Luz Cazares

Luz T. Cázares is a fierce advocate for equity in education and an expert in PK12 leadership, finance, and operations. Luz is known for taking complex education and finance-related information and translating it into digestible, meaningful, and actionable components. Most recently, Luz launched Lucid Partnerships, Inc. to help education equity proponents turn passion and good intentions into enduring, systemic change. Lucid Partnerships provides individual coaching, professional development, and consulting services to support equity advocates in closing opportunity gaps through increased accountability, evidence-based initiatives, and ongoing evaluations.

Luz has worked at the local and state levels for over twenty years in three states and a range of districts—from the large and diverse Chicago Public Schools to the small and suburban Alameda Unified School District. For over ten years, Luz served at the Cabinet level as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Deputy Superintendent. She was never the typical school district CFO – her education and training are in public policy with a focus on education reform. She deeply understands education policy and program and models her conviction that the role of every school leader is to support effective teaching that impacts learning for EACH student.

Luz earned her BA from the University of Chicago and her Master in Public Policy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. She is a Lecturer for the UC Berkeley Principal Leadership Institute, a Fellow of the Rappaport Institute of Greater Boston, and serves on the Board of La Escuela Bilingüe Internacional.