Maria Echaveste (born May 31, 1954) is an American politician and civil rights activist who was a U.S. presidential advisor to

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

and

White House Deputy Chief of Staff The White House Deputy Chief of Staff is officially the top aide to the White House Chief of Staff, White House chief of staff, who is the senior aide to the president of the United States. The deputy chief of staff usually has an office in the Wh ...

during the second

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

.Maria Echaveste - Former Deputy Chief of Staff - Nationwide Speakers Bureau
She is one of the highest-ranking Latinas to have served in a presidential administration. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy think tank, research and advocacy organization which presents a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal viewpoint on Economic policy, economic and social issues. CAP is headquarter ...

and a co-founder of the Nueva Vista Group, a policy, legislative strategy and advocacy group working with non-profit and corporate clients.

Early life

Echaveste was born in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

as one of seven children born to Mexican immigrants. Her family later moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where she received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1976 and a

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 ...

from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 1980. Following her graduation from Boalt, Echaveste specialized in corporate litigation at the former

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, ...

firm Wyman Bautzer and at Rosenman & Colin in New York.

Public service

From 1993 to 1997, Echaveste served as the administrator of the

Wage and Hour Division The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the United States Department of Labor is the Federal government of the United States, federal office responsible for enforcing federal labor laws. The Division was formed with the enactment of the Fair Labor St ...

of the

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

. In that role, she was responsible for the management and policy direction of programs related to a variety of Federal laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and federal contracting laws. Under her leadership, the Wage and Hour Division initiated an anti-sweatshop initiative, which received an Innovation in American Government Award from th
Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation
at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1996. From February 1997 to May 1998, Echaveste served as the Director of Public Liaison at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, where she developed communications, legislative and public outreach strategies. From 1998 to 2001, she served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton. Echaveste managed President Clinton's domestic policy initiatives on

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

and

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

reform. She also coordinated relief efforts within the White House for foreign and domestic disasters, and specialized in international issues related to

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

including the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the Africa Growth Opportunity Act, and ''Plan Colombia'', a federal effort to assist

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in its anti-drug campaign. At the end of the Clinton administration, Echaveste was responsible for managing the White House preparations for the millennium celebrations and the 2000 presidential transition.

Current activities

After leaving the

, Echaveste co-founded the Nueva Vista Group, a strategic and policy consulting group that works with nonprofit organizations, associations and corporations on such issues as immigration, health care, telecommunications, labor and finances. She left the consulting firm in 2014. She is a part-time lecturer at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. She currently resides in both

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and is the President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute, a research-oriented non-profit focusing education policy and economic mobility generally. Echaveste was a commentator on the PBS television show " To the Contrary." During the 2004 Democratic primaries, she was a senior adviser to

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

and frequently spoke for him on talk shows.CNN.com - Transcripts
/ref> Echaveste is currently a commentator on MSNBC. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

and Mi Familia Vota. She previously was a member of the Board of Directors of People for the American Way, the Children's Law Center of Washington, D.C.,

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, and the Level Playing Field Institute, an organization devoted to promoting fairness in education and the workplace. She was married to Chris Edley, whom she met while working together in the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

. In 2010 she served as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's special representative to Bolivia. In September 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Echaveste to become the United States Ambassador to Mexico. She would have become the first woman to hold the position but she withdrew her name from consideration on January 31, 2015.Colby Itkowitz. (January 31, 2015 Saturday). "Obama's pick for ambassador to Mexico withdraws; Maria Echaveste would have been the first woman to ever hold the job." ''Washington Post Blogs In the Loop.''

References

External links

Faculty BiographyCenter for American ProgressBackbone Campaign
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060112005017/http://www.nationwidespeakers.com/speaker/670/48
Nueva Vista Group
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Echaveste, Maria 1954 births Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights American civil rights activists American legal scholars American politicians of Mexican descent Assistants to the president of the United States Center for American Progress people Clinton administration personnel Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people People from Oxnard, California People from Texas Stanford University alumni United States Department of Labor officials UC Berkeley School of Law alumni UC Berkeley School of Law faculty White House deputy chiefs of staff Women government officials Women in California politics American women legal scholars 21st-century American women