POLLY B. BACA
Biographical Narrative (ed)
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Former Colorado State Senator Polly Baca is the President and CEO of the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA)...
A small businesswoman for three years prior to joining LARASA, Ms. Baca was the Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Baca Services, a consulting firm specializing in multicultural leadership development, diversity training, motivational presentations, policy development, and governmental relations.
Prior to returning to the private sector, Ms. Baca served as the Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA)... As Regional Administrator, Ms. Baca supervised a six-state region that supported 48,000 government employees... The operating budget was $161 million... The Region included the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
... Ms. Baca served as a Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Director of the United States Office of Consumer Affairs in Washington, D.C. As the chief consumer advocate for the Clinton Administration, Ms. Baca served as the Chair of the Consumer Affairs Council that consisted of representatives of 41 different federal agencies, chaired the U.S. delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Committee on Consumer Policy, and represented consumers on the federal Information Infrastructure Task Force.
Before joining the Clinton Administration, Ms. Baca was the Executive Director of the Colorado Hispanic Institute, a nonprofit institute whose mission was to promote multicultural leadership...
A member of the Colorado State Legislature for 12 years, Ms. Baca was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1974 and to the Colorado Senate in 1978. She was the:
• first woman elected to chair the Democratic Caucus of the Colorado House of Representatives (1977)
• first minority woman and first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado State Senate (1978-1986)
• first Hispanic woman in the nation to serve in both the House and Senate of her state legislature (1975-86)
• first Hispanic woman to be nominated by a major political party for the United States Congress (1980 Democratic Party Congressional nominee)
• first Hispanic woman to co-chair a National Democratic Convention (1980 and 1984)
• first Hispanic woman to serve in leadership in a State Senate in the U.S. (Chair, Colorado Senate Democratic Caucus, 1985-1986)
• first woman and the first minority to serve as Rocky Mountain Region VIII Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration (1994-1999)
• first Hispanic woman to head a 6-state federal agency in Rocky Mountain Region VIII (GSA 1994-1999)
Ms. Baca was born on a small farm in Weld County and grew up in Greeley, Colorado...She graduated from Colorado State University with a B.A. degree in political science...She received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, in August 1992, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, in May 1989.
Ms. Baca serves as Colorado Co-Chair of the Richardson for President Committee, served as Colorado Co-Chair of the Clinton/Gore Presidential Campaign in 1991 and 1992, as a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 1981 to 1989, and as a member of the DNC from 1973 to 1989...
Nationally known for her leadership skills and motivational presentations, Ms. Baca has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including ABC’s Nightline and MacNeil/Lehrer News-Hour. She has been interviewed and featured in the following books.... In addition, she has been interviewed in major newspapers and magazines across the country... named one of “100 Influentials” in Hispanic Business...
Recognition received by Ms. Baca includes being inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, named as one of the original 14 members to be inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame and being listed in the World Who’s Who of Women, Who’s Who in American Politics, Who’s Who in the West, and the 1980 Mexican American History Calendar. In addition, Ms. Baca received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Democratic Party, the 2006 “Scouting Vale La Pena!” Award from the Boy Scouts of America, the 2006 AARP Outstanding Community Partner Award, was named a 2004 Woman of Distinction by the Mile High Girl Scouts, received Regis University’s highest honor – the 2004 Civis Princeps Award, and received the 2003 Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame Award from the Denver Public Library; the 2002 Champion of Change Award in Politics from Escuela Tlatelolco, the Las Primeras 2000 Award from MANA – a National Latina Organization, the Hispanic Women 2000 Award from the National Society of Hispanic Genealogy, the Hispanic Pioneer 2000 Award from the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the 1998 Small Business Administrator’s Advocate of the Year Award for Colorado, the 1994 Maclovio Barraza Leadership Award from the National Council of La Raza, and the 1994 Leadership Award from the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She has also received the 1993 Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award, was named the 1993 Colorado Hispanic League Leadership Honoree, and was recognized for outstanding humanitarian service in 1991 by the NAACP Denver Branch.
A noted international speaker, Ms. Baca has extensive experience in foreign affairs. As a participant in the U.S. Information Agency AmPart program, she lectured in Japan and the Philippines on the American political system and the role of racial and ethnic Americans and women in the American socio-political system and economic systems. She was also a speaker and participant at the West Berlin, Germany seminar on “The Impact of the 1984 American Elections,” sponsored by the Aspen Institute Berlin. In March 1979, Ms. Baca was a White House guest at the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty and in July 1979 participated in the Camp David Domestic Summit hosted by President Jimmy Carter.
Ms. Baca began her professional career as an editorial assistant for a labor union newspaper in Washington, D.C. During President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, she served as a Public Information Officer for a White House Agency. She then joined the national campaign staff of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy in his bid for President of the United States. Later, she served as the Director of Research and Information on the founding staff of the National Council of La Raza and then as a Special Assistant to Lawrence F. O’Brien, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
07/07/07
