(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, will be the featured speaker at the upcoming Latino Leaders Luncheon Series(tm), taking place from 11:30 am-2:00 pm on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at the Capital Hilton, 16th and K Streets, NW in Washington, D.C. Additional speakers for the program include Latino Leaders Network Founder and Chairman, Mickey Ibarra; Gus West, board chair of the Hispanic Institute and California Senator Alex Padilla. The quarterly event provides a platform for prominent Latino leaders to share their personal story of obstacles overcome to achieve success.
“We are delighted to welcome Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series(tm) and to present her with the Nambe Eagle Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to our community,” says Mickey Ibarra, Founder and Chairman of the Latino Leaders Network(tm).
Secretary Hilda L. Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor on February 24, 2009. Prior to confirmation as Secretary of Labor, Secretary Solis represented the 32nd Congressional District in California, a position she held from 2001 – 2009.
Solis demonstrated efforts to expand access to affordable health care, protect the environment, and improve the lives of working families. She is a recognized leader on clean energy jobs, she authored the Green Jobs Act which provided funding for “green” collar job training for veterans, displaced workers, at risk youth, and individuals in families under 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
A nationally recognized leader on the environment, Solis became the first woman to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000 for her pioneering work on environmental justice issues. Her California environmental justice legislation, enacted in 1999, was the first of its kind in the nation to become law.
Solis was first elected to public office in 1985 as a member of the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees. She served in the California State Assembly from 1992 to 1994, and in 1994 made history by becoming the first Latina elected to the California State Senate. As the chairwoman of the California Senate Industrial Relations Committee, she led the battle to increase the state’s minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996. She also authored a record seventeen state laws aimed at combating domestic violence.
Solis graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. A former federal employee, she worked in the Carter White House Office of Hispanic Affairs and was later appointed as a management analyst with the Office of Management and Budget in the Civil Rights Division.
She was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as Secretary of Labor on January 20, 2009.
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is the sponsor for the Network reception and the Coca-Cola Company and Verizon are the sponsors for the luncheon. Media partners include the Hispanic Communications Network, Latino Leaders Magazine, and El Tiempo Latino.
The first Latino Leaders Luncheon Series event was held in 2004 and more than 20 luncheons have taken place since that time, featuring such diverse speakers such as Governor Bill Richardson; Senators Bob Menendez, Mel Martinez and Ken Salazar; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Father Virgilio Elizondo; actors Wilmer Valderamma and Eva Longoria; journalist Maria Hinojoso; and NY Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, among others. Details and photos from each of these events are available on the Latino Leaders Network(tm) website (www.LatinoLeadersNetwork.org).
