Department First Name Last Name Title fit Bio Antonia Hernández is president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation. In that capacity, Ms. Hernández oversees all operational and programmatic aspects of the foundation's activities. The California Community Foundation works to strengthen the capacity of the nonprofit sector in County so they can more effectively work toward improved quality of life for all Angelenos. Previously, Ms. Hernández was president and general counsel of the Mexican American California Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national nonprofit Community litigation and advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights Foundation of the nation's Latinos through the legal system, community education, Antonia Hernandez President Justice and research and policy initiatives. Sandra R. Hernández, M.D., is chief executive officer of The San Francisco Foundation. She previously served as the director of public health for the City and County of San Francisco. She currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foundations, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and Corporation for Supportive Housing. She is also a trustee of the Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, and a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Implementation of Antiviral Medication Strategies for an Influenza Pandemic. Her prior affiliations include President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry, The Pew Commission on Environmental Health, Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Session on Philanthropy, American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and San Francisco Health and National Alliance for Hispanic Health. She is an assistant clinical professor Foundation Human at UCSF School of Medicine and maintains an active clinical practice at San Sandra Hernandez President Services Francisco General Hospital in the AIDS clinic. Eric Garcetti (born 1971) is an American politician, an elected member of the Los Angeles City Council and is its current President of the Council. He represents the 13th District. He is the son of former Los Angeles county district attorney Gil Garcetti. Garcetti taught public policy, diplomacy, and world affairs at the University of Southern California and Occidental College prior to his election. In 1998, the Rockefeller Foundation selected him as a Next Generation Leadership Fellow. Garcetti attended high school at Harvard-Westlake School and received a B.A. from Columbia University, where he was President of the St. Anthony Hall literary society, and M.I.A. in International Affairs from School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and also studied at the London School of Economics. He is an avid photographer, jazz pianist and composer. He lives in Echo Park with his partner of eleven years, Amy Elaine Wakeland. He was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001 and reelected in 2005. As a City Councilman, Los Angeles he has made housing and economic development, the environment, City Council Office of community engagement, neighborhood beautification, and international Eric Garcetti President Urban Policy diplomacy his main issues. First elected in 2000, Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis is serving her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She represents California's 32nd Congressional District, which includes portions of East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. Prior to her election to Congress, Solis served eight years in the California state legislature. In August 2000, Solis became the first woman to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for her pioneering work on environmental justice issues in California. In 2003, she became the first Latina appointed to the powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce where she is the Vice Chair of the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee and a member of the Health and Telecommunications Subcommittees. She is also a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources. In March 2007, Solis was named a member of the newly created House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Solis is Vice Chair of the Democratic Steering & Policy Committee and serves as a Senior Whip, as well as a Regional Whip for Southern California. She is also serving her third term as the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' Task Force on Health Congresswom and the Environment. In 2007, Solis was appointed to the Commission on an, D-Los Energy, Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the Mexico – Hilda Solis Angeles Labor, HHS Interparliamentary Group. Linda Sanchez was born January 28, 1969 in Orange, California, earned her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley and in 1995 her Juris Doctor degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was an attorney specializing in labor law prior to her public service career. She is the sister of Representative Loretta Sanchez, making Linda and Loretta Sanchez the only sister pair to ever serve in Congress. In 1998 Sanchez joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 and became a compliance officer. In 2000 she was unanimously elected to the position of Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Sanchez started her political career after a new 39th Congressional District was created following the 2000 Census. Following Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005, President George W. Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act, a 1934 law which requires government contractors to pay prevailing wages. Linda Congresswom Sánchez was a very vocal critic of the suspension, and lead the fight to an, D-Los Justice, reverse it. Sánchez eventually won, as Bush reverted himself on October Linda Sanchez Angeles Labor, HHS 26 California State Senator Gloria Romero was elected to the 24th Senate District in 2001, representing East Los Angeles and the greater San Gabriel Valley. As the first woman Majority Leader, Romero has broken through California’s glass ceiling and has served as a role model for generations of young men and women committed to public service. As a Legislator, she has quickly earned the reputation as a groundbreaking leader of education reform and a tireless advocate for closing the California achievement gap and increasing educational access. Through her State Senate dedicated work, Romero has solidified her position as an education Majority Education, trailblazer and one of California’s most influential voices in public Gloria Romero Leader Justice education policy. Martha M. Escutia was first elected to the California Legislature in November 1992 to represent the heavily Latino 50th Assembly District in southeast Los Angeles County. In 1998 she was elected to the California Senate and now represents the 30th Senate District. As a freshman Senator, Escutia was honored to receive the chairmanship of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and in 2000, she was the first Latina woman appointed as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. As an Assemblywoman, Escutia became the first woman to chair the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Senator Escutia's varied accomplishments are highlighted by landmark legislation protecting our health and the environment, improving opportunities for education, protecting the rights of consumers and workers. She established the first-ever, Children’s Environmental Health Protection Act of 1999 to ensure that California’s children are protected from unhealthy levels of air contaminants. Other notable healthcare policy accomplishments include the development of a Judiciary, comprehensive service center for women with HIV/AIDS and a bold step Former HHS, forward for patients' rights by improving access to specialists in managed California Domestic care. Her environmental protection legislation addresses issues such as Martha Escutia State Senator Policy Council hazardous liquid pipelines and the state's ever-increasing waste tires. Of Puerto Rican descent, he is a supporter of Puerto Rican independence (although not necessarily of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, PIP), the Vieques movement, and other progressive causes. He is a member of Secretary of the US Congressional Progressive Caucus. Gutiérrez has assembled Labor in support from a broad section of Chicagoans, including Mexican Americans Tom Perez Maryland Labor and Puerto Ricans. Vilma Martinez joined Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP as a partner in 1982. Her practice focuses on federal and state court litigation and employment counseling. Ms. Martinez has spent the last 25 years advising and defending corporate employers in labor and employment matters. Vilma honed her understanding of employment issues in the areas of diversity, discrimination, EEO compliance and Title VII compliance prior to joining the firm. She served as President and General Counsel of the Mexican- American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) for nine years. Prior to that, she was a litigation associate at New York's Cahill, Gordon & Partner, EEOC General Reindel, specializing in employment discrimination matters. She started Munger, Counsel, her career as a staff attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1967, Vilma Martinez Tolles, Olson Personnel where she worked on a number of early Title VII cases. Fred Alvarez is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he heads the firm's employment law litigation practice. He is a specialist in all aspects of labor, employment, and equal opportunity law. Fred is an acknowledged leader in the San Francisco Bay Area and the state of California in his area of practice, and is consistently ranked among the top employment law practitioners representing employers.

Fred's distinguished career of government service includes two successive federal sub-cabinet positions, both of which were appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate: Assistant Secretary of Labor for the U.S. Department of Labor (responsible for the Wage and Hour Division Partner at and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs) from 1987 to Wilson, 1989, and Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Fred Alvarez Sonsini Labor, EEOC Commission (EEOC) from 1984 to 1987. As Vice Mayor, Cindy Chavez maintained a reputation as an advocate for improving the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout San Jose. She was a leader in developing innovative community based programs to address crime, education, small business development and neighborhood revitalization. Elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, her tenure was distinguished by implementing goals to make every neighborhood safe and enhancing opportunities