Convocation | Maria Echaveste
February 21, 2018
Maria Echaveste is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a co-founder of the Nueva Vista Group, which focuses on policy, legislative strategy, and advocacy. She addressed the Cate students on Monday with a clear message: “Get an education! No one can take it away from you.”
Ms. Echaveste spoke from experience. The daughter of farm workers who had no more than second-grade schooling, she grew up as the eldest of seven, watching her parents move from job to job. Her father, as she said, “could not imagine a future where a daughter of his would go to college.” Ms. Echaveste was determined and more imaginative than her father; she earned a full ride to Stanford and headed from Oxnard to Palo Alto. She was amazed at the variety of people in her freshman dorm. Having grown up as a sheltered girl in an insular community, she knew about the world only from books. Her experience at Stanford and later at Berkeley Law School shaped her view of the world. “Just think,” she declared, “There are brilliant people across every race and every class. What if all these people had a chance?”
Her deeply felt desire to offer a chance to all caused Ms. Echaveste to shift from corporate law to a spot running the National Latino Desk for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. She moved to the Labor Department when President Clinton won the election and stayed on for his second term, serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff. She is one of the highest-ranking Latinas to have served in a presidential administration. Senior Julia McCaw asked Ms. Echaveste what she would do first if she found herself once again in the role of Deputy Chief of Staff, this time to President Trump. Ms. Echaveste replied that she would try to put some “dang discipline” in the White House. What are we as a country not paying attention to, she wonders, while the people currently in the White House are behaving like they are on Game of Thrones?
Before he left the White House, President Obama offered Ms. Echaveste what she called her dream job: US Ambassadorship to Mexico. However, Republican legislators made it clear that they would not confirm her appointment. Theo Mack ‘20 had a question about current US-Mexico relations. “What about the wall?” he asked. Ms. Echaveste was very clear: The wall is “ridiculous.” She explained her reasoning by asking the students to consider the human spirit. “We will risk everything for a dream or for the hope of a better life,” she said, “And you can’t do anything about it.” Ms. Echaveste sees the best solution as the United States helping to strengthen other countries institutionally so there will be opportunities to be had without leaving.
Although she no longer has a spot in the presidential administration, Ms. Echaveste is undeterred. She continues to act in the realm of public policy, especially focusing on immigration, food, and labor, through her work at the Center for American Progress and the Nueva Vista Group. Izzy Dewell, ’20, asked Ms. Echaveste how to get started on a career in politics. She was advised to find the set of issues that she cares about, figure out who supports these issues, volunteer, and build a network.
About Convocation
Convocation is a celebrated tradition of boarding school life at Cate. A series of speakers and performers addresses the School every Monday in the theatre after a formal dinner in the Raymond Commons.
