March Leadership Spotlight With Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
For our March “Leadership Spotlight” and during Women’s History Month, it was an honor for me to interview a true trailblazer, my friend and mentor, the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen made “HERstory” several times over and has broken many, many glass ceilings. She has achieved many firsts:
The first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Florida State House of Representatives
The first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Florida Senate
The first Hispanic woman* and the first Cuban American to be elected to Congress
The first woman to chair the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
I have the privilege of knowing Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for about 18 years and working with her for several years. I served as her Deputy Communications Director and Professional Staff Member on the Committee of Foreign Affairs. She is the definition of a servant leader and mentor who puts people over politics.
Check out our interview to hear her story:
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen was born in Cuba and escaped Communism, along with her parents and brother, to come to the United States when she was eight years old. She credits her parents for being her role models. They sacrificed everything to come to the U.S. Despite not knowing the language or having many resources, they were able to build a business.
Her family is the definition of the American Dream.
As Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen said:
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be a member of Congress or a public official or that I would run for campaigns. I mean, it was the furthest thing from my mind. No one in my family had run for office. No one had held elective office. And because of Communism, my family fled Cuba, and we came to the United States, and we've been here for an awfully long time. It's wonderful. God bless the United States of America.”
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen credits her parents who “instilled in me some solid values of working hard and contributing to the community…. My parents were very involved in the fight against Castro and trying to get democracy back to my native homeland of Cuba. But my dream was to be a teacher.”
So she went to Miami Dade College… then junior college… then community college… then FIU to get her bachelor's and master's… and then she got her doctorate in education at the University of Miami.
As Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen said: “It’s been a wonderful journey, and I hope that all the young ladies who are listening to us and viewing this program that you get inspired to run for office, because you never know what God has in store for you. I never would have thought that I would be here… that I would have had such a life.”
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen says the best reason for a woman to run for office is if she has a servant’s heart.
“You're not there for ego. You're not there for publicity. You're there to serve the people. And if you have that compass, you will always be doing the right thing for the right reasons.”
*Source: House History Archives