for residents and providing guidance on Former Vice Office of improving city government's service to them. Recognizing the need for Mayor, San Urban Policy, increased community-based improvements, Chavez continued to be a Jose City Domestic leading force behind allocating more Redevelopment Agency funds for Cindy Chavez Council Policy Council enhancing neighborhoods. Lozano studied political science at the University of and holds an honorary degree from Occidental College. Lozano is the president and chief operating officer of La Opinión, the largest Spanish-language daily newspaper in the U.S., which was founded by her family. She has increased circulation and advertising revenue, and as vice president of Lozano Communications, Inc., the paper's parent company, Lozano has expanded into radio and television. She serves on the board of directors of the Walt Disney Co., the California Health Care Foundation, the National Council of La Raza, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Union Bank of California. In addition, she is a trustee of the SunAmerica Asset Management Corporation, the University of Southern California, and in Communicati 2000, she was appointed to the Board of Regents of the University of ons, California. A member of the California State Board of Education from 1999 Editor, La Commerce, to 2001, she served as president in 2001. Lozano is also a former director Monica Lozano Opinion Education of the Fannie Mae Foundation. Cecilia Muñoz was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents came to the U.S. from La Paz, Bolivia. As an undergraduate student, she attended the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. As a graduate student, she attended the University of California-Berkeley. Currently, she is the Vice President of the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza. Muñoz, 37, is a leader in immigration and civil rights policy and is a major force in such issues as the legalization of undocumented immigrants, family-based immigration rights, and access to welfare Senior Vice benefits and education. Her accomplishments include working as the head President in of Legalization Outreach Programs (Catholic Charities) in Chicago in 1996, Office of Muñoz assisted 5,000 immigrants obtain U.S. citizenship. In this Research, organization, she continues to work as an advocate and activist against Advocacy and discrimination, inhumane welfare reform for immigrants, and inhumane Legislation at immigration policy. Muñoz has also spoken against anti-immigration Cecilia Muñoz NCLR Public Liasion groups. Leal was born in San Francisco. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. Beginning in 1976, Leal served as counsel to U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In 1982, she served as senior consultant to the California State Assembly's Committee on Ways and Means. In 1985, Leal became vice-president of a health care management company. Leal also worked as a businesswomen, a lawyer, and an investigator in state and federal governments. Leal was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in June 1993. She was reelected the following year to a four- year term. While serving on the Board, she chaired its Finance Committee. From 1997 to 2004, Leal served as Treasurer of San Francisco, the City's banker and chief investment officer, winning re-election in 2001 with 87% of the vote. Her duties as Treasurer also included managing all tax and revenue collection for San Francisco. She helped increased tax collection rates, including a 91% increase in delinquent tax collection, representing Former more than $26 million in additional revenue. Leal helped introduce the General City Payment Center – a one-stop shop for City transactions such as Manager, San transit passes, water bills, and passports – spearheading the City’s e- Francisco Commerce, commerce initiative which was named one of the top e-government Public Utilities Treasury, projects nationwide and launching the nation’s first audio ATM for the Susan Leal Commission Energy visually impaired. Ms. Perez began her strategic communications career on Capitol Hill, serving as Assistant Press Secretary and Communications Director to U.S. Senator Slade Gorton in 1981 and as Press Secretary to U.S. Congressman John Miller in 1985. In 1989, Ms. Perez joined the administration of President George H. W. Bush as Press Secretary to Mrs. Barbara Bush (1989-1993) where, among other duties, she planned and managed media coverage of all White House State dinners. In 1993, Ms. Perez moved to Los Angeles, California, to become head of Media Relations for Creative Artists Agency, Inc. (CAA). At CAA, she provided strategic and tactical communications counsel to senior management, and worked extensively with the firm's corporate clients. From 1995-1998, as Vice President, California Government Relations, at Walt Disney Co., Ms. Perez directed and implemented business relations with state, county and municipal governments as well as with industry and business advocacy groups. Following a fellowship at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Ms. Perez was named General Manager of Corporate Communications and Programs for the Chevron Corporation (1998), where she directed and managed a range of functions for the global energy corporation including media relations, speechwriting, employee and stockholder communications, web-based communications, public relations, Former corporate