Groundbreaking Southern California lawmaker Gloria Molina passed away Sunday, May 14, at age 74. Here are some key dates and achievements from her history-making career:
May 31, 1948: Jesús Gloria Molina is born in Montebello. Parents Leonardo Castillo Molina and Concepción Molina immigrated to Los Angeles area from Mexico. She is named for her paternal grandmother.
Related: Gloria Molina, groundbreaking LA lawmaker, dies at 74
Childhood: Gloria was raised as one of 10 Molina children, mostly in Pico Rivera. She attends elementary school in the city and goes on to graduate from El Rancho High.
Education: Molina attended Rio Hondo College, East Los Angeles College and Cal State L.A.
Early career: Molina worked full time as a legal secretary while attending college. Then later, she earned her certificate as an adult education instructor and taught clerical skills at the East Los Angeles Skills Center.
Early activism: Molina was engaged in Southern California’s Chicano movement and fought to expand women’s health access. Amid a local shortage of nurses, she initiated a nurse mentoring program that teamed up with Los Angeles area community colleges to recruit and assist Latina students on track for nursing degrees. Served as a member of the Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional de Los Angeles. She helped establish the Chicana Action Service Center, which advocated for the rights of all Chicanas.
1976: Molina becomes administrative assistant for Assemblyman Art Torres.
1977: Molina serves in President Jimmy Carter’s administration as a deputy for presidential personnel.
1979: Molina moves up to director of Intergovernmental and Congressional Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services, Region IX office, in San Francisco.
Early 1980s: Molina named to El Rancho High Hall of Fame.
1981: Molina becomes the Southern California chief deputy to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Jr.
1982: Molina becomes the first Latina woman to be elected to the…
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