Cuban American Latina U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and Public Health Advocate

multi-colored wooden toy cubes to build .natural eco-friendly to

Meet Lubby Navarro, Hispanic Woman of Distinction, Director of Government Affairs Memorial Healthcare Systems, School Board Member, District 7, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

“It is important for me to continue to amplify the voices of other women with intersectional identities: the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, amongst others in our society.”

The Honorable Lubby Navarro was born in Havana, Cuba, and immigrated to the U.S. at just 5 years old with her family. She is a product of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Lubby comes from a family of educators and military service members. She herself proudly serves as an active member of the United States Coastguard Auxiliary in South Dade. She also was appointed by Senator Marco Rubio to the Military Service Academy Nomination Board, thus playing a vital role by helping to nominate outstanding students to the nation’s prestigious service academies.

Lubby’s over 25 years of public service began in the Florida Senate, the Florida House of Representatives, Miami-Dade County, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. In 2015, she was sworn in as School Board Member to represent District 7 of the 4^th largest school district in the U.S., a seat to which her community elected her to in 2016 and subsequently re-elected in 2020. While on the school board, she has remained tireless in her efforts to advocate for special needs students, the expansion of school choice, the improvement of school facilities, enhancement of teacher compensation, and school safety. In 2018, Lubby proffered a school board item that established the first ever Girl-to-Girl Mentoring Initiative for pairing young girls with accomplished female mentors in our community. In 2018, she also served on the State of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Transition Advisory Committee on Education and Workforce Development.

She is a lifetime member of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and currently serves as the First Vice President on the Board of Directors. She also served as Co-Chair of NALEO’s National Latino Commission on Census 2020. She also served as a member of the Miami-Dade County Value Adjustment Board.

Lubby also serves as an advocate in the public health arena as Director of Government Affairs for Memorial Healthcare System. During the global pandemic, she collaborated with local, state, and federal officials to ensure the hospital system received the resources necessary to address the healthcare needs of the community.

She also serves on the Junior League of Greater Miami’s Community Advisory Board, West Kendall Baptist Hospital’s Healthy West Kendall Advisory Board and serves as the Co-chair on the Communities of Excellence 2026 initiative for West Kendall, Florida and is the Co-Chair of the Education Council.

Among her many accolades and recognitions, she was the recipient of the Junior League of Miami’s Women Who Make a Difference Award in 2018, as well as the award for Enhancing the Political Influence of Hispanics by the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the 2020 recipient of the American Diabetes Association’s Rookie of the Year Award for her commitment as a leader in the fight to end diabetes. We are proud to announce the 2021 Hispanic Women of Distinction and the Latina Pioneer of the Year. 2021 Honorees: MELIDA AKITI, VP Ambulatory & Community Service, Memorial Healthcare Systems (Broward) YINETH SANCHEZ ASLAN – GEICO Staff Counsel, Law offices of George L. Cimballa, III (Broward) MARIA S. ANTUNA – CEO Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County – (Palm Beach) ERBI BLANCO-TRUE – Community Development Manager, IBERIABANK, First Horizon Bank (Miami) THAYRA “Tye” HAUSHEER – Volunteer Community Leader AARP Florida (Miami) HEIDI ALZATE KAUFMAN – Founder/President Heidi Alzate Consuting (Broward) JACQUELINE LOPEZ-DEVINE – Chief Clinical Officer/Chief Nursing Officer, Trustbridge ( Palm Beach) JESSICA MARRA – Attorney, Law Firm of Kelley Kronenberg – (Broward) JAENE MIRANDA – Pres/CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County (Palm Beach) LUBBY NAVARRO – School Board Member Miami-Dade County/Director of Government Affairs Memorial Healthcare Systems (Miami) KIMBERLY VALENTIN – Hospice Liasion Amedisys Hospice (Broward) CAROLINA VEIRA – Dir. Community & Corporate Partnerships IMC Health (Miami) Juliette Ashley Valle, 2021 Hispanic Woman of Distinction Up & Comer Award JOIN US on September 10th to honor these fantastic women! Tickets $95 per person, table sponsorship $1500. For more information, sponsorship opportunities and updates visit www.hispanicwomenofdistinction.com or on Facebook.