advertising strategic research and corporate contributions. Ms. Barbara Bush Communicati Perez attended Hunter College in New York City. She is married to Ana Perez staffer ons Theophilus Sims, they have three children. Maria Elena Durazo is the current executive secretary–treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. She was appointed the interim executive secretary–treasurer following the resignation of Martin Ludlow in February 2006, and was voted as the permanent replacement] on May 15, 2006. She is the widow of Miguel Contreras, who preceded Labor, Urban Ludlow as the executive secretary–treasurer of the Los Angeles County LA Labor Policy, Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. From May 1989 until March 2006, Durazo Council Domestic was the president of UNITE-HERE local 11. Durazo was asked by Barack Maria Elena Durazo President Policy Council Obama to serve as the national co-chair for his presidential campaign. Eliseo Medina has served as international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) since 1996, when he made history by becoming the first Mexican American elected to a top post at the 1.8 million-member SEIU. Medina began his career as a labor activist in 1965 when, as a 19-year-old grape-picker, he participated in the historic United Farm Workers' strike in Delano, Calif. Over the next 13 years, he worked alongside Cesar Chavez and honed his skills as a union organizer and political strategist. He left the Farm Workers in 1978, after rising to the rank of second national vice president. He currently is leading SEIU’s efforts to help workers in 17 states in the Southern and Southwestern United States -– including , , Nevada, Labor, Public Colorado, , Florida, and Georgia –- unite in SEIU so they will Liasion, have the strength to improve their jobs and the services they provide in Eliseo Medina SEIU White House their communities. NexTag pioneered the concept of calculating total price by using a zip code to compute tax and shipping charges, in addition to the product price. This year, the company introduced what it calls "true price" which differs from most other shopping search services, according to NexTag co-founder and vice president of marketing Rafael Ortiz. The site's true price is not just estimated as it is elsewhere, but is calculated in real-time by taking information directly from shipping tables or formulas provided by retailers. NexTag also offers a unique price history graph for tech-related products, showing fluctuations in average price over time. This makes it easier to decide whether to wait, or perhaps buy immediately if a recent price drop Founder of Commerce, has made a product more attractive. The company also offers free price Rafael Ortiz Next Tag Ambassador change alerts via email. Senior Paul Rivera served as the Senior Political Advisor for the Kerry-Edwards Advisor, Kerry campaign in 2004, after managing New York State for John Kerry in the '04; Democratic Primaries. He worked for Carl McCall's 2002 gubernatorial Coronado campaign in New York and previously as a White House advance person Project co- from 1994 through 2000. He is a veteran of the past four presidential Paul Rivera founder White House elections and the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Democratic National Conventions. Luis Navarro served as national political director for the Service Employees International Union and the John Kerry for President Campaign through the Iowa caucuses before directing the western regional operations for America Coming Together (ACT) in 2004. Prior to that, he was a veteran of the DNC and DCCC as well as serving as a senior campaign or congressional aide to Congressman Al Wynn and former House leaders Campaign Tom Foley and Vic Fazio. Luis began his career managing Maryland House manager, Speaker Michael Busch's first general election campaign and working in Biden Southern politics. He currently sits on the boards of 21st Century Presidential White House, Democrats and the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and was named a Luis Navarro bid VP office Rising Star of 2000 by Campaigns and Elections magazine. Appointed MALDEF President and General Counsel in November 2006, Mr. Trasviña began his career at MALDEF in Washington, DC as a legislative attorney in 1985. He later worked for U.S. Senator Paul Simon as General Counsel & Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Mr. Trasviña as Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. As Special Counsel, he led the only federal government office devoted solely CEO and to immigrant workplace rights. He was the highest ranking Latino attorney President of Justice, Public at the U.S. Department of Justice. After returning to California, he taught John Trasvina MALDEF Liasion immigration law at Stanford Law School. Ida Castro rose through the ranks of the U.S. Department of Labor before being named the first Latina to head the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1998. Over the course of her three years as the agency's leader, Castro implemented numerous changes and initiatives that improved its ability to provide quality services to the public. She was then appointed as secretary of personnel for the state of New Jersey. Castro was born in 1953 in New York City. Her father, Ezequiel, was a restaurant worker, and her mother, Aurora, was a garment worker. Although she was born in New York, Castro spent much of