HispanicBusiness

Department of Homeland Security Team

Juan Otero. Knowledgeable in the fields of transportation infrastructure, telecommunications, international trade, financial services regulations, science and technology development and affordable housing, Otero serves as director of the Economic Development and Commerce Committee of the National Governors Association. Before joining the National Governors Association, he was deputy director of the SAFECOM Program and assistant deputy director of the office For Interoperability and Compatibility. He also worked as the principal legislative counsel for the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C. From 1996 through 1997 he was a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Fellow for the National League of Cities and the Immigration and Naturalization Service where he was involved in community outreach. He holds a J.D. degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, an MPA from American University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in political science from the City College of New York.

Department of Education Team

Maria Blanco. Maria Blanco is the first Executive Director of the Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the University of California, Berkeley Law School. She is an attorney with a specialization in employment, immigration and education law. Prior to joining the Warren Institute as its Director she was the Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the Bay Area. She served as National Senior Counsel with the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and as director of MALDEF's legislative office in Sacramento, California. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley Law School and received her Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After receiving her Juris Doctorate from Berkeley Law School she was a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Ms. Blanco served as an advisor to the Obama campaign in California during the California primary.

[Ed. note: This article originally named an incorrect individual instead of Ms. Blanco. HispanicBusiness.com regrets the error]

Juliet Garcia. Garcia is President of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. She is the first Mexican-American to direct a four year U.S. university.

Eugene Garcia. A specialist in bilingual education, Garcia is the Vice President of the Education Partnerships Curriculum and Instruction of the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State University. Prior to joining Arizona State University Garcia was the Dean and Professor of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California in Berkeley. He has also served as a Senior officer and Director of the office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs in the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton Administration. He is currently the Chairman of the National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics and he is doing research in the field of effective schooling for linguistically and culturally diverse students.

As this is being written Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, is seriously being considered for the office of Secretary of Commerce. And, as we reported last week, there is no shortage of other qualified Hispanic candidates for high-level consideration.