Janet Murguía (born September 6, 1960) is a
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
activist in the United States. She is president of
UnidosUS
UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizen ...
, formerly
National Council of La Raza
UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizen ...
(NCLR), a Hispanic advocacy organization. Her twin sister
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
and elder brother
Carlos are both federal judges.
National Council of La Raza
On January 1, 2005, Murguía replaced
Raul Yzaguirre
Raul Humberto Yzaguirre (born July 22, 1939) is an American civil rights activist. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as the president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza from 1974 to 2004 and as U.S. Ambass ...
as the president and CEO of the
National Council of La Raza
UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizen ...
(NCLR), the largest national
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
civil rights advocacy organization in the U.S. As President and CEO, Murguía often testifies before Congress about issues affecting the Latino community including education, health care, immigration reform, civil rights and the economy. In her role as a spokesperson for the organization, she is frequently interviewed by various news outlets and has appeared on many news programs.
![Murguiaspelling](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Murguiaspelling.jpg)
Murguía currently serves as a board member of the
Independent Sector
Independent Sector is a coalition of nonprofits, foundations and corporate giving programs. Founded in 1980, it is the first organization to combine the grant seekers and grantees.
Located in Washington, D.C., Independent Sector largely works on f ...
, a coalition of nonprofits, foundations, and corporations, and is an executive committee member of the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. She also sits on the board of the
Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility and the
National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) is a non-profit leadership association. Established in 1991, the group consists of Hispanic leaders and national organizations throughout the United States. It is a nonpartisan organization that works ...
. Murguia serves on the advisory board of the
National Hispanic University.
Murguía endorsed Democratic candidate
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Past positions held
In 2001, Murguía joined the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
(KU) as Executive Vice Chancellor for University Relations. Murguía managed KU's strategic planning and marketing efforts on four campuses.
Before joining KU, she served as deputy campaign manager and director of constituency outreach for the
Al Gore's presidential campaign during the
2000 presidential election where she was the primary liaison between former Vice President Gore and national constituency groups. She also served as a spokesperson for the campaign, working with radio, print, and TV media outlets.
Murguía served seven years as legislative counsel to former Kansas Congressman
Jim Slattery
James Charles Slattery (born August 4, 1948) is an American politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 representing Kansas's 2nd congressional district as a Democrat, was the Democratic nominee for governor in ...
before working at the White House from 1994 to 2000. She eventually served as deputy assistant to President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, providing strategic and legislative advice to the president. She also served as deputy director of legislative affairs where she was in charge of the legislative staff and acted as a senior White House liaison to Congress.
Honors
In 2022, Murguía was named as one of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
s Women of the Year, which recognizes women who have made a significant impact.
References
External links
Biographyfrom the NCLR
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murguia, Janet
1960 births
Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights
American legal scholars
American people of Mexican descent
Assistants to the President of the United States
Clinton administration personnel
Kansas Democrats
Living people
People from Kansas City, Kansas
University of Kansas alumni
University of Kansas faculty