Mireya Navarro, the trailblazing founder and editor in chief of Brennan en español, passed away on September 13 in her home in Montclair, New Jersey.
Mia, as she was known to the many people who loved her, spent the last eight years at the Brennan Center working to expand access to the democratic process for Latino communities, a cause she cared about deeply. “Our language should never be an obstacle to participation in democracy,” she announced at the launch of Brennan en español in 2022.
This is how her colleagues remember her:
“Before Mia’s incredible achievement launching Brennan en español, she spent years as a senior media strategist. She brought invaluable insights from her decades-long career in journalism to our media team. And as experienced as she was, she was an even more fun person to work with every day. She brought her full self to the job, sharing her passion for life and culture — from food to music, dancing, and history — and had a power to bring calm and levity to our most tense times. May her memory be a blessing.” —Derek Rosenfeld, Senior Media Strategist
“One of the things I’ve learned in the days since the shocking news of Mia’s passing is how much she meant to so many people here at the Brennan Center. She was a mentor, a thought partner, a friend, and an inspiration to so many, at all levels of the workplace, across departments and programs. She was all those things to me and more. I admired her for her accomplishments and professionalism, of course, but I appreciated and loved her for her warmth, kindness, and humor. I was shocked by what was a sudden and unexpected loss but have taken some comfort in learning how many people she touched.” —Lawrence Norden, Vice President, Elections and Government Program
“I had the pleasure of working with Mia over multiple years, beginning when she was the senior media strategist for the Liberty and National Security team and continuing after she conceived of and started up Brennan en español. Mia was already a decorated journalist when she joined the Brennan Center, but she wore her achievements lightly, always an expert cheerleader and translator for our work. Her brilliant vision became even more apparent when she launched BEE, making the Brennan Center’s work accessible and even necessary reading for Spanish-speaking audiences around the world. She was creative and indefatigable, constantly looking for opportunities to share our research and analysis with BEE’s readership and encouraging us to think about our education and advocacy through the lens of BEE’s audience. But maybe most importantly, in addition to her substantial professional accomplishments and her irreplaceable contributions to the Brennan Center, she was simply a wonderful colleague and human being. She will be deeply missed.” —Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Director, Liberty and National Security Program
“Mireya was a brilliant colleague — and more importantly, a wonderful human being. I worked with her primarily in the context of our team’s judicial diversity work, which she helped bring to Spanish-speaking audiences through Brennan en español and the team’s contacts in other Spanish-language outlets. Every year, she was so excited for our report to come out. Her enthusiasm reminded me why we do this work and why it matters. I remember looking her up after the first time she edited something I’d written: She had made it so much better, so effortlessly, that I wanted to know more about her. That was when I learned about her extraordinary career. She was humble about her accomplishments, but her work spoke for itself. And somehow, even as she improved my writing with a wave of her hand, she made me feel as though she’d just read the best thing I’d ever written. I didn’t know her long enough. I imagine many who crossed paths with Mireya feel the same, no matter how long they knew her. Her passion, conviction, and warmth made a lasting mark on me and my work, and I’ll carry them with me always.” —Chihiro Isozaki, Counsel, Democracy Program
“Mia was warm, joyous . . . in every way the most remarkable friend, colleague, and mentor imaginable. We will, of course, remember Mia for her professional accomplishments, from winning the Pulitzer Prize to launching a completely novel Spanish-language advocacy program inside of a think tank. But those achievements, staggering as they are, seem beside the point. Mia was a wonderful human being. That’s her legacy at the Brennan Center.” —Brian Palmer, Director, Editorial and Events
“Mireya was an inspiring mentor to me. She was an exceptional and incredibly generous woman, someone who could make you smile with her most uniquely ingenious comments. Her unexpected loss fills me with sadness, but it gives me comfort to know that at the Brennan Center, we will keep fighting to make sure that the more than 68 million Latinos, Latinas, and Latinxs in the United States have a reliable source of information on democracy and social justice.” —Tania Cháidez, Deputy Editor, Brennan en español
“Mia led by example. She showed us how to carry the weight of difficult work without losing joy, humanity, humor, or hope. And now we know that her courage and bravery extended to her deeply private battle with breast cancer. There is something profound in knowing she continued to prioritize her deep commitment to the Brennan Center as she was engaged in a private battle that no one knew about. I miss her deeply and am filled with gratitude to be the Brennan en español fellow, because of Mia. Que en paz descanse.” —Kira Romero-Craft, Fellow, Brennan en español
Mireya Navarro worked as a reporter and correspondent at The New York Times for almost 30 years in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami and was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for the series “How Race Is Lived in America.”
Navarro also served as executive director of the nonprofit Community Reporting Alliance and taught journalism as an adjunct professor at Columbia University, the City University of New York, and the New School.
She was the author of two nonfiction books: Green Wedding, about recommendations to couples for planning environmentally sound weddings, and Stepdog, a humorous memoir about Eddie, her husband’s jealous dog that tried (and failed) to prevent her from marrying her husband.
