BIOGRAPHY OF SENATOR DENISE MORENO DUCHENY

Denise Moreno Ducheny served in the State Senate from 2002 to 2010, representing the 40th District which included portions of and Riverside Counties, all of Imperial County, and all of the California-Baja California Border. During her tenure in the State Senate, among other duties, Senator Ducheny chaired the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Select Committees on California-Mexico Co- operation and the Colorado River.

Prior to her election to the , Senator Ducheny served in the California State Assembly from 1994-2000 and on the San Diego Community College Board from 1990-94. During her tenure in the State Assembly, among many other responsibilities, she served as Chair of the Select Committee on California-Mexico Affairs and the Assembly Budget Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus. In both houses of the Legislature she was the first woman and first Latino to chair the respective House Budget Committees.

Throughout her tenure in the State Legislature Border issues and building closer relationships with Mexico, and particularly our Baja California neighbors, was a primary focus of her work. While a member of the State Assembly, through her work with the Council of State Governments-West, she launched a series of bi-national meetings among state legislators of the 10 US-Mexico Border States that eventually became known as the Border Legislative Conference. She was honored to Chair that Conference in 2010, her last year in the State Senate. During her years in the State Senate she also led the effort to convene regular meetings of State Legislators from the states of the Region of the Three – California, Baja California, and Baja California Sur.

Currently she serves a Senior Policy Advisor with the San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies and a Lecturer in UCSD’s Urban Studies and Planning Program, continues to do some private consulting work, and is a volunteer Advisory Board member for the North American Research Partnership and for the Council for Children of the Children’s Advocacy Institute. In June, 2014 Senator Ducheny was honored by the government of Mexico for her many years of service to the Mexican diaspora population and her efforts to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Mexico with presentation of the prestigious Ohtli Award. And, in October, 2014, President Obama appointed her to serve as the U.S. border resident member of the BECC/NADBANK Board of Directors.

Ms. Ducheny holds a B.A. in History from and a Juris Doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law. Prior to holding elected office, Sen. Ducheny was a practicing Attorney in her own solo practice focused primarily in the areas of Immigration and Family Law and served as an appointed Appellate attorney representing indigent clients in criminal and juvenile dependency matters. She has been married to Al Ducheny, a retired political consultant and community activist for over 30 years.