00;00;00;21 - 00;00;43;23
Coach Dora
Welcome back, amazing leaders to the Building Leadership Community podcast. I'm your host coach Dora Mendez, and today's conversation is one that will move you, inspire you, and remind you why representation and perseverance matters. We are honored to welcome a trailblazer, an educator, and a visionary who has spent over four decades transforming lives through education. A woman whose leadership has created pathways to college for thousands of young people here in the Bronx, New York.
00;00;43;26 - 00;01;13;00
Coach Dora
Our guest today is none other than Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez, founder and CEO of the International Leadership Charter High School, a first generation Puerto Rican from the South Bronx who became the first in her family to graduate from college and who has now built a legacy that sends over 95% of her scholars to college of their choice. Amazing.
00;01;13;03 - 00;01;45;16
Coach Dora
By the end of this conversation, you will walk away with a renewed sense of purpose, a deeper courage to stand in your truth, and a powerful reminder that your voice, your story, your presence matters more than you realize. This episode is your boost to rise boldly and unapologetically with conviction. That change begins with you. So settle in. Take a breath and get ready.
00;01;45;18 - 00;02;10;15
Intro-Outro
Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I am the founder and CEO of Coach Dora LLC. Our guests will be entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community leaders that drive social impact. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be.
00;02;10;17 - 00;02;20;09
Coach Dora
It means so much that you join us week after week for these conversations that you continue to be with us for season three.
00;02;20;11 - 00;02;41;00
Coach Dora
It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. That's why we started this podcast. If you're new to Building Leadership Community, we are so glad you're here. Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Say hi in the comments and if you're watching on YouTube, hit that bell button.
00;02;41;03 - 00;03;10;19
Coach Dora
So that you get notified when new episodes drop. We have some great resources to share with you today. If you have been watching the rise of AI and wondering how to use it in a way that feels ethical, authentic, and genuinely helpful to your leadership role, I've created something just for you. My self-paced course, AI Leadership Communication Hacks, is designed to help professionals at any level.
00;03;10;21 - 00;03;50;19
Coach Dora
Whether you're brand new to AI already experimenting, communicate more clearly, more confidently and more strategically in today's changing workplace. In the course, you will learn actionable AI prompts that amplify your voice instead of replacing it. You'll discover how to use AI responsibly and thoughtfully, so that it becomes a tool that elevates your leadership rather than complicates it. And once you complete the course, you'll receive a certificate and a LinkedIn badge to showcase your new skills.
00;03;50;21 - 00;04;25;14
Coach Dora
As a bonus, you'll receive the AI Prompt Starter Kit so you can begin applying what you learn immediately. The course is $49, and you can start at your own pace on your own schedule. And if you're ready to lead with clarity in an AI driven world, the link in the description. Now let's dive into today's incredible conversation. Let me tell you about today's guest.
00;04;25;16 - 00;04;56;26
Coach Dora
In case you're new to the podcast or you don't know the incredible work of our guest, let me tell you about Dr. Ruiz Lopez. She is the founder and chief executive officer of the International Leadership Charter High School. But her journey to the role is what makes her story so powerful. Born and raised in the South Bronx. Dr. Ruiz Lopez is a first generation Puerto Rican and the first in her family to graduate from college.
00;04;56;29 - 00;05;29;05
Coach Dora
She has worked in the field of education since 1980, holding various leadership positions in public schools and universities. Dr. Ruiz Lopez earned her Doctorate in special education administration and second Master's of Education from Teachers College at Columbia University, a Master's of Science and Bilingual Special Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education from City College of New York.
00;05;29;07 - 00;06;10;26
Coach Dora
Wow. What an incredible background. In 2005, she founded the International Leadership Charter High School with the goal of creating a college prep charter high school that delivers an academically rigorous environment. Her model has resulted in over 95% of scholars graduating within four years and enrolling in the college of their choice. The school is now in its 18th year of operation and has received numerous accolades nationally and locally, including being recognized as the best charter high school in the Bronx.
00;06;10;29 - 00;06;32;18
Coach Dora
Today, Dr. Ruiz Lopez is here to pour into you. We couldn't have asked for a more inspiring woman to join us than the phenomenal Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez. Let's bring her to the stage.
00;06;32;21 - 00;06;34;26
Coach Dora
Hi. Welcome!
00;06;34;28 - 00;06;38;16
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Hola y felicidades, Coach Dora.
00;06;38;19 - 00;07;03;01
Coach Dora
Felicidades. So I want to just start by, I mean, you have such an amazing background. I want to, for our listeners, I want to share that I have Dr. Who is Lopez's book in the background on my bookshelf here. And I'm sure you're going to talk a little bit more about that. And I just want to share with everyone how we met really briefly.
