The Honorable Florence Shapiro is a state and local leader in North Texas. She began her career as a public school teacher for Richardson Independent School District, and later founded Shapiro & Company, an advertising, public relations and special events agency. Shapiro was elected to the Plano City Council in 1979, and served six terms before running for Mayor in 1990. She was elected as Plano’s first female Mayor, and served the city from 1990 to 1992. After serving her city, Shapiro went on to serve her state, elected as Texas State Senator in 1993 and serving for two decades, until 2013. For the last ten years of her Senate term, she was Chair of the Senate Education Committee. 

After retiring from the Senate, Shapiro worked as a volunteer with several education organizations, including Educate Texas. Today, she is a Partner at Shapiro Linn Strategic Consulting Firm, where she works as an education consultant. Shapiro holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education from The University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Plano with her husband, Howard, and has three children and 12 grandchildren.