Latinas who make a difference
Nick Wilson
In a presidential election year this edition of Latino Leaders focuses on power–that of Latinas whom we pay tribute to–and we show how they use their power, which is not always political, to better the lives of others, lead, challenge, and inspire in all walks of life.
We acknowledge Rosario Marin, who accepted with dignity her party’s failure to select her to run for the US Senate, having fought against the odds and entrenched traditional interests.
The former US Treasurer said that her race made history, with her being the first major Hispanic candidate of either party in California to run for the senate, and the first major Republican woman candidate to try and enter the second house. “I am proud to have opened doors for more women and minority Republican candidates to walk through.”
Latino Leaders also honors New Mexico’s top law enforcer, the groundbreaking Patricia Madrid. The nation’s first Hispanic woman to hold the post of Attorney General battles multinationals, polluters, and powerful neighboring Texas, in addition to fighting hunger in her state, championing women, children, the old, and promoting education, health care, and safety.
In addition we feature seven Hispanic women in the Portfolio section.
One of these remarkable women is Sandra Hernandez who had excellent credentials for success. She was a Yale psychologist and a graduate of the Tufts School of Medicine, but she took charge of the Public Health AIDS office in San Francisco during the worst years of the epidemic, when the disease was believed by one faction to be the wrath of God, by another to be an invented disease by a secret governmental agency, and others who thought it might be a viral infection. Making decisions and setting policies in this volatile climate required a political savvy of heroic proportions, and she proved she had the right stuff.
So here are some Latinas whose deeds we are proud to have grace our pages.
Nick Wilson Editor editor@latinoleaders.com
COPYRIGHT 2004 Ferraez Publications of America Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