00;07;03;01 - 00;07;24;06
Coach Dora
We met in March of 2025 at the National Dominican Women’s Caucus Summit, Latina Summit. So while it's the National Dominican Women's Caucus, it was a summit that brought together Latinas, from the diaspora. And we were both, having our little book stands. Right.
00;07;24;07 - 00;07;28;23
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
We exchange books. Absolutely. I was excited.
00;07;28;26 - 00;07;51;02
Coach Dora
Yeah. And, you know, you're just you just had such a lovely story. I just shared a little bit of it. I mean, we can go on and on, but I want to turn the proverbial virtual mic over to you so you can share with our listeners and viewers a bit about your unique leadership story. So, welcome.
00;07;51;05 - 00;07;52;18
Coach Dora
Please share with us.
00;07;52;21 - 00;08;29;00
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Well, first, thank you for having me. and you're kind invitation. I'm very excited, to have been invited by you. Because you are also, quite the leader. In, in many respects, within our, Latina community and, author to author, I think that, you know, you you deeply understand, how, rigorous this process is of writing and rewriting and then submitting, your, your chapters to a publisher.
00;08;29;00 - 00;08;53;25
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So, you know, I, I feel honored, to be on your program. So, you know, thank you for the lovely introduction. I think you did an excellent job in introducing, you know, at a very high level, the summary of my journey, my life. So, as you stated previously, I'm born and raised in the South Bronx.
00;08;53;26 - 00;09;44;09
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I was a Puerto Rican child, first generation Puerto Rican. My parents, arrived to the United States in the 1950s. During a grueling, eight hour trip on, an airplane that at that time, was, you know, basically lounge chairs that were bolted down to the floor of a military cargo plane that was at the height of Operation Bootstrap, where, you know, the government, had a plan, for moving out of Puerto Rico as many, Puerto Ricans as possible as part of the plan of recovery of the Puerto Rico's, you know, very poor economy.
00;09;44;11 - 00;10;11;21
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So, I was attending public schools. You know, born and raised, born on Simpson Street, right. And attended a public school right directly in front of, the 41st precinct, which later became, the, theme and topic of the movie, Fort Apache, Fort Apache.
00;10;11;21 - 00;10;13;14
Coach Dora
Apache, the Bronx.
00;10;13;17 - 00;10;14;22
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
And, you know,
00;10;14;25 - 00;10;26;06
Coach Dora
And for our younger viewers who don’t remember, that was a very famous movie. Yes. Starring the superstar Paul Newman. I just want to give some context.
00;10;26;07 - 00;10;59;14
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Yes. Yes, absolutely. But we protested that movie because, you know, later on, I, when I became an adult and an activist, that was a movie that, former Young Lords members, and, and the National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights and specifically Dr. Lina Antonetti and Richie Perez and others protested against, because of its racist, you know, depiction of Puerto Ricans as spics, prostitutes, drug dealers, so on and so forth.
00;10;59;16 - 00;11;32;11
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I attended school, and I remember going inside that precinct after school, to polish my Buster Brown, shoes that my father would buy for us to attend school. So as a Puerto Rican child growing up in the South Bronx, I saw a lot of injustices, from, you know, not only, police brutality against our community, but also, you know, the racism that I experience.
00;11;32;13 - 00;12;04;10
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
By my teachers, you know, as well as the, the poor quality of the health, and the fact that even going back to the story of my birth, where my mother, who's an Afro Puerto Rican woman, you know, was at Lincoln Hospital who had a very poor reputation. And it was, referred to as the butcher shop.
00;12;04;12 - 00;12;31;08
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
There were a lot of experimentation of Afro-Caribbean women and African-American women at that hospital, and a lot of the, forced sterilization abuse was taking place at that at that hospital. During the time that I was born, when I was born, I was, fair skinned. And, I was actually switched, for a, darker baby.
00;12;31;08 - 00;13;18;00
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
And my mother was given a darker baby. So that's just to tell you, that, you know, there wasn't a lot of attention and care and concern being paid, to women who were having their, their children. So this, I understand, happened frequently at that hospital, among many other things. It's no surprise that, you know, then 14 years later, in 1970, the Young Lords, party took over, Lincoln Hospital and opened up, you know, mobile clinics outside of the hospital in order to bring attention to the abuses, the poor, quality of health care at the hospital.
