By Mario A. Cortez 

Janet Murguía knows the American Dream and has dedicated her career in public service to open the door to millions of Latinos in the United States.

As President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Murguia leads the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Janet Murguía grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. After high school, Janet entered the University of Kansas, where she would graduate with two bachelor’s degrees in 1982: one in journalism and another in Spanish. She would later receive her Juris Doctorate in 1985 from the KU School of Law.

Murguia’s career in Washington, D.C. began as legislative counsel to former Kansas Congressman Jim Slattery. Later on, Murguia served as an assistant to President Clinton, providing strategic and legislative advice to the president on key issues from 1994 to 2000.

Murguia returned to the University of Kansas in 2001 as executive vice chancellor for university relations, where she managed KU´s internal and external relations with the public, including governmental, and public affairs.

Today, Murguia acts as the leader of the NCLR, position which she has held since 2005. Since her arrival to the helm of the NCLR, Murguia has looked to fortify the council’s work and reach throughout the nation. One of the NCLR’s priorities under Murguia is to focus the electoral potential of the over 45 million Latinos in the United States and improving opportunities for Latinos through the NCLR’s network of 300 affiliated organizations, which represent over 41 million people in 41 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Murguia’s work has also lead her to seek ways to strengthen the voice of Latinos on topics that most affect our communities. Among these topics are education, healthcare, immigration, civil rights, the economy, and the rise of hate rhetoric and hate crimes targeting the Latino community. As the spokesperson for NCLR, Murguia has spoken about these topics on national outlets such as CNN, CBS, ABC, and PBS.

Murguia has doubled down on efforts to empower Latinos to become politically active and create a greater electoral force. In 2008, NCLR and its partner associations helped register over 200,000 Latinos to vote. Another initiative lead to nearly a million eligible Latinos to seek their U.S. Citizenship.

Under Murguia’s hand, NCLR has built relationships with its sister civil rights and advocacy organizations, spearheading efforts to build bridges between the African American and Latino communities in conjunction with organizations such as the NAACP and the National Urban League.

Murguía’s work extends beyond the NCLR. Janet recently served on the American Heart Association´s board of directors and currently sits on the board of the Partnership for a Healthier America.  She also sits on the executive committee of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and serves as the board chair for the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility.

Murguía has been recognized on numerous occasions for her work. She has been selected twice as one of Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington” and featured in Newsweek magazine’s “Women and Leadership” issue. She has been chosen as one of the NonProfit Times “Power and influence Top 50” leaders, named to People en Español´s” 100 Most Influential Hispanics”, and selected as one of Hispanic Business magazine’s “100 Most Influential Hispanics” Hispanic Magazines “Powerful Latinos”, Latino Leaders magazine’s” “101 Top Leaders of the Hispanic Community”, and Poder magazine’s “The Poderosos 100” . In 2005, she received the University of Kansas (Ku) Law Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2011, CSU Dominguez Hills awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities.