From an early age, Dolores Huerta has been a leading advocate for workers, immigrants, and women. Alongside Cesar Chavez, Ms. Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers union. Her organizing work in California led to other groundbreaking advances in collective bargaining, as well. Crucially, one of Ms. Huerta’s goals has been to develop future community leaders, particularly Latina women.

Her efforts have resulted in the rise in the number of Latina political representatives from communities around the country. Ms. Huerta’s enthusiastic, lifelong commitment has earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, in addition to countless other recognitions. As president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and board member of the People for the American Way, the Consumer Federation of California, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Equality California, Ms. Huerta continues to inspire with her “resilience, passion and commitment.”

In the words of one of the HLS community members who nominated Ms. Huerta, “She inspires me because she is highly effective and has dedicated her life to worker justice and the rights of other marginalized groups.”

Ms. Huerta became a credentialed teacher at Stockton College.