Maria Echaveste

From 1998 to 2001, she served as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. In this capacity, Echaveste managed domestic policy initiatives that focused on education, civil rights, immigration and bankruptcy reform. She also developed communications, legislative and public outreach strategies. In another area, she coordinated relief efforts within the White House for foreign and domestic disasters, and specialized in international issues related to Latin America. Echaveste held the post of director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House from 1997 to 1998. She previously was the administrator of the labor department's Wage and Hour Division from 1993 to 1997. Under her leadership, the Department of Labor's anti-sweatshop initiative received a 1996 Innovations in Government award from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Ford Foundation. Following graduation from Boalt, Echaveste specialized in corporate litigation at the former Los Angeles firm Wyman Bautzer and at Rosenman & Colin in New York. After leaving the White House, she founded the Nueva Vista Group, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., that works with nonprofit organizations, associations and corporations on such issues as immigration, health care, telecommunications, labor and finances.