Born:
October 20, 1957
Hilda
was born in Los Angeles, CA. She lived with her parents and her six
siblings in the San Gabriel Valley.
She
attended the California State Polytechnic University and earned a
Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California
in 1981. 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.
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.
In
August 2000, she became the first woman awarded the John F. Kennedy
Profile in Courage Award for her pioneering work on environmental
justice issues in California. Her California environmental justice
legislation, enacted in 1999, was the first of its kind in the nation
to become law.
Hilda
L. Solis was elected to Congress in November, 2000, and is serving
her third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She represents
California's 32nd Congressional District. In 2003, Solis became the
first Latina appointed to the powerful House Committee on Energy and
Commerce.
Learn
more about Hilda Solis at the following websites: