Clarissa Cervantes

Provided Biography:

Monique Limón is an experienced elected leader and educator, whose strong record working for Democratic values and proven ability to build broad coalitions and support from both Santa Barbara. Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties make her the strongest candidate to be re-elected to the California State Senate to represent the 21st Senate District. Due to redistricting, the current 19th district that Monique represents has grown in size and is renumbered into the 21st District.

Monique, who is serving her first term as Senator in the California Legislature, also previously served two terms as an Assemblymember and six years as a Santa Barbara Unified School Board Member. She is a lifelong resident of the 21st Senate District, and her extended family includes many small business owners from the Central Coast who are active in the community. For more than 14 years, Monique served as an educator and in the role of Assistant Director of the McNair Scholars Program at UCSB,, which prepares students for doctoral programs in all fields of study. Prior to her work at UCSB, she served as the Student Program Advisor for California Student Opportunity and Access Program (CAL-SOAP) at Santa Barbara City College. Monique mentored and assisted hundreds of local students in successfully transitioning to college and graduate school at both Santa Barbara City College and UCSB.

Monique has also been an advocate of women’s issues. As a former Commissioner on the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women and a current Commissioner for the California Commission on the Status of Women, Monique helped create awareness of private and public resources for women in the county. She has a strong trajectory of community involvement with nonprofit organizations and university groups, which includes serving as a current board member of the McCune Foundation, a past member of the Board of Directors for nonprofits Leading from Within, New Beginnings Counseling Center, and the Community Engagement Committee for the Granada Theatre, as well as a former Katherine Harvey Fellow.

In the California Legislature, Monique serves as the Chair of the California Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee and Chair of the Select Committee on the Nonprofit Sector. She was appointed by the Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins to Chair the Senate Democratic Caucus.  Monique also serves as a member of the Senate Health, Natural Resources, and Transportation policy committees.

Monique holds a master’s degree in Education from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from UC Berkeley. Monique, her husband and daughter reside in unincorporated Santa Barbara and both she and her husband were raised in Santa Barbara County.

Endorsements

Congresswoman Julia Brownley

Congressman Salud Carbajal

Senator John Laird

Former State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson

State Senator Henry Stern

Assemblymember Jaqui Irwin

Assemblymember Steve Bennett

Assemblymember Gregg Hartt

California Democratic Legislative Women’s Caucus

California Latino Legislative Caucus

WPC-Specific Donation Link

https://secure.numero.ai/contribute/Clarissa-Cervantes-for-Assembly-2024-WPC