Jovita Fontanez
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| name = Jovita Fontanez
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| birth_place = New York, United States
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| alma_mater = Northeastern University
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| known_for = Boston Election Commission, Electoral College of Massachusetts
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Jovita Fontánez is the first Hispanic woman to serve as head of the Boston Election Commission{{cite news |last1=Morales |first1=Karen |title=IBA looks back at 50 years of community achievements |url=https://www.baystatebanner.com/2017/11/29/iba-looks-back-at-50-years-of-community-achievements/ |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=Bay State Banner |date=November 29, 2017}} and the first Hispanic woman elected to the Electoral College of Massachusetts. In 2014, she was honored for her contributions to the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños (Center for Puerto Rican Studies) archive at Hunter College of the City University of New York.{{cite news |last1=Montero |first1=Juanluis |title=100 National Leaders honored for preserving Puerto Rican Experience |url=https://elmundoboston.com/100-national-leaders-honored-for-preserving-puerto-rican-experience/ |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=El Mundo Boston |date=May 23, 2014}}
Early life and education
Fontanez was born in New York{{cite news |last1=Valiente |first1=Ciro |title=Rinden homenaje a Jovita Fontanez |url=https://elmundoboston.com/rinden-homenaje-a-jovita-fontanez/ |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=El Mundo Boston |date=May 3, 2017}} to a Puerto Rican family.{{cite news |last1=Jonas |first1=Michael |title=State party's own 'Comeback Kid' |url=https://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/08/01/state_party146s_own_145comeback_kid146/ |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=Boston.com |date=August 1, 2004}} In the 1950s, she moved to the South End of Boston with her family{{cite book |last1=Shannon |first1=Hope J. |title=Legendary Locals of Boston's South End |date=May 5, 2014 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing Incorporated |isbn=9781439645024 |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0S10AwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Jovita+Fontanez%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA34 |access-date=22 June 2021}} when she was eight,{{cite news |title=Three decades of public service and counting |url=http://www.umb.edu/alumni/magazine/1999/spring1999/about_alumni/jovita_fontaez.html |access-date=23 June 2021 |work=UMass Boston Alumni Magazine |publisher=UMass Boston |date=1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041225200818/http://www.umb.edu/alumni/magazine/1999/spring1999/about_alumni/jovita_fontaez.html |archive-date=December 25, 2004}} and later became active in Boston politics. After she arrived in Boston, her English skills were underdeveloped, and she was held back in fourth grade.
She graduated from UMass Boston in 1984 with a sociology degree, holds an MPA from Northeastern University, and has completed executive management graduate programs at Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.{{cite news |title=External Advisory Board Members |url=https://www.umb.edu/cwppp/about/board |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy |publisher=University of Massachusetts Boston}}
Career
During the course of her career, Fontanez has worked for a variety of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and political campaigns. She served as the head of the Boston Election Commission for three years.
She has served as one of the first Latina commissioners of the Boston Fair Housing Commission, was the founding member and associate director of the South End Community Health Center, a family case worker for South End Neighborhood Action Program, and worked as a business manager for the City of Boston Business Development Office. She has regularly attended the Democratic National Convention as a delegate. In 2013, she was a member of the Massachusetts Democratic Latino Caucus.{{cite news |last1=Rizzuto |first1=Robert |title=Massachusetts Democratic Party aims to bring more Latinos into political process |url=https://www.masslive.com/politics/2013/09/massachusetts_democratic_party_8.html |access-date=22 June 2021 |date=September 17, 2013 |quote=Updated Mar 24, 2019}}
She has also been a grassroots community activist, and in 1994 helped found and served as a director of Casa Esperanza's Latinas y Niños, a residential treatment facility focused on the needs of Latina women,{{cite news |title=Jovita Fontanez |url=https://www.c-span.org/person/?jovitafontanez |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=C-SPAN |date=December 3, 1997}} including to allow mothers to maintain custody of their children while they complete treatment, as well as additional supports such as job training and parenting classes.
She has also served as a board member of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, and the South End Community Health Center.
Honors and awards
Personal life
References
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Further reading
- [http://www.avagara.com/e_c/reference/00013001.htm Massachusetts Electoral College 1996]
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Category:Women in Massachusetts politics
Category:University of Massachusetts Boston alumni
Category:Hispanic and Latino American women in politics