Juliet K. Stipeche

Juliet K. Stipeche was born and raised in the East End of Houston, Texas, and is the daughter of immigrant parents from Argentina and Mexico. In 1992, Juliet graduated valedictorian of the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice and earned a scholarship to Rice University, graduating with a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science, Policy Studies, and Religious Studies in 1996 and was awarded the Joseph Cooper Prize as the most outstanding Policy Studies student in her class. She then attended The University of Texas School of Law and received her law degree in 1999.

Juliet practiced law as a trial attorney and handled appeals in numerous counties throughout the State of Texas. She also successfully defended board actions against physicians, nurses, and healthcare providers. In 2007, she became president and shareholder of Nagorny & Stipeche, P.C., a civil litigation firm.

In 2010, Juliet was elected to the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board of Education as the Trustee of District VIII in a special election in 2010. She served as Chairperson of HISD’s Audit Committee for 3 years, pushed for administrative and educational reform, and was elected by her peers to serve as the Board President in 2014. In 2013, Juliet returned to Rice as the Associate Director for the Richard Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity in Education.

In 2016, Mayor Sylvester Turner selected Juliet to serve as the City of Houston’s first Director of Education for the Mayor’s Office of Education (MOE), a new position and office within the mayor’s administration. She focused on educational equity and opportunity for all ages in Houston by promoting city-wide collaboration, communication, and coordination. Juliet worked on education and workforce issues from cradle to career and launched initiatives including Hire Houston Youth, Be Well Be Connected, Out2LearnHOU, and UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative. She served as a special advisor to the Mayor offering critical support after major disasters including Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Juliet became the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Director of Human Services, leading the Gulf Coast Workforce Solutions, the Houston-Galveston Area Agency on Aging, and Aging and Disability Resource Center programs. She also serves as executive director of the Gulf Coast Workforce Board. She continues to serve the community and is a proud member of one of the largest regional planning commissions in the country with a diverse service area of 13 counties and more than 7 million people.