Jose Huizar
Councilman
Los Angeles City Council

Jose Huizar was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and raised in East Los Angeles. His father was a machinist and his mother worked for a meatpacking firm. He recalls his neighborhood as being riddled with violence.

When he entered sixth grade, Huizar decided to improve his education by attending a Catholic school. Since his parents could not afford the school fees, he began working to pay his way. Huizar’s entrepreneurial spirit eventually propelled him into public leadership as the first Latino immigrant Los Angeles City Councilman. He represents Council District 14 that includes the Boyle Heights neighborhood he grew up in.

In 2001, Huizar was elected member of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). He subsequently served as President of the LAUSD Board of Education where he earned a reputation as an aggressive policymaker. As President, he oversaw plans to build over 160 new schools and led the successful effort to reform the high school curriculum to ensure that all students could complete the courses required for admission to California’s public universities.

In 2005, he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council. His priorities as Councilman include strengthening public education and youth programs, enhancing public safety and facilitating the creation of more affordable housing. He has been profiled by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 25 Los Angeles figures that “stand out for their potential to shape lives” and by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the “100 most influential Hispanics” in the nation. He is the first Latino to serve on the Princeton University Board of Trustees.

Huizar earned his B. A. from the University of California, Berkeley (1991), his Master’s in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton University (1994), and his J. D. from UCLA, School of Law (1997).