Somos Independents is a national woman-led organization active in supporting experienced and qualified women in politics and in education. Sometimes we see corrupt politicians endorse people they can manipulate and who have very little experience in educational matters. Unfortunately we see people who use school board positions for selfish political advancement instead of what is in the best interest of children attending our public schools. Lydia Hernandez is not a person using positions for selfish reasons. She began to actively get engaged because she has children attending these schools and she knows first hand the issues related to students. We have personally witnessed Lydia do a good job with schools and school board issues -- not only as a Mother of children attending these schools, but as a concerned citizen of our community. We believe moms and dads with children attending the public school educational system ought to be more active within the school board environment because they are the ones who know first hand what their kid(s) relay. Kids are at the heart of the public school educational system, and experience matters. Lydia has proven herself time and time again (as a school board member) with her proactive ideas that solve problems before they even happen. The passion she has put into our community will be an asset to the National Hispanic Council.
April 7, 2016
My name is Catherine Miranda and I am currently serving as an Arizona State Senator for Legislative Disctrict 27. This letter is to submit my full recommendation for Lydia Hernandez as she applies for the National Hispanic Council of School Boards-Vice Chair position. I believe that Lydia’s history at the board speaks highly of her work ethic and passion, but would like to reiterate it with additional support.
Lydia has been a school board member for 12 years. Locally, she has served as a Board Member of the Cartwright School board since 2003; during which she has held the positions of Board President, Vice President, and clerk. During her time at the Cartwright School Board she has received many accumulated hours and certificates in board governance credit hours. I full-heartedly believe Lydia to be an integral part of the Maryvale and Cartwright communities because of the impact I have seen her cause; her tireless work to leveraging resources and bring the best practices in order to implement necessary changes to move the districts and communities forward has helped many families and inspired countless others to emulate her drive towards betterment.
In addition to her experience as a school board member, Lydia has also served in the Arizona House of Representatives representing the aforesaid communities. Lydia is without a doubt ready to take on a leadership role on the NHC and will surely create an impact due to the depth of knowledge she has gained over the years and her passion of helping to develop Latino leadership through board governance programming at the national level.
Sincerely,
Senator Catherine Miranda