her childhood in Hato Rey, a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a first-grader in the Bronx, Castro was struck by the prejudice and bigotry surrounding her when a teacher instructed Castro that she was not to translate some classroom instructions to another student who spoke only Spanish. Years Former EEOC later, remembering the teacher's disgust as she referred to the student as Commissione a "spic," a racial slur for a Hispanic, Castro would be motivated to do what Ida Castro r Labor, EEOC she could to defend the rights of all. Henry Solano advises clients on the broad range of labor and employment laws covering the full range of personnel matters, policies and practices including those related to anti-discrimination, wage and hour, occupational safety and health, employment agreements including restrictive covenants and confidentiality provisions, terminations, whistleblower protections, collective bargaining, and ERISA coverage and claims. He regularly participates in the due diligence review and advice concerning labor, employment and ERISA matters in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. Mr. Solano supports this advice through litigation representation on labor and employment matters, where he has appeared in numerous state and federal jurisdictions. He has successfully defended clients in class action wage hour and ERISA matters, not only at the trial court level, but the appellate level. Mr. Solano joined Dewey & LeBoeuf after serving as the Solicitor of Labor for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and, for a brief time, the Acting Secretary of Labor. In his role at the DOL, Mr. Solano provided legal and policy advice to the Secretary and senior department officials, conducted internal investigations of misconduct by Senior Executives of DOL, and oversaw all legal enforcement actions taken pursuant to approximately 150 statutes protecting worker security and establishing workplace safety including the Former Occupational Safety and Health Act, Mine Safety and Health Act, Fair Solicitor of Labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act, Employee Retirement Henry Solano Labor Labor Income Security Act and the Executive Order on Anti-Discrimination. George Muñoz (1951 - ) Is currently President of Muñoz Investment Banking Group, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based firm focused on emerging markets and the U.S. Hispanic community. In addition, he is a Partner at Tobin, Petkus & Muñoz, a Chicago law firm focused on commercial and international transactions; the law firm also has a Washington, DC office. Mr. Muñoz is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an independent federal agency that provides political risk insurance, financing and private equity funds to Former Under U.S. private sector investments in developing countries. He is also a Secretary for former Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Treasury (on Department of Treasury. Mr. Muñoz is a licensed attorney and certified transition Treasury, public accountant. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Altria George Munoz team) Commerce Group, Marriott International and National Geographic Society. Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez is currently serving her eighth term as Representative for New York’s 12th Congressional District. She has made history several times during her tenure in Congress. In 1992, she was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In February 1998, she was named Ranking Democratic Member of the House Small Business Committee, making her the first Hispanic woman to serve as Ranking Member of a full House committee. Most recently, in 2006, she was named Chairwoman of the House Small Congresswom Business Committee, making her the first Latina to chair a full Nydia Velasquez an, D-NY White House Congressional committee. An award-winning scholar of Chicano history and immigration who joined the College faculty in 1997, Sanchez is director of the USC Center for Diversity and Democracy. He is the former director of American studies and ethnicity, a program he helped build into one of the top American and ethnic studies departments in the nation. He currently serves as the department’s director of undergraduate studies. Sanchez helped bring to USC a $3.6 million James Irvine Foundation grant supporting underrepresented doctoral students when he was director of the Irvine Fellowship Program. A renowned mentor, he has served on the advisory board for both the USC Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program and the McNair Scholars Program. A former president of the American Studies Association, he now chairs its Committee on Graduate Education. Sanchez also serves on minority scholars committees within the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association. Sanchez’s 1993 book, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900–1945 (Oxford University Press), earned six awards in fields such as immigration history and Western history. His article “ ‘What’s Good for Boyle Heights is Good for the Jews’: Creating Multiracialism on the Eastside During the 1950s” won the 2005 Constance Rourke Prize for best article appearing in American Quarterly. He is presently working on a book about the impact of Professor at Mexican migration upon late 20th century Los Angeles culture, and a George Sanchez USC Civil Rights historical study of multiethnic