Velma R. Veloria (born October 22, 1950) is a former politician from Washington. Veloria was the first Filipino American as well as the first Asian American woman to be elected to the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senat ...

as a member of

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

. She served from 1993 to 2004.

Early life

On October 22, 1950, Veloria was born in

Bani, Pangasinan Bani, officially the Municipality of Bani ( pag, Baley na Bani; ilo, Ili ti Bani; tgl, Bayan ng Bani), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 52,603 people. ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. In 1962, Veloria immigrated to the United States.

Education

Veloria earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from

San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

Career

From 1970 to 1980, Veloria was a Labor Activist. Veloria worked at Office of Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), IL WU Local 37 (cannery workers), and

Service Employees' International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

(SEIU). From 1990 to 1991, Veloria worked as a legislative aide to Art Wang who chaired the Finance Committee. On November 3, 1992, Veloria won the election. In January 1993, Veloria became the first Asian-American woman and first Filipino American to serve as a member of

for

District 11 District 11 can refer to: *District 11 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam *District 11 (Zürich), Switzerland * District 11, an electoral district of Malta *Colorado Springs School District 11, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States *District 11 (Hu ...

, and served until 2004.

Awards

* 2019 Curriculum and Community Innovation Scholar. First recipient. Faculty award honored at

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

.archive

Personal life

Veloria's husband is Alonzo Suson. Veloria and her family live in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veloria, Velma 1950 births Living people San Francisco State University alumni Women state legislators in Washington (state) Members of the Washington House of Representatives 21st-century American women