Representative Johanna López Contact information

Johanna López was born on February 18, 1972, in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. She is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party of Florida for District 43 in the Florida House of Representatives.

López has a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education in Hispanic Studies; Higher Education, from the University of Puerto Rico. She was the first Latina to serve on Orange County’s school board.

She was born to a war veteran and a stay-at-home mom. After earning her degrees, she relocated to Orlando in 1998. Initially, she worked at a car wash and then at a fast-food restaurant. After volunteering and serving as a substitute teacher at Colonial High School, she became a full-time Spanish teacher in 1999. Her students were known for achieving perfect passing rates in the AP exams.

At Colonial High School, Johanna was an active participant in different extracurricular activities. She has served as both the girls’ varsity volleyball coach and Hispanic Honor Society sponsor. Through both positions, she has encouraged her students to serve our community. In 2015, Johanna’s Hispanic Honor Society held a massive voter registration drive, where more than 500 students registered to vote. Johanna was also the sponsor of Latinos in Action, an organization that seeks to empower our youth.

When Johanna, a mother of four, experienced how difficult it was to navigate the public school system as a parent, she founded Familias Presentes: Estudiantes Excelentes, an online forum directed to making the parents aware of different educational issues and opportunities. As well, as a former member of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association (CTA) and Maestros Puertorriqueños en Acción, she advocated for improving our public education.

Due to her leadership inside and outside of the classroom, Johanna has been recognized at the local, state, and national levels. In 2016, she became the first Latina to win the Teacher of the Year award from Orange County Public Schools. In that role, she was recognized as one of five recipients of the Governor’s Shine Award for Inspirational Teachers. At a national level, Johanna has been awarded the Queen Smith Award for Commitment to Urban Public Education and the Life Changer of the Year award.

Johanna was elected to represent District 2 on the Orange County School Board in 2018 after her campaign was fully run by current and former OCPS students. As a School Board Member, she championed the well-being and safety of students in the wake of the pandemic, worked to empower the most vulnerable students, fought to increase benefits and pay for teachers and other school staff, and successfully led the renaming of Stonewall Jackson Middle School to Roberto Clemente Middle School.

In 2022, Johanna was elected to represent District 43 in the Florida State House of Representatives. In the legislature, Johanna successfully co-led bipartisan efforts to expand access to high school diplomas and educational opportunities for our students, voted to provide $711 Million to build affordable housing for our communities in-need, and introduced legislation to increase retirement benefits according to cost-of-living adjustments.