accessible.”
Mentioned in this episode:
- Siempre, Luis
- Relentless, (Luis Miranda)
- Latino Victory
- The Public Theater