Miami Mayor Manny Diaz

With just a year left in his second term, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz has done for Miami what he believes every mayor should do first and foremost for their cities: focus on the kind of future you’re building for the children who live there and the opportunities they’re going to have.

Mayor Diaz was recently awarded The Children’s Trust’s 2008 Excellence Award Public Policy for his efforts over the course of his term to improve the lives and well-being of the city’s children and families.

“There are people that don’t place a value on these quality-of-life type of initiatives and programs, but how can you have a city without them?” the mayor asks.

Diaz had never before held public office when he was elected to his first term in 2001. Soon after assuming office, he launched his first initiative in support of children – an attempt to take over control of public schools within the city in order to improve the quality of education. The new mayor resisted critics who insisted that education was outside the parameters of a mayor’s job description, and his attempt almost worked.

Champions for Children host Michael Putney, Mayor Manny Diaz and Children's Trust CEO Modesto E. Abety

When he failed to wrest control of the schools, Mayor Diaz instead turned to a partnership approach and forged an Education Compact with the school system. This collaborative model with the schools has since been replicated with eight other cities around the county, from Hialeah to Homestead.

The first school to benefit was Holmes Elementary, at the time one of the area’s lowest performing schools and one in which 98 percent of the children were on free or reduced school meals.

“It was so refreshing that the mayor’s office took such an interest in schools like Holmes,” said Dahlia Gonzalez, a former principal at the elementary. Today the facility is a gleaming new school, and students benefit from an ongoing series of educational field trips, free high-quality after-school program and summer camp – the Miami Learning Zone, and a Saturday academy to bolster learning.

The mayor helped focus attention, too, on the “digital divide” – the gap in technological skills and understanding that prevents young and old alike from partaking of many opportunities offered in the workplace and in society. Elevate Miami provides computer skills, assures access to technology and links the city and the public schools through education. The initiative’s “Rites of Passage” component, launched in October 2007, provides free computers to all sixth-grade students who reach academic benchmarks. More than 2,100 students are currently participating in the program.

The mayor’s focus on providing more resources and on improving schools and education have resulted in a significant number of new and improved programs in addition to Elevate Miami. These include a mentoring initiative, a truancy reduction plan, the Miami Youth Council and the creation of the Families First Parent Academy.

Another cornerstone of the mayor’s efforts, “Heart of our Parks” provides structured and high-quality after-school and summer programs. The initiative is extensively funded by The Children’s Trust.

Mayor Diaz receives recognition for the city's "Heart of Our Parks" program.

“Ever since Mayor Manny Diaz came on board we have so many more resources in the parks and recreation department,” Adina Diaz, manager of Shenandoah Park and who has spent close to 20 years with the department, recently told an interviewer.

The mayor’s initiatives and programs include an emphasis in promoting the arts as part of education and learning.

“It was very progressive of the mayor to include the arts in his programming for children and youth. He doesn’t just want children to have safe spaces; he wants them to have places where they can grow and thrive,” Sheila Womble, executive director of Arts for Learning, told a Champions for Children film crew. “The mayor knows what it takes to really grow a community. You have to have places where kids can be safe, where they can thrive; you have to have green spaces. All of that attracts businesses, attracts a workforce – what he’s done is really visionary.”

Mayor Diaz’s second term in office will soon end. Whether he stays in Miami – or relocates to Washington for a position within the new administration, as rumors suggest – the mayor will leave knowing that his efforts created new opportunities for children and families and built a stronger, more sustainable foundation for their future.