Biography
As a School Board Member, Raquel Regalado has paved the way for improvements in district wide transportation and brought to the board a five year plan which resulted in the replacement of old and inefficient school buses with energy efficient buses that exceed the state’s safety requirements. As a member of the Southeast Florida Regional Partnership Executive Committee, she helped devise the Seven50 plan to secure the economic future and improving the quality of life in the seven‐county region comprising Monroe, Miami‐Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties during the next 50 years and beyond.
At the national level, Ms. Regalado has participated in programs regarding comprehensive immigration reform and the school districts role in assimilation and English learning. As a board member of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Ms. Regalado has spoken nationally on the need for immigration reform and on juvenile justice and the benefits of Florida’s civil citation alternative. As a Hispanic English learner, Ms. Regalado has also been an advocate for bilingual education, a frequent speaker at conferences to explain public education from an English learners’ perspective, debunk the myth that English learners are not academic achievers; and championed the important role that bilingual education will have in Florida’s new economy.
A graduate of Coral Gables High, Ms. Regalado attended Miami‐Dade Community College and then Florida International University, earning a degree in Liberal Studies with honors, earning a Juris Doctorate degree from St. Thomas University School of Law. At St. Thomas, she was the recipient of the Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers Division Scholarship and winner of the St. Thomas University School of Law C. Clyde Atkins Memorial Moot Court Competition and American Trial Lawyers Association Open/Close Competition. Ms. Regalado was a member of the St. Thomas Law Review and the Moot Court Team.
Ms. Regalado is admitted to practice law in Florida state courts and in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Ms. Regalado is an active member of several bar associations, including the American Bar Association, Cuban American Bar Association, and is the member of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Florida. She was an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus. Ms. Regalado was named a Rising Star in Intellectual Property Litigation by Florida Trend magazine and named among the top 40 attorneys in Miami‐Dade County under 40 years old by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Since 2009, Ms. Regalado has conducted a daily Spanish language radio program on La Poderosa, 670 AM, dedicated to informing listeners about local politics, education and social services. Another of her projects is Esta Semana con Raquel, a weekly television show with political and news analysis, airing on CNN Latino Miami throughout the state of Florida. Ms. Regalado also writes for El Nuevo Herald and the Huffington Post and has contributed to the Miami Herald, El Diario de las Americas, Libre, Libertad and Community Papers.
Finally, Ms. Regalado is a member of the Community Advisory Board of WLRN, Channel 17, in Miami, Florida.