Departing W.H Latino Media Dir.: Proud We have Seat At Table

White House staff members listen from the Colonnade of the White House as President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration announcement in the Rose Garden, June 15, 2012. Pictured, from left, are: Luis Miranda, Director of Hispanic Media; Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the Domestic Policy Council; Miriam Calderon, a detailee to the Domestic Policy Council from the Department of Health and Human Services; and Press Secretary Jay Carney.

By Sandra Lilley, NBCLatino

Luis Miranda, Director of Hispanic Media for the White House, stepped down yesterday after four years with the Administration. Miranda tells NBC Latino there is “never a good time to go,” but though he really enjoyed the job, it is time to do something different. “My focus right now is figuring out real life,” he says with a smile, adding he plans to work in strategic consulting.

Miranda, 36, was the first White House press director whose specific role was communications with Latino media, both in Spanish and English. He did this at a time in which the Latino electorate has greatly grown in numbers – but more importantly – in national and political visibility, as a key voting block.

“By having someone like Luis, who was bicultural and bilingual, the White House was able to penetrate the community effectively, and I have been really impressed with the level of communication,” says Democratic strategist and attorney Liz López. “It was truly a different level of depth the White House was able to achieve in the Latino community,” she adds.

Telemundo Washington correspondent Lori Montenegro, who has covered the White House extensively, said in an interview with McClatchy Newspapers, “In the years I’ve been here, he’s been the most successful person we’ve had.”

Miranda concedes that his role in the White House represented a coming of age of sorts for Latinos in politics. “Cecilia (Muñoz, White House Domestic Policy Adviser) always says that when she came to Washington 25 years ago, her job was “Latinos 101 – ‘here’s who we are,’etc.,” says Miranda.” Now we don’t have to do that anymore. We have a seat at the table, and that’s hugely important.”

This article was first published in NBCLatino.

Sandra loves being an active part of our “national conversation”, on everything from politics, education and the economy to the latest books and people in the news. Sandra started out in Telemundo-NY as a general assignment reporter and later News Director. She was also a Dayside Managing Editor at MSNBC and a Planning Editor for the NBC Domestic Desk. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Sandra studied history at Brown University, and currently lives in New Jersey with her family. Sandra hopes our site inspires and informs Latinos as they work toward their family’s “American Dream.”