Today, we honor Charlottesville native, and education trailblazer, Alicia Lugo, who impacted our area for decades as an educator, community leader, entrepreneur, and activist.
Alicia Lugo attended then-segregated Burley High School before graduating from Hampton University. She returned to Charlottesville to teach in the City schools and then served eleven years on the Charlottesville City School Board, including five years as board chair.
Ms. Lugo led two skills training programs, the Central Virginia Opportunities Industrialization Council and the Drewary J. Brown Job Training Center. She owned and operated Rose Hill Market and MIX 107.5 FM in Charlottesville, the first minority-owned radio station in Central Virginia. In 1988, she founded and directed TEENSIGHT, which provided educational and supportive services to pregnant and parenting teens and at-risk youth and adults. She later served as Associate Director of FOCUS Women’s Resource Center (TEENSIGHT’s parent organization) and retired as FOCUS’s Executive Director.
In 2002, the Charlottesville City Council named Ms. Lugo a “Community Bridge Builder” for her efforts to improve local race relations and added her plaque to the Drewary J. Brown Memorial Bridge on West Main Street. She is one of the namesakes of Charlottesville’s Lugo-McGinness Academy, renamed in 2014 to honor her and fellow Charlottesville educator Rebecca McGinness.
