Dr. Washington “Nino” Collado was born in the Dominican Republic, surrounded by educators, including his mother, María Tejada. In 1975, he immigrated to New York and began studying in New York City public schools in the 7th grade.

Dr. Collado began his career in education in 1986 in New York, where he taught Spanish and English as a Second Language in New York City Public Schools. In 1992, he moved to Florida and continued teaching at Miami-Dade Public Schools. In 1998, he accepted a job in Broward County Public Schools’ Multicultural Department to conduct curricular training for teachers and administrators on the contributions of Latinos, African Americans, and Women throughout the History of the United States.

Dr. Collado began his career in school administration as an assistant principal at Broward County Public Schools and was promoted to principal in 2005. He served 16 years as principal at schools in South Florida, serving socio-economically diverse schools, and served as president of the Broward Association of Principals and Assistants. He retired in 2022.

In February 2021, Dr. Collado received the Principal of the Year distinction for Broward County Public Schools, the nation’s sixth-largest school district. He has also received several honors and recognitions nationally and internationally for his work in schools and communities. Throughout his career, Dr. Collado has traveled to over 30 states and several countries, training school leaders and educators about effective leadership and increasing family and community engagement in schools. He has written over 100 articles for newspapers and magazines and authored or co-authored five books.

Dr. Collado is an associate at Creative Leadership Solutions and an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University, teaching courses on educational leadership.

He is married to Carmen R. Collado, and together, they are the proud parents of four sons, Mario, Alejandro, Miguel, and Victor, and three grandchildren, Lucas, Gabrielle, and Adrian.