Mildred Otero
Senior Vice President, Leadership for Educational Equity
Mildred Otero is the Senior Vice President for National Impact at Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE). In this role, she leads three national teams committed to developing the leadership skills of LEE members to pursue leadership opportunities in advocacy, elected, organizing and policy that empower them to end educational inequities in the United States. Prior to joining LEE, Mildred served as the Chief Education Counsel in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where she managed the Senate Majority’s education agenda and its policy development and strategies for children from cradle to career. Such efforts included, legislation addressing early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, higher education and adult education.
Previously, Mildred served as a senior policy officer with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; senior advisor at the United States Department of State/United States Agency for International Development; senior policy advisor to then Senator Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Reed (D-RI) in the US Senate and as Deputy Director for Early Childhood at the Children’s Defense Fund. Before her work in Washington, D.C., Mildred was a counselor for child victims of sexual and physical abuse at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and began her career as a legislative aide to the New York State Assembly Speaker in Albany, NY.
Mildred earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York- Albany and a Master’s degree from New York University, Silver School of Social Work. Mildred has served as a board member of the national non-profit Complete College America, an advisory board member for Communities In Schools and as a fellow in the seventeenth cohort of the Aspen-Pahara Education Fellowship.