What Are Today’s L.A. Women Fighting For?

Maria Elena Durazo, California State Senator. María Elena Durazo was born the seventh child in a family of eleven children to migrant worker parents. María Elena attended St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California, and graduated in 1975. While working as a union organizer, she pursued an education in law at the People’s College of Law and earned her degree in 1985. In 2004, she became the Executive Vice President of UNITE-HERE International. In 2008, María Elena Durazo served as the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee and as National Co-Chair of the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign. From 2006 through 2014, she was the first woman Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, the second largest labor council in the country and served on the National AFL-CIO Executive Council. Besides her union work, María Elena has served on many civic commissions and boards. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley appointed her to the Los Angeles Commission on Airports, Mayor Richard Riordan appointed her to the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Committee and she has also served on the California State Coastal Commission.

One of America’s leading visual artists, Dr. Judith F. Baca, has created public art for four decades. Powerful in size and subject matter, Baca’s murals bring art to where people live and work. In 1974, Baca founded the City of Los Angeles’ first mural program, which produced over 400 murals and employed thousands of local participants, and evolved into an arts organization known as the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). She continues to serve as SPARC’s artistic director and focuses her creative energy in the UCLA@SPARC Digital/Mural Lab, employing digital technology to promote social justice and participatory public arts projects. Currently an emeritus professor of the University of California Los Angeles, where she was a senior professor in Chicana/o Studies and World Art and Cultures Departments from 1993 until 2018.

Christine Margiotta is passionate about channeling the collective power of Angelenos to create a more just and loving LA. In her role as Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Los Angeles, she leads a purpose-driven community of nonprofits, individuals, and foundations creating profound systemic transformation. Christine is a graduate of Scripps College and received her MSW from UCLA. She lives in Claremont with her wife, Becky, and their two children, Huck and Vivian, and she serves as the Chairperson of the L.A. County Measure H Citizen’s Oversight Advisory Board.

Connie Rice is co-director of the Advancement Project. Prior to that Connie was the NAACP Legal Defense; Educational Fund, an associate at the law firm of Morrison; Foerster, and a clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith, judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. Connie is a graduate of Harvard College and the New York University School of Law.

Angel Jennings, Los Angeles Times. As assistant managing editor for culture and talent, Angel Jennings oversees the Metpro and internship programs as well as works closely with HR and department heads to help manage a broad range of responsibilities, including tracking, recruiting, interviewing and selecting diverse candidates for job opportunities and advancing the company’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and access. She also works across the newsroom on retention, training and career development efforts. Jennings previously worked as a reporter in Metro. She got her start in the Metpro program in 2011 and has since worked on assignments with many departments in the newsroom, including Metro, National, Calendar, Business and podcasts.