Honorable Lena Gonzalez

Lena Gonzalez,
Ex Officio Board Member.

Senator Lena A. Gonzalez was first elected to the State Senate to represent the 33rd District in a special election in June of 2019 and was subsequently re-elected in the November 3, 2020 general election for her first full 4-year term. As State Senator, she represents nearly 1 million residents in Southeast Los Angeles, Signal Hill, portions of South Los Angeles and Lakewood, and her hometown of Long Beach.

In the Senate, Senator Gonzalez is a strong voice for working families, advocating to improve working conditions and lifting up the voices of all workers. She prioritizes and fights for a clean environment, digital inclusion, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights and the economic vitality of small businesses among other policy areas. She currently is a member of the Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response, Energy, Utilities and Communications, Environmental Quality, Judiciary and Health committees. In addition, she was recently appointed the new Chair of Senate Transportation Committee, becoming the first Latina(o) to ever serve in this capacity and the only woman to serve in the last 20 years. On February 12th, 2021, Senator Gonzalez was also appointed as Majority Whip, one of seven Democratic leadership positions in the California Senate.

In 2020, Senator Gonzalez chaired a newly formed bipartisan committee of eleven senators that was tasked with reviewing the state’s response to the COVID-19 health crisis. In her time as chair of the Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response, Gonzalez led a series of hearings to inform and strengthen the strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, covering topics such as testing and contact tracing, workplace health and safety issues and K-12 distance learning.

Senator Gonzalez’s first bill, SB 1255 “The Equal Insurance HIV Act” was signed into law on September 26, 2020. The new law prohibits life and disability income insurance companies from denying coverage to HIV-positive individuals solely based on their HIV status. A milestone in health equity, this law puts an end to the unjust practice of insurance companies discriminating against HIV-positive individuals.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, Senator Gonzalez hit the ground running introducing Senate Bill 4 “The Broadband for All Act” to help close the digital divide. To date, Gonzalez has worked on over 70 measures that have been introduced at the state legislature.

Prior to her time in the Senate, Gonzalez worked for Microsoft where she led social impact programs on digital skills, the future of work and criminal justice reform. She spearheaded efforts to expand diversity and inclusion in the tech sector and to promote programs for underserved communities, such as supports for young girls of color in STEM.

Simultaneously with her work in the private sector, she served on the Long Beach City Council from 2014-2019, representing 50,000 residents in Downtown Long Beach, including the Port of Long Beach. In this role, she led efforts in environmentalism, workforce development, housing and digital inclusion. She proudly served the city for a decade, both as an elected official and former staff member.

Senator Gonzalez is the proud daughter of a union truck driver father and mother who immigrated from Aguascalientes, Mexico. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Cal State Long Beach and a Master of Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University. She lives in Long Beach with her husband Adam and their three sons Zorion, Ethan and Luca.

Senator Gonzalez was appointed as an Ex Officio member of the Board by the President pro Tempore of the California State Senate in October 2021.