00;13;18;02 - 00;14;02;18
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So having, you know, being an observer, I've always been a very, I was a very observant child. I was quiet. I didn't find my voice until my 20s, to be quite honest with you. And, but during that time, I observed my environment a great deal, and I saw how my mother was being treated. I witnessed, the fact that although I was a gifted and talented child, and I found some favor among, the teachers when it came time for preparation for the specialized, exams, for, at that time, the Hunter College, junior high school exam.
00;14;02;20 - 00;14;27;19
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I was one of five students selected because of my reading level and my high performance. However, I was not prepared for the exam and I failed miserably and, very disappointed. I was ashamed that I felt ashamed that I had disappointed my parents. And, so from that point on, you know, my educational experience was very poor.
00;14;27;21 - 00;14;51;15
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
You know, I attended, a junior high school in the South Bronx that was, would sign kids in and allow them to walk out and was a there was a huge party taking place most of the time outside of the junior high school that I attended, on Stebbin and 163rd Street, & Intervale and fast forward.
00;14;51;18 - 00;15;06;15
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I, my parents, were running from the, the, the buildings that were being burned down on our block. You know, we it was the beginning of the decade of fire.
00;15;06;17 - 00;15;07;22
Coach Dora
The Bronx burning.
00;15;07;22 - 00;15;08;08
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Yes.
00;15;08;08 - 00;15;24;22
Coach Dora
So, some people know the history and sort of like that term. And yes, in New York, for our listeners and viewers, I'll. I'll just share that there that it was it was a kind of like a slogan, Bronx burning. But it was a little literally, Bronx was burning.
00;15;24;24 - 00;15;59;06
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Literally, The Bronx was burning. We were burnt out of two buildings. my father, you know, who was an iron factory worker and, and the Hunts Point area, you know, then decided after the second building that went up was going up in flames that we that he would move his, his family out of the neighborhood. And that's when we went to the east, Bronx over there by, you know, Rosedale Academy Gardens, you know, and the first time that I, you know, myself and my siblings, I guess, saw trees.
00;15;59;08 - 00;16;12;09
Coach Dora
Yeah. I think just for our listeners and viewers and folks who don't know New York, there's a side of the Bronx that you mentioned that's very suburban, right? It's very suburban.
00;16;12;10 - 00;16;14;24
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
It looks. More suburban. It looks more suburban.
00;16;14;24 - 00;16;24;15
Coach Dora
With the trees, and It's not as urban as folks. And it's a side of the Bronx. It's that, yes. Okay. So go ahead.
00;16;24;16 - 00;16;56;07
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So, Yes. So so, you know, that was the beginning of the Decade of Fire, which is around 1968. and of course, the decade of fire lasted a decade, probably a decade and a half. So all those experience, experiences that I had, you know, shaped and my lens towards, you know, the injustices.
00;16;56;09 - 00;17;25;24
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Right. And the fight for equity. The fight for equity in the Bronx. So, I then, you know, attended, high school that I was told it was the only high school that I could attend. It was a vocational high school. It wasn’t a high school that really was going to challenge me intellectually and challenge me to put me on a college track.
00;17;25;26 - 00;18;05;11
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I then became a teenage mom, and my sophomore year I continued, attending school while pregnant. And then in my junior year, you know, my mother and I were called in by the principal of the school and advised that I needed to repeat the 11th grade. And, of course, that, devastated me because I was eager to get out of high school so that I could figure out what my next path would be in order to now not only support myself, but to support my daughter.
00;18;05;14 - 00;18;34;28
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So, I decided, that I would drop out of high school. I really think I was pushed out of high school, but I say I dropped out of high school and then completed my GED. And then I found six months later, found my way to City College of New York at City College of New York. I started a course to study, to become a bilingual education elementary school teacher.
00;18;35;00 - 00;19;07;25
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
When I graduated from, City College, I knew that I wanted to be placed as a teacher in the South Bronx, in this same neighborhood where, I had all of these experiences that shaped, my early, perspective. the the all of the wrongs that needed to be corrected and all of the, inequities, that existed.
00;19;07;28 - 00;19;42;02
Coach Dora
So I, I have to just share that. I just love this is your origin story. You know, like, you you're you just listening to your this, like, origin story and how inequity shaped your leadership, how you give back and how now you rectify those wrongs. Now with 95% of your scholars going to college? I just I'm just so moved.
00;19;42;04 - 00;20;09;07
Coach Dora
I'm so moved by your story, and I'm so glad to be able to share it. And I'd love to just follow up with where, like you said, in your we ask all our guests sort of like where their leadership begin. And then you said when you were like when you were in your 20s. So when did you start to think of yourself as a leader?
