Antonia Hernández

Antonia Hernández (born 1948) is a Latina attorney, activist, and philanthropist. She currently serves as the President and CEO of the California Community Foundation, which is a non-profit organization focused on addressing the needs of marginalized communities in the Los Angeles area, specifically people of color and low income. Hernández is notable through her involvement in Madrigal v. Quilligan (1975), the class-action lawsuit filed by ten women of Mexican descent who were involuntarily sterilized at the Los Angeles County Hospital. She is also the first Latina to serve as staff counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 1979–1980. In addition, Hernández served on the campaign team for Senator Ted Kennedy in his 1980 presidential campaign. She previously served as president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) from 1985 to 2004.

Antonia Hernández
Born1948 (age 72–73)
Torreón, Mexico
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA, JD)
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Michael Stern

Early life and education

Hernández was born in Torreon, Mexico in 1948 on a communal ranch to parents Manuel and Nicolasa Hernández. Her grandparents and father, born in the United States, were subject to the forced migration practices of Mexican Repatriation during the Great Depression. After moving to the United States in 1956 at the age of seven, she settled with her family at the Maravilla Housing Projects of East Los Angeles.[1]

Hernández started school in Los Angeles, despite knowing little English.[2] However, she had a major desire to learn, in addition to a teacher realizing her potential, so she was able to excel in school at a young age.[2]

After graduating from Garfield High School, Hernández secured several scholarships and attended the University of California Los Angeles, earning her B.A. in History in 1970.[3] After graduating from UCLA, Hernández was preparing to become a school teacher, working on her receiving her full certifications.[2] However, due to the growing uproar at educational inequality, specifically for Latino students, she decided to become a lawyer as she "saw the need (for change)".[2] She was then accepted to the UCLA School of Law, where she earned her J.D. degree in 1974.[2]

Professional career

In 1975, Hernández was employed by the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice and immediately became involved with her landmark case Madrigal v. Quilligan, combating the practice of involuntary sterilization of minority women at the discretion of hospital staff.[4] While the ruling was in favor of the defendants, new measures regarding consent were implemented as a result of the case.[4]

From 1979 to 1980, Hernández served as the first Latina staff counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Ted Kennedy.[5] Her work mostly consisted of issues involving immigration, but she also dealt with other issues such as civil rights and judicial nominations.[5]

Hernández was chosen by Senator Ted Kennedy to serve on the campaign team for his 1980 presidential run.[5] She was hired by David Boies and initially was the Southwest campaign coordinator, helping run the campaign in many different states such as Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona.[5] The campaign was a new experience for Hernández, being her first time working in the partisan political world.[5] She said of the experience, it was like "learning on the treadmill".[5]

Following the election, in 1981, Hernández was hired by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) to work as Regional Counsel in Washington D.C.[3] She was elected president and general counsel of the organization in 1985.[6] In 1987, she was fired by the fifteen member executive committee for being accused of mishandling a major lawsuit in Texas involving discriminatory hiring and promotion practices against Latinos.[7] Hernández was accused of mishandling the case due to a conflict of interest in which the defendants' attorney, Vilma Martinez was a former head of MALDEF.[7] MALDEF received $150,000 in legal fees and Martinez received $32,000, with the three plaintiffs receiving $8,000 each, resulting in criticism in MALDEF's management of the litigation.[7] Additional criticism against MALDEF came about as their attorneys did not push for back pay or job reinstatement for the three plaintiffs.[7] After filing her own lawsuit against MALDEF, she was reinstated through the decision of the full thirty-two member board of directors.[6]

From 1984 to 1995, Hernández successfully led MALDEF in a case against the State of Texas on the basis of discrimination against students in underfunded school districts, citing that Texas public school funding led to economic and racial disparities between school districts.[3] This case was resolved in 1995, when the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the Texas Legislature had authority to require shared funding between school districts.[3] Hernández led MALDEF to win a similar case in California, where urban schools were receiving less funding than suburban schools.[3] In addition, during her time as MALDEF president, Hernández led the establishment of bilingual and multicultural programs for Latino students in Denver, Colorado, helped in the expansion of higher education programs for Latinos in South Texas, and advocated for the creation of legislature in California that allowed for undocumented students to pay the same tuition as other in-state students at any public university.[3] In 1994, MALDEF was successful in blocking California's Proposition 187, whose legislation barred undocumented immigrants from public services including education and healthcare.[8]

In February 2004, Hernández resigned her position with MALDEF and joined the California Community Foundation (CCF) as president and CEO.[9] Founded in 1915, CCF supports numerous non-profit organizations and public institutions through funds for health and human services, affordable housing, early childhood education, and community arts and culture.[10] In an interview addressing the move, she states "Whereas MALDEF at the macro, systemic change level, CCF is about the micro, one community, one county."[11] As CEO, Hernández has helped the CCF increase its assets to over $1 billion, allowing for greater service opportunities and innovative programs to reach more Los Angelenos, especially those who are of color, low income, and immigrants.[9][10] Under Hernández, the CCF began to work in other areas, besides grant making, such as civic engagement and public policy initiatives.[9] One such program is the Immigrant Integration Initiative, which works to increase the quality of life for alienated immigrant communities by helping them increase their civic participation.[10] In 2013, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy awarded their NCRP Impact Award for Grantmaking Public Charity to the CCF, citing Hernández's leadership as a main reason for the CCF's great impact on the community.[10] Through this organization, Hernández continues to advocate for Latino and immigrant rights of the Los Angeles community.

In addition to her work with CCF, Hernández is a board member of several local and national organizations, including the American Automobile Association, the Automobile Club of Southern California, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Council on Foundations,[9] Grameen America, as well as a fellow of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[12]

Awards and Honors

Hernández was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree from Whittier College in 1998,[13] Brown University in 2016.[14]

References
  1. Latinas in the United States : a historical encyclopedia. Ruíz, Vicki., Sánchez Korrol, Virginia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2006. ISBN 0253111692. OCLC 74671044.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Antonia Hernandez Oral History Interview | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  3. "Honoring The Public Service of Antonia Hernández". U.S. Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard. 2004-03-31. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  4. Guitérrez, Elena (2008). "Fertile Matters: The Politics of Mexican-origin Women's Reproduction". Austin. University of Texas: 103, 107.
  5. Boston, Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Columbia Point 210 Morrissey Blvd; Ma 02125. "Antonia Hernandez Oral History, Counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee". Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  6. "Hernandez Retains Post in MALDEF Showdown". Los Angeles Times. 1987-03-01. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  7. "Employment Suit Embroils MALDEF in Controversy". Los Angeles Times. 1987-02-17. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  8. Sotomayor, Frank O. (November 2007). "The Good Fight". Hispanic. 20: 38–40 – via Academic Search Complete.
  9. "Antonia Hernandez | Do Good LA". www.dogoodla.org. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  10. "California Community Foundation". National Committee For Responsive Philanthropy. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  11. Torres, Gerald (March 2008). "An Interview with Civil Rights Activist Antonia Hernandez". Harvard Latino Law Review. 11: 321–332 – via Academic Search Complete.
  12. "Antonia Hernandez". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  13. "Honorary Degrees | Whittier College". www.whittier.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  14. "Honorary Degrees". Brown University. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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