Ludmyrna Lopez (also spelled López), known simply as "Myrna," is a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the City Council

Richmond City Council (Richmond, California)

Richmond City Council is the governing body for the city of Richmond, California.-Background:The council consists of the Mayor of Richmond and six other city council members, one designated Vice Mayor. The council members are all elected from the whole city; no members are elected by district or ward...

 of the California city of Richmond

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

. Born in Berkeley, California

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

, she is a first-generation Latina

Latino

The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...

 of Mexican descent, her parents emigrated from Moroleon

Moroleón

Moroleón is a city located in the same name municipality of the state of Guanajuato, adjacent to the border with the state of Michoacán, in Mexico....

 Guanajuato

Guanajuato

Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Ludmyrna holds a Masters of Science in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, and a BA from California State University, Hayward.

Background

A political neophyte, Lopez won her seat to City Council in a close race. She grew up in the Belding Woods neighborhood of Richmond and attended high school in the city.

She is also the city's planning commissioner and sits on the California Cities Community Services Policy Committee, Citizens' Oversight Committee of the West Contra Costa Unified School District

West Contra Costa Unified School District

The West Contra Costa Unified School District is the school district for western Contra Costa County, California. It is based in Richmond, California...

, and Richmond General Plan Advisory Committee boards.

She is currently the Principal Financial Analyst for the City of Oakland

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

. Previous to this, she served as the Assistant Chief of Finance and Administration for the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services

Government of San Francisco

As the only consolidated city-county in California, the government of the City and County of San Francisco is defined by the , which is similar to the other counties of California and defines several officers and entities....

.

As an undergraduate, Lopez worked as an intern for former California Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown, Jr., and later returned to work as a San Francisco financial analyst in Brown’s mayoral administration. Lopez has worked for Mayor Willie Brown as a fiscal analyst for the City and County of San Francisco, advising department heads, the budget director, and the mayor during all phases of the budget, including fiscal planning of new programs.

Prior to this position, she served in several leadership positions within the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 in particular related to the Superfund

Superfund

Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...

 and Brownfields programs.

An alumna of the Chicana/Latina Foundation, Lopez now sits on its board because it encourages Latinas' pursuit of higher education as a way to increase economic and political empowerment for the Latino community.