00;20;09;09 - 00;21;08;17
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I started thinking of myself as a leader, when I became a teacher and started experiencing, you know, attacks by, racist white teachers and a racist principal, who was treating me just as badly as they were treating the Puerto Rican children that I was serving, where I was being asked not to speak Spanish, although I was a bilingual teacher, where I was being, you know, attacked, for defending, the children that I was teaching when I started speaking up and, and, and reporting other teachers who were, abusing, children emotionally, verbally and at one point, I actually witnessed a teacher kicking a student while he was
00;21;08;17 - 00;21;42;06
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
on the floor. And so all of those experiences, not only as a child growing up in the South Bronx and, and, and then, you know, experiencing, you know, the beginning of that decade of fire and then fast forward being, you know, pushed out of high school and then becoming a teacher, I knew that I needed to speak up, and I needed to, no longer be a bystander.
00;21;42;08 - 00;21;53;18
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I needed to take action. I needed to, advocate, and defend, the Puerto Rican children in my community.
00;21;53;20 - 00;22;16;26
Coach Dora
So your leadership really was born out of, adversity. You had sort of you you your courage, your compassion was really borne out of adversity. And I just want to share. This is something that we share in common. My Father, my paternal side of the family is Puerto Rican. my father was born in the lovely Fajardo.
00;22;16;26 - 00;22;45;12
Coach Dora
He's since the US and he passed away due to Covid 19. But, he also was part of the same wave of migration. And I just want to clarify for our listeners and viewers, because there's so, so many stereotypes about Puerto Rican. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. You migrated to the mainland New York, not immigrated. And, Puerto Ricans have been American citizens since 1898.
00;22;45;12 - 00;23;13;18
Coach Dora
There is no Puerto Rican passport. There's only the US passport. And so I just want to make that clear, because in in the time that we're having this, this conversation, Puerto Rican artists such as Bad Bunny, you know, have been, demonized and vilified, you know, for speaking Spanish. But they are American citizens. And like my father was a 32 year veteran of the of the US Army.
00;23;13;18 - 00;23;42;23
Coach Dora
Many Puerto Ricans have served and sacrificed so much for this country and absolutely including yourself. And that's really just serving. And so I want to just so I wanted to bring some context to that, and just, you know, for our listeners and viewers who are not, you know, Puerto Rican who non Puerto Ricans. And just to just clarify that in this time and I would love to hear from you.
00;23;43;00 - 00;24;23;08
Coach Dora
What as I'm hearing your story is, I'm hearing all the adversity you face and clearly you've come out at the other end really like, phenomenally successful making such an impact in your community, but also to the world when you uplift, communities that face adversity, you really uplift all communities. So I'd love to hear, what community means to you. Here in the Building Leadership Community Podcast, we always ask our guests, “what does community mean?” to them.
00;24;23;11 - 00;25;21;25
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
That's that's an excellent question. And there's so many ways to answer that question. And I think that I just have to be authentic with, with, you know, what community has meant to me. Community, to me has meant, you know, having, you know, a second, third, fourth, fifth set of parents, that, looked after me, you know, having, individuals, you know, who celebrated me and continued to celebrate me, but also individuals, in the community that, you know, taught me you know, how to be humble and how to be kind and how to, you know, be compassionate, to, those that haven't had the opportunities
00;25;21;28 - 00;25;55;02
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
that I have been given. Right. Community also, particularly the parent community, the parent community of the school, of the students that I have served over the last 20 years, you know, they're they're very grateful. And I, in turn, am very grateful for them. So there's there's a lot of strength that, a lot of strength and a lot of, love that I have received from the community, you know?
00;25;55;05 - 00;26;26;02
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So community is, is so, so important. And being part of the community, you know, of, of color is very, very powerful. And it's it's something that it just it just, enriches your spirit. Right? So I have traveled to different places. I have traveled to Europe, I travel, I, I've gone to New England in the States and New England, and the northeast and, corridor.
00;26;26;05 - 00;26;57;28
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
And, you know, I share with my husband all the time and some of these neighborhoods, they're they're not they don't have the cultural context that we feel and see and experience when we're in our New York, Dominican and Puerto Rican and African community. We just don't. And it just be I feel so I've always felt so out of place, you know, and communities that are not of color, you know, and yes, I've grown that.
00;26;57;28 - 00;27;30;09
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I've learned a lot from my travels. But at the same time, you know, it's the community, the heartbeat. La Salsa, la comida, la, you know, the conversations, you know, the styles. And it's that that rhythm, you know, that bomba rhythm, you know, the rhythm of the drums, you know, is I miss that when I, when I go outside of my community, when I come back, I'm like, wow.
