Lisa Blue

Lisa Blue is a Special Education Consultant and Family Advocate with three decades of experience in the field, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in special education from the University of Phoenix, and has completed doctoral coursework in special education, with only her dissertation remaining. Her career began in the classroom, where she taught general education students and special education students, including twice-exceptional learners. She also instructed nursing students at Santa Fe Community College on autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and schizophrenia.

Today, Blue helps families secure appropriate services for children with disabilities, particularly those with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. She attends IEP meetings, often remotely, and draws on her knowledge of special education law, language, and program needs. She also serves as a presenter and trainer at national and state conferences on topics such as behavior, PBIS, trauma, and life with special needs, and has coached school districts through Public Education Department audits. For the past seven years, she has served a Tribal Head Start/Early Head Start program as Special Education Consultant and Disability Coordinator.

Blue’s leadership extends to state policy, including eight years on the NM IDEA State Advisory Panel, co-chairing an advisory committee that guides the Department of Health on developmental disabilities waivers, and contributing to the update of New Mexico’s IEP forms and manual. A NM LEND Fellow and graduate of Partners in Policymaking, she credits her resilience and her son, her guiding “North Star,” for shaping an approach rooted in kindness, dedication, and treating every child as she would her own.