Biography

Alberto M. Carvalho has served as Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district, since February 2022. He was selected by the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education in a unanimous vote following a comprehensive community engagement process and a nationwide search.

Since starting at Los Angeles Unified, Superintendent Carvalho has led the development and implementation of the District’s unanimously approved 2022-2026 Ready for the World Strategic Plan. Numerous initiatives and ideas have enhanced the plan, including the launch of the STEAM Lab Makerspaces, Education Transformation Office, Cultural Arts Passport, and Family Academy. Through Superintendent Carvalho’s leadership, Los Angeles Unified has also established nine new education compacts between the District and local municipalities, made significant progress in greening schools, and secured upgraded credit ratings, generating millions in savings.

During his 14-year tenure as Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), Superintendent Carvalho garnered local, state, national, and international recognition. His honors include being named Florida’s 2014 Superintendent of the Year, the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year, the 2016 Magnet Schools of America Superintendent of the Year, the 2016 winner of the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education, the 2018 National Urban Superintendent of the Year, and the 2019 National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Superintendent of the Year.

Under his leadership, M-DCPS became one of the nation’s highest-performing urban school systems, receiving systemwide accreditation from AdvancEd in 2014 and 2019. M-DCPS was named as the 2014 College Board Advanced Placement Equity and Excellence District of the Year and the 2012 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education. Superintendent Carvalho is now seeking to elevate Los Angeles Unified to the premier spot in American urban education.

Superintendent Carvalho was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education to serve on the National Assessment Governing Board. He has served as a committee member for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and is currently serving as an Advisory Committee Member to the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance. Superintendent Carvalho is also a dedicated member of the Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council, the National Board of Directors for Common Threads, the Posse Foundation, the Aspen Institute’s Planet Media Task Force, and Code.org. He is a member of the Leadership Table for the Los Angeles County Executive Committee on Homelessness and serves on the Board of Directors of The Music Center of Los Angeles.

Superintendent Carvalho has been awarded many honorary degrees. He has been honored by the President of Portugal with the “Ordem de Mérito Civil” and by Mexico with the “Ohtli Award.” He was also knighted by King Felipe VI of Spain with the Cross of the Orden de Isabel la Católica.

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