State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz

As the daughter of a social worker and an MIT-educated astronaut who immigrated from Costa Rica, Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz was undoubtedly destined to do great things. Although she was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, Chang-Diaz would leave Massachusetts to attend the University of Virginia where she would study Political and Social Thought. Afterward, Chang-Diaz would first become a teacher in the Lynn public school system and later on would serve as an outreach director for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center before deciding to try to become a senator.

Despite her first attempt not working out in 2006, in 2008 she tried again, was elected, and was soon after sworn in as the first Latina senator in the Massachusetts State House.  Since becoming “Senator Chang-Diaz”, she has been on a mission to bring thoughtful, honest, and tenacious leadership to the Massachusetts State House.

In the 10 years that she has been a senator, Sen. Chang-Diaz has without a doubt succeeded in that goal. As the Representative of the Second Suffolk District (which includes a number of Boston’s inner city districts) and as a proud Latina, every day she brings the tenacity of a people unwilling to be marginalized as she fiercely advocates for public education and CORI reform, access and opportunities for low-income and immigrant communities, and more. As the daughter of a social worker, she wields her inherited compassion to push forward legislation that has improved and continues the lives of Boston’s most ignored. As the daughter of an immigrant turned astronaut, she brings a get-it-done attitude that refuses to believe that any goal is too ambitious to be realized as she argues for reform after reform. Considering all Sen. Chang-Diaz has done, it might be an understatement to simply write that as a senator, she has found great success.

Today, despite all the success she has had in the past decade, Sen. Chang-Diaz remains a calm and collected champion of the people, still on that same mission she began 10 years ago–still trying to bring thoughtful, honest, and tenacious leadership to the Mass. State House.