Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Long Beach; District 1

About Lena

EARLY LIFE: Lena Gonzalez was born in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, but spent her early years in North Long Beach until about the age of seven years old. Her parents are high school sweethearts from San Pedro High School and much of her family lives between Long Beach and San Pedro, so her roots run deep here. She comes from a strong working class household, where her father has been a union member with the Teamsters (local 166) for over 30 years. Currently, Lena lives in the West Gateway neighborhood, near Chavez Park.

PROFESSIONAL: Lena Gonzalez currently serves as the District Deputy to Vice Mayor Robert Garcia in the First Council District in Long Beach, CA. This district includes much of downtown and the central part of the city, with a portion of the Westside. In this role, she oversees all community improvement projects and is the lead office liaison to all First District constituents. She works with local neighborhood associations, businesses (large and small) and city staff to improve the living and working conditions of residents in the First District. Lena is also the main contact for any Public Safety related concerns and attends regular community meetings to listen to resident concerns. She also fully administers the Public Works and Parks budgets in the office, related to improved infrastructure and park programming in the First District. In addition, Lena supports the Vice Mayor's new role as CA Coastal Commissioner, handling all of his communications, agendas and coordination with Sacramento staff.

Lena has formerly worked in a variety of private sector positions, including sales and marketing for Bank of America (formerly MBNA) and both international and domestic sales/customer service for Uline, Inc. and Norsat International, where she traveled frequently to Vancouver, B.C.

PERSONAL: Lena is the proud mother of a son named Z who will often accompany her at community events. They both enjoy going to Downtown art and music events and opportunities where they can volunteer together. She has been active in committees for both the American Cancer Society and a non-profit called Corazon.org, an organization for impoverished families in Mexico. She has also mentored youth in the Orange County Juvenile Hall system. Lena is also very involved politically and had recently been elected as a State Delegate for California's 70th Assembly District while also having served last year as President for the Long Beach Young Democrats. Last September, Lena graduated from the HOPE Leadership Institute, a 9 month fellowship program dedicated to advancing women's issues in the state of CA. She traveled to Sacramento and Washington DC to advocate and lobby state Legislators and Congress for equal access to healthcare for low-income communities.

Lena currently holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach. She was also a winner of the Long Beach Post's 40 under 40 award last year, after being nominated for her public service by First District community leaders.