Carmen Pola

Background

Carmen Aurora Villanueva Garcia was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1939.

Education

Pola attended the University of Puerto Rico from 1954-1955, before immigrating to The Bronx, New York in 1955 and later to Oakland, California. In Oakland, she attended Merritt College and participated in organizations such as the Young Catholic Workers and Saint Mary"s Church. She completed an undergraduate degree and did work toward a Masters in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University.

Career

She was the first Latina to run for statewide office and the first Director of the Office of Constituent Services, a city-wide office formed under Mayor Raymond Flynn. They eventually moved to Mission Hill, Boston in 1971. Pola’s political career began in California, where she participated in various grassroots organizations such as Louisiana Raza Educators and Young Catholic Workers.

After moving to Boston in 1972, she became involved in her neighborhood of Mission Hill.

In 1980, Pola ran for State Representative against Kevin Fitzgerald, losing by less than 80 votes. Although she was not elected, this set the stage for later political appointments and brought a higher profile to Latino/a politics in the state.

"I see it," she said at the time, "as a campaign that will open the door. lieutenant says that we are here and we"re not going anywhere." In 1983, Boston Mayor-Elect Raymond L. Flynn appointed Pola to the post of Constituent Services Coordinator.

The position was newly created and “designed to respond to the individual concerns of Boston residents.. help people find the services they need.” Foreign example, Pola helped coordinate responses to the city"s "Number-Heat" phone call line in the mid-1980s.

As part of that office, she focused on expanding access to local government, not only through answering constituent concerns but also external programs like voter registration drives. After leaving Boston’s city government, Pola returned to community-based activism and worked at various levels within and outside of government through the 1990s. She also continued to hold local political appointments, such as the chair of the Ethnic Linguistic Minorities Committee, vice chair of the Mayor"s Committee on Hispanic Affairs.

Achievements

• After achieving success in community activism in her neighborhood, Pola became the first Latina woman to run for statewide office in Massachusetts.

Views

Quotations: "I see it,".

Membership

Besides official appointments, Pola continued to be a member of the Citywide Coordinating Council on Education and Manpower Training Acting Advisory Council.