History of the Amber Education Fund
The Amber Education Fund was created in 2014 as a charitable foundation with the mission to support the Amber Charter Schools and to partner with other organizations in order to better support similar underserved families and children. In furthering the mission of the Amber Charter Schools, the Amber Education Fund continues to find ways to better educational opportunities with the community. But the Amber Education Fund is best understood by knowing its founders.
Our founders are leaders in the Upper Manhattan neighborhoods of Washington Heights, Inwood, East Harlem and the Bronx. Our founders are community organizers, Latinx leaders, and change makers. The Amber Education Fund is a long-term passion project coming from the heads, hands, and hearts of many dedicated visionaries, including:
Luis Miranda
Founder, Long-term ACS & AEF Board of Trustees Chairman, Benefactor
Luis A. Miranda, Jr. has almost four decades of experience as a leader in the public and private sectors. A native of Puerto Rico, Luis was director of field services and research at the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, and held managerial positions at the Community Service Society, the NYC Department of Employment, the NYC Board of Education, and Aspira of New York.
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In the 1980s he was a special advisor for Hispanic Affairs to Mayor Edward I. Koch, and served as Director of the Mayor’s Office for Hispanic Affairs from 1987 to 1989. He was appointed to the Board of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation by Mayor Koch in 1989, served during the Dinkins administration and in 1993, was appointed its Chairman by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Under Luis' leadership the City’s vast public hospital network saw marked improvements in quality of care and financial stability.
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In 1990, Luis became the founding President of the Hispanic Federation, one of the nation’s leading Latino nonprofit organizations dedicated to addressing the human services and health needs of the Hispanic community. As President, Luis became one of New York City’s leading voices for increased support to Latino nonprofits and a widely admired partner for corporate and private philanthropic leaders.
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Luis, a founding partner of MirRam Group, has consulted on a number of successful political campaigns. He was part of the team that managed Hillary Rodham Clinton, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand’s successful campaigns for the U.S. Senate. In 2001 and 2005 he was one of the leaders of Fernando Ferrer’s historic mayoralty campaigns, and served as lead consultant to many candidates to the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly. Luis was lead consultant in the election of Letitia James as public advocate, the first African American woman elected citywide.
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Luis’ leadership extends beyond the world of public affairs. In 2000, he founded the Amber Charter School in East Harlem, one of the few charter schools in New York at the time to welcome unionized faculty. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and Campaign for Fiscal Equity.
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Luis is currently the chairperson of The Broadway League’s Latino audience development program, Viva Broadway. He is a Board Member of the John Jay College Foundation, Vice-Chair of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and a member of the advisory boards to Nielsen Ratings, and R.Evolucion Latina.
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Luis studied at the University of Puerto Rico and New York University.
Vasthi Acosta
Executive Director of Amber Charter Schools Emeritus, AEF Board of Trustees Secretary
As the former Executive Director at the Amber Charter Schools, Dr. Vasthi Reyes Acosta codified the Amber Charter School model and grew a network of schools from the original school. Dr. Acosta is a graduate of Columbia University’s Teachers College where she was awarded both a Doctor of Education and Master of Arts degrees. She also holds a Master of Science degree from Bank Street College of Education and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University.
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Dr. Acosta has worked in the NYC Department of Education as Assistant Principal, consultant and teacher. She was a college professor at Hostos Community College in the Early Childhood Education department, a curriculum developer and teacher trainer at Teachers College. While at Teachers College, she was responsible for training teachers throughout the North Eastern United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. She has been a national validator for early childhood programs seeking accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
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Dr. Acosta has presented scholarly work at national and statewide conferences. She has published several articles, the two most recent, a book review of the book, “Language, Space and Power: A Critical Look at Bilingual Education” and a commentary titled, “Stung by Buzz Words”, both in the Teachers College Record. As an author, her novella “Gifts from the Magi” is published in the anthology, A Big Apple Christmas. Dr. Acosta started publishing her weekly column titled, “La Maestra del Pueblo”, in the Education section of El Diario La Prensa, which addresses various aspects of parenting and education on November 14, 2011. In addition, Dr. Acosta was recently honored as a Mama Latina, one of only 7 mothers chosen across the entire U.S. for her contributions to her community and dedication to her family.
Soledad Hiciano
Founder, Previous ACS Board of Trustees Chairman & Current ACS Secretary, AEF Board Member
Ms. Soledad Hiciano has served on the Board in different capacities since the school’s founding in 2000. Ms. Hiciano has served as the Executive Director of La Asociación Comunal de Dominicanos Progresistas (ACDP) or Community Association of Progressive Dominicans since 2006, a highly respected community organization serving thousands of families in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. ACDP is the first Dominican-led community based organization in Washington Heights, and has been providing services to the families of Washington Heights for over 25 years.
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Ms. Hiciano has been and still is a very active parent advocate in the field of education. She led the President’s Council of District Six in 1997, was a key member of the ACDP-sponsored team that founded PS 210/Twenty-first Century Academy for Community Leadership in 1997, and played a key role in the founding of Amber Charter School. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Mercy College. She is the mother of three daughters and a resident of Washington Heights.
Fellow Supporters and Partners
