NM PED Leadership

Mariana Padilla has served as the director of the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet since the start of the Lujan Grisham administration, leading the governor’s child and family well-being agenda. She also served as the governor’s senior education policy advisor, overseeing early childhood, K-12, and higher education. In this role, Padilla helped shape program, policy, and budget priorities, and worked across state agencies to implement key initiatives and system-wide improvements. Her accomplishments include establishing the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, launching a statewide literacy initiative, and driving the governor’s Cradle to Career education agenda supporting students from birth through college and career readiness.

Padilla has stepped in as acting cabinet secretary for both the Public Education Department and the Children, Youth and Families Department, and has served on numerous boards and councils, including the Public School Capital Outlay Council, which oversees and awards capital projects for schools statewide.

As public education secretary, Padilla will prioritize improving academic achievement, increasing student attendance and engagement, ensuring on-time graduation, and creating pathways to college and career success. She is committed to building school communities where all students feel supported and can thrive.

Padilla began her career as an elementary school teacher in Albuquerque’s South Valley. She later earned dual master’s degrees in community and regional planning and water resources from the University of New Mexico. Before becoming the director of the Children’s Cabinet, she served as the state director for then-Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham for six years, overseeing New Mexico policy and constituent services.

A native New Mexican, Padilla was raised in Albuquerque’s South Valley, where she attended Albuquerque Public Schools alongside her three siblings. Inspired by her parents, both retired educators, she has dedicated her career to education and public service. She and her husband are proud parents of three daughters, all of whom attend public schools in Santa Fe.