Having been sworn into office during 2009, Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz is recognized as the first Latina to be elected into the Massachusetts State Senate. Having served for almost a decade, she represents the Second Suffolk District, which consists of either all or partial areas of each neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Mission Hill, Roslindale, Roxbury, and the South End. Thus far she has passed influential reforms such as the state’s CORI system, Senator diminished immensely the misuse of special education funding, and has constructed a better path for civil rights initiatives protecting transgender Bay Staters. She has also corrected and rewritten Massachusetts school disciplinary laws while fighting for the importance of apply millions of dollars in funds for youth development and engagement. Whether it be issues of housing displacement, youth violence, or hate crimes, the Senator has not only advocated on these issues but pushed for legislation. Additionally, she has been a voice for those affected by housing displacement, hate crimes and youth violence. She has also emphasized the necessity for fiscal reform and good stewardship of  taxpayer dollars. Senator Chang-Díaz sits on a variety of committees such as the Joint Committee on Education, Joint Committees on Community Development and Small Businesses; Economic Development and Emerging Technologies; Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development; Public Safety and Homeland Security; and Ways and Means. Lastly she is the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Before the Senator was able to achieve these amazing accomplishments she served as a public school teacher not only in Boston but in Lynn which explains her passion for the advancement of education. She saw from first hand experiences the difficulty the public school community faces everyday. She also worked in public service as a Legislative Aide for former state Senator Cheryl Jacques, as a political adviser for the Barbara Lee Family Office, and lastly as the director of outreach for the Massachusetts Budget and policy center. Leadership runs in Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz family as her mother dedicated her life to treating those with mental illness, her father, Franklin Chang-Diaz, was America’s first Latin American astronaut, and her sister works as a hardworking teacher. The Senator happily lives in Jamaica Plain.