SheHeroes got the opportunity to interview an amazing SheHero last week! Nicki Sun is, our new videographer, along with Brodie Bartholomew and Madeleine Nagle (who came along to offer a kid’s perspective and questions for the shoot) met with Senator Polly Baca at her home in Denver Colorado. Baca was the first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1974 and later in 1984 she became the first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado Senate. She was also the first Hispanic woman in the US to have a leadership position in a state Senate plus the first Hispanic woman in the US to have a position in both a State House and a State Senate.
The numbers of Latinas in office remain quite low today making Baca a true pioneer for not just all women, but Latinas in particular. According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP),
Baca has picked up a number of awards throughout her career. She was inducted into the national Hispanic Hall of Fame and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. She received an honorary doctor of laws, Wartburg College, Waverly IA; honorary doctor of humane letter, University of Colorado, Greely, CO.
During her interview with SheHeroes Baca spoke a lot about the importance of kindness to others, how hard it was to grow up poor and a minority woman in a predominantly white school, and under segregation. Of all that Baca has accomplished in her life Baca views her greatest accomplishment to be her two children.
Be sure and watch for our interview with Polly Baca to be up soon, but in the mean time enjoy the photos from the shoot.