00;27;30;12 - 00;27;36;10
Coach Dora
So that community, so community for you is really family.
00;27;36;12 - 00;27;37;12
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Yes.
00;27;37;14 - 00;27;59;28
Coach Dora
You talk about, you know, the parents, you you talk about other .... So community to you is really fa... really family. And that's the family that you're born into, but also the family that you choose to be part of. And it's and it's clear you have such strong community bonds. I would love, Dr. Ruiz.
00;27;59;28 - 00;28;23;28
Coach Dora
Lopez. I would love for you to share some advice to the next generation of leaders. You have amassed such a dossier of, expertise and experience. What advice would you give the next generation of leaders? Maybe something you may have, maybe something you may have told your younger self.
00;28;24;00 - 00;28;50;08
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Well, one of the things that I've told my younger self, you know, is very different from what I would say to the aspiring generation of leaders today. So to my younger self, you know, I would say, Elaine, everything is going to be all right. You know, every little thing is going to be all right. Like Bob Marley, right?
00;28;50;08 - 00;29;27;23
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
He would sing and that lovely song. But I would also say to my younger self that, you know, You know, it's not always going to be as bad as it is now. And that's, you know, when I was a child, it was pretty bad. I am an adult survivor of trauma, of childhood trauma, you know, from physical abuse to sexual abuse to, you know, you know, experiencing, you know, what it was to live in a neighborhood that was going up in flames.
00;29;27;26 - 00;30;00;23
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
So and then becoming a teenage mom and, and with, you know, individuals that were not nurturing, you know, around myself and my, daughter. So, it, I would say, Elaine, you're going to you are going to, become a light unto others. You're going to use this experience, these experiences that have harmed you for good.
00;30;00;26 - 00;30;36;15
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
And then what I would say to the aspiring generation of, of leaders, is that leadership is not a title. Leadership is not a title. You know, leadership is is is, takes time to develop. And it is not about the recognition. It's about finding your purpose. And that leadership journey, becoming a servant to others. And, you.
00;30;36;18 - 00;31;04;04
Coach Dora
Know, I love to service. So I love this. So I love this servant leadership, servant leadership. Finding your purpose. And so, the advice you would give, to the next generation of leaders is to find your purpose. And serve to serve others, and I that's that's a great, note to wrap up on. I feel like I could talk to you forever.
00;31;04;04 - 00;31;11;03
Coach Dora
We could hear so many stories. You know, we may invite you back for a part two, you know.
00;31;11;09 - 00;31;52;16
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
I’m open to it., I’m open to it. I would love to, because there there's so much that, also, I think that your viewers, you know, you know, do not know about me. Of course. I'm new to many. However, I would like to, just invite everyone to, purchase a copy of my memoir, ‘The Fight for Equity in the Bronx, Changing Lives and Transforming Communities One scholar at a Time’. And, all of the proceeds go to supporting, scholarships for first-in-family who are going to college, who are graduating from our high school.
00;31;52;19 - 00;32;15;11
Coach Dora
And so I want to, let our listeners and viewers know that there will be a link to where to purchase the book in the description of this episode. So, folks can do that. Can you do you want to tell folks how they can, so that those who are listening, can hear how do they get a copy of the book?
00;32;15;11 - 00;32;16;26
Coach Dora
What's the best way to get a copy of the book?
00;32;17;03 - 00;32;46;01
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Well, my book is available through all, bookstores. Amazon, Barnes and Noble. You could also, go on to my books website. Dr. Elaine Harris lopez.com, and you'll learn more information there, and you'll have an opportunity to see all of the events and the interviews that I have participated in.
00;32;46;04 - 00;33;08;29
Coach Dora
That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. So you have it. You heard it here, folks. How you can learn more about, Dr. Ruiz. Lopez, get a copy of her book now. Her memoir is is just so fascinating. I know I was fascinated and moved, and I'm so privileged that you that you decided to come on our little show.
00;33;09;02 - 00;33;24;05
Coach Dora
And so I'm going to ask you to hold on as we roll our closing credits. Thank you again so much. It's just just such a beautiful story of courage and compassion.
00;33;24;08 - 00;33;28;08
Dr. Elaine Ruiz Lopez
Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
00;33;28;11 - 00;33;57;19
Coach Dora
You've been listening to Building Leadership Community. Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube @CoachDoraM. Visit me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com. Hosted by me, Dora Mendez. Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan K. Rogers. Graphics, editing, and sound mixing by Dylan K. Rogers.
