Janet Murguía
{{Short description|American civil rights activist}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Janet Murguía
|image = Janet Murguía NCLR President and CEO.jpg
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|9|6}}
|birth_place = Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = Democratic
|relatives = Mary H. Murguia (twin sister)
Carlos Murguia (brother)
|education = University of Kansas, Lawrence (BA, BS, JD){{cite web |url=http://standing-firm.com/2009/04/01/fireside-chat-with-janet-murguia-of-nclr/ |title=Fireside Chat with Janet Murguia of NCLR|date= April 1, 2009 |accessdate=October 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130173501/http://standing-firm.com/2009/04/01/fireside-chat-with-janet-murguia-of-nclr/ |archivedate=November 30, 2010}}
}}
Janet Murguía (born September 6, 1960) is an American civil rights activist in the United States. She is president of UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR), a Hispanic advocacy organization.{{Cite web |title=Janet Murguía |url=https://nul.org/basic-page/janet-murguia-0 |access-date=10 October 2022 |website=National Urban League |language=en}} Her twin sister Mary and elder brother Carlos are both federal judges.
National Council of La Raza
On January 1, 2005, Murguía replaced Raul Yzaguirre as the president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights advocacy organization in the U.S.{{cite web |url=https://www.texasobserver.org/national-council-of-la-raza-president-janet-murgu%ef%bf%bd%ef%bf%bd_%ef%bf%bd%ef%bf%bd___as-plan-to-take-over-the-texas-capitol/ |title=National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguía's Plan to Take Over the Texas Capitol |last=Casares |first=Cindy |date=5 October 2012 |website=The Texas Observer |access-date=11 October 2022}} 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.
File:Murguiaspelling.jpg with Janet Murguía on July 18, 2005]]
Murguía currently serves as a board member of the Independent Sector, 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/author/janet-murguia |title=Janet Murguía |website=HuffPost |access-date=11 October 2022}} Murguia serves on the advisory board of the National Hispanic University.{{cite web |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/henry-cisneros-to-head-advisory-board-for-the-national-hispanic-university-179325151.html |title=Henry Cisneros to Head Advisory Board for The National Hispanic University |website=PR Newswire |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=11 October 2022}}
Murguía endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.{{cite web |url=https://thehill.com/latino/301674-top-latino-group-picks-clinton-for-first-ever-endorsement/ |title=Top Latino group picks Clinton for first-ever endorsement |website=The Hill |last=Bernal |first=Rafael |date=18 October 2016 |access-date=11 October 2022}}
Past positions held
In 2001, Murguía joined the University of Kansas (KU) as Executive Vice Chancellor for University Relations.{{Cite web |title=Janet Murguia |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/janet-murguia |access-date=5 September 2022 |website=PBS |language=en}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/feb/09/kansans_success_will/ |title=Kansan's success will take family's story to national level |website=Lawrence Journal-World |last=Rombeck |first=Terry |date=9 February 2004 |access-date=11 October 2022}} 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 before working at the White House from 1994 to 2000. She eventually served as deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton, 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.{{cite web |title=Janet Murguía |url=https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/alumni/Honorary-Degrees/Pages/Janet-Murguia.aspx |access-date=10 October 2022 |website=California State University}}
Honors
In 2022, Murguía was named as one of USA Today's Women of the Year, which recognizes women who have made a significant impact.{{Cite web |date=28 March 2022 |title=Meet USA TODAY's Women of the Year |url=https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/grid/women-of-the-year-2022/ |access-date=5 September 2022 |website=USA Today |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.nclr.org/index.php/about_us/leadership/ Biography] from the NCLR
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113003597.html?wprss=rss_print/washpostmagazine "First Person Singular" interview with Washington Post, December 6, 2009]
- {{C-SPAN|48393}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murguia, Janet}}
Category:Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights
Category:American civil rights activists
Category:American legal scholars
Category:American people of Mexican descent
Category:Assistants to the president of the United States
Category:Clinton administration personnel
Category:People from Kansas City, Kansas