interaction in East Los Angeles. Tom Castro is a seasoned radio entrepreneur who bought his first station at age 25. Prior to founding Border Media Partners (BMP) in 2002, he owned and operated stations in Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Riverside/San Bernardino. Castro is the President and CEO of Houston- based BMP which primarily targets Hispanic listeners and owns 34 radio stations in San Antonio, Austin, McAllen/Brownsville, Laredo and Waco, Texas. Prior to entering the radio business, Castro founded a company that exported oil field equipment to Mexico and lived in Mexico City for three years. After college, he worked for the U.S. Senate in Washington specializing in immigration issues, US-Mexican trade and energy policy and voting rights matters. Castro also served as the National Youth Director of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, DC. Most recently, he served as the National Deputy Finance Chairman of the Kerry for President Campaign and was profiled along with Senator Barack Texas Obama and MIT President Susan Hockfield in Newsweek as 1 of 10 people Tom Castro businessman Commerce in the U.S. to watch in 2005. The Hispanic National Bar Association has named Ramona Romero, corporate counsel for DuPont, as president for 2008-2009. Romero is the 35th president of the HNBA, and the sixth woman to serve in the top post since the organization was founded in 1972. Romero is a former president of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia and co-founder and director of the Dominican American National Roundtable. She is President, currently corporate counsel for Logistics & Energy at E.I. du Pont de National Nemours & Company in Wilmington, Del. She received a bachelor's degree Hispanic Bar from Barnard College, Columbia University, in 1985 and a law degree from Ramona Romero Association Justice Harvard Law School in 1988. Eva M. Plaza is the Chief Deputy City Solicitor for the Solicitor's office of the City of Philadelphia. Ms. Plaza is in charge of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative Unit. Prior to this position, Ms. Plaza served as Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Plaza was appointed to a four-year term by President Bill Clinton and was sworn in on November 8, 1997. As Assistant Secretary, Ms. Plaza vigorously enforced the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and its amendments, and waged aggressive education and outreach campaigns in communities across the country. Prior to her appointment as Assistant Secretary, Ms. Plaza served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General over the Torts Branch at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before serving in the Administration, Ms. Plaza was litigation trial attorney in the Washington, D.C. law firms of Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson and Arent, Fox, Kinter, Plotkin & Kahn from 1986 to 1993. Ms. Plaza has received numerous awards for outstanding achievement, including the Albert Arent Pro Bono Award, 1989; the National Conference for College Women Leaders, Woman of Distinction Award in 1998; and the Hispanic Bar Association's Equal Justice Award in 2002. She has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in America, and is a lifetime member of the American Bar Association's American Bar Foundation. Ms. Plaza graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1980. Ms. Plaza studied law at the University of California Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, where she served as Associate Editor of the California Law Review. After graduating Former from law school in 1984, Ms. Plaza was selected to the highly acclaimed Assistant Attorney General Honors Program of the U.S. Department of Justice in Secretary at Washington, D.C. where she was trial counsel in the Civil Division's Eva Plaza HUD HUD Commercial Litigation Branch. Janet Murguía has become a key figure among the next generation of leaders in the Latino community. Since January 1, 2005, she has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. Murguía began her career in Washington, DC as legislative counsel to former Kansas Congressman Jim Slattery, serving for seven years. She then worked at the White House from 1994 to 2000, ultimately serving as deputy assistant to President Clinton, providing strategic and legislative advice to the president on key issues. She served as deputy director of legislative affairs, managing the legislative staff and acting as a senior White House liaison to Congress. She then served as deputy campaign manager and director of constituency outreach for the Gore/Lieberman presidential campaign. In that role, she was the primary liaison between former Vice President Gore and national constituency NCLR White House, groups. She also served as a spokesperson for the campaign, working with Janet Murguia president Public Liasion radio, print, and TV media outlets. Susan Castillo (born August 14, 1951) heads the Oregon Department of Education as the Superintendent of Public Instruction.[1] Although she currently holds an elective statewide non-partisan office, she is a Democrat, and served from 1997 to 2003 in the as a Oregon, State Education, member of that party. Before entering politics, she had pursued a career Superintende Domestic in broadcast journalism, first for Oregon Public Broadcasting, and later for Susan Castillo nt of Schools Policy Council KVAL-TV in Eugene, Oregon.