Jarrett Tomás Barrios is an American politician and activist. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

Los Angeles Region. Prior to this, he was the CEO of the

of Massachusetts. Barrios was a member of both the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

and the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

and became the first Latino and first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

man elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He subsequently was president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and, later, of the

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ex ...

(GLAAD).

Early life and education

The son of a Cuban-American carpenter and a Cuban-American social worker in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Barrios moved to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

at the age of 17 to study at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

after graduating from Jefferson High School in Tampa. After graduating in 1990 with high honors and working for the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year ...

, he earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree with honors from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Eisenhower Fellowships Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) is a private, non-profit organization created in 1953 by a group of American citizens to honor President Dwight D. Eisenhower for his contribution to humanity as a soldier, statesman, and world leader. The organization ...

selected Jarrett Barrios as a USA Eisenhower Fellow in 2009.

Career

Red Cross

Barrios was the CEO of various regions of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in the US from 2011 to 2020. Barrios took over as CEO of the Red Cross of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on March 3, 2014. He has been the CEO of the American Red Cross of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

since 2011. Barrios was credited with expanding and revitalizing the organization's mandate and leading it through two of Massachusetts' most serious disasters since the 1978 blizzard, namely the Boston Marathon bombings and blizzard Nemo in 2013. Since Barrios took the helm, the Red Cross of Massachusetts has expanded its volunteer base by 400 percent and doubled the number of Red Cross youth clubs in Massachusetts high schools.

Massachusetts House

Barrios began his legislative career in 1998 when he was elected to the

. The first major legislation he wrote was a law requiring hospital emergency rooms to provide interpreter services for non-English speakers. He also authored legislation creating a statewide affordable housing trust and establishing a low-income housing tax credit, which provides an incentive for developers to create affordable housing. He was the prime sponsor of a bill that enhanced state disaster relief efforts in coordination with the American Red Cross. In 2002, the voters of the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

District - including parts of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Revere, Chelsea and Saugus - elected him to the

state Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

, and he was re-elected unopposed in both 2004 and 2006. Barrios rose to national attention in 2006 when he proposed legislation to limit Marshmallow fluff in Massachusetts public schools after he learned his son's elementary school served

Fluffernutter A fluffernutter (also called a "peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich", "peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich", or "peanut butter and marshmallow stuff sandwich") is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme usually serv ...

s. In response, state rep Kathi-Anne Reinstein filed countersuit against this legislation by proposing the Fluffernutter be the state sandwich of Massachusetts. Barrios later dropped the proposal. As a state senator, Barrios successfully helped lead the legislative effort to protect

marriage equality Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

in Massachusetts, and is best known for a globally televised speech where he spoke on discrimination faced by his own family. Barrios chaired the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. He authored legislation creating a state

witness protection Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after trials, usually by police. While witnesses may only require p ...

program and establishing an anti-gang violence grant program known as the Shannon Grant. He also authored one of the nation's most comprehensive

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

laws, which provided new protections to consumers whose personal data is stolen from retailers or other third parties. Barrios wrote a law updating state fire codes in the wake of a deadly night club fire in neighboring Rhode Island. He also authored an "anti-bullying" bill, which only passed the state Senate, directing schools to respond more aggressively to student reports of violence and "cyber bullying." On other issues, Barrios authored a law designed to protect homeowners from foreclosure and to crack down on unscrupulous subprime lenders. The law created a first-in-the-nation requirement that mortgage bankers and brokers abide by the state

Community Reinvestment Act The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, P.L. 95-128, 91 Stat. 1147, title VIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to h ...

, which previously applied only to credit unions and banks. He led Senate passage of legislation promoting "

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

," addressing health care disparities among minorities, and strengthening enforcement of "buffer zones" around women's health facilities.

Other organizations

Barrios held leadership roles in several other organizations. * Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation: On May 22, 2007, Barrios resigned from the Senate to become the president of the state's largest health foundation, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. The foundation focuses on expanding access to health coverage and medical care for state residents. It plays a central role in the implementation of the state's universal health care program, providing data and analysis on the program's performance and convening health care stakeholders to address emerging issues. After arriving at the foundation, Barrios launched two new policy initiatives. The Care Beyond Coverage initiative is analyzing barriers to health care faced by people who have health insurance. The Community Health Mapping Project is linking data on health outcomes with environmental risk factors and other

social determinants of health The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status. They are the health promoting factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the dist ...

, such as violence and air quality. * Barrios was president of GLAAD from September 2009 to June 2011, making him the only bilingual leader of a national LGBT organization. Several members of the board and Barrios resigned in 2011 after the organization was perceived to have improperly advocated for one of its corporate donors in AT&T's merger discussions with T-Mobile. Barrios works in leadership roles in several nonprofit organizations. * Planned Parenthood Action Fund in New York City. Barrios is on their board of directors. * Massachusetts Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Barrios is on their board of directors. *

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) was formed in 1996 by artistic director Steven Maler and associate Joan Moynagh to bring free, outdoor William Shakespeare, Shakespeare to the people of the city of Boston. Since 1996, CSC has produced one ...

. Barrios is on their board of directors. * Latino Legacy Fund of

The Boston Foundation The Boston Foundation is a community foundation established in 1915. Serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and environs, it is made up of nearly 1,100 separate charitable funds established by donors over more than 100 years. Funds are set u ...

. Barrios is an Advisory Committee member. Barrios has also founded three nonprofit organizations. * Oiste, a statewide Latino political organization, works to "create an educated and actively engaged Latino" community through grassroots organizing and civic education. * Acceso, an international humanitarian organization, provides humanitarian outreach licensed by the U.S. government to the people of Cuba "who are struggling to obtain essential human goods such as medicine, medical supplies and reading materials." * The Commonwealth Seminar, a professional training institute, "exists to open the doors of the Massachusetts State House to diverse leaders" through training, networking opportunities and access to public-service job opportunities. Barrios was a co-author of the

Dallas Principles The Dallas Principles is a set of eight guiding principles to achieve full LGBT equality. The principles are: # Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptab ...

Personal life

Barrios married communications consultant and Democratic political operative Doug Hattaway in 2004. The couple divorced in 2010.Levenson, Michael.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrios, Jarrett 1969 births American politicians of Cuban descent American gay politicians Georgetown University Law Center alumni Harvard College alumni American LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ state legislators in Massachusetts Living people Massachusetts state senators Presidents of GLAAD Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives American nonprofit chief executives American Red Cross personnel 21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court