Southwest Voter Registration Education Project

Lydia Camarillo serves as the Vice President of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), a national non-profit non-partisan organization based out of San Antonio, Texas. Lydia plays a key role in developing the tactical strategies for the SVREP nonpartisan voter registration, voter education and get out the vote (GOTV) campaigns. SVREP has registered since it opened its doors 2.5 million Latino voters in the southwest and southeast, trained voter 100,000 Latino leaders and won over 80 voting rights lawsuits. SVREP kicked off its ambitious 2012 Latino voter registration and mobilization plans at the National Latino Congreso, 12in12 Campaign – 12 million Latino votes cast in 2012 general election, 2.3 million more votes cast compared to the 10 million Latino votes cast in 2008.

In September of 1999 President Clinton and Vice President Gore appointed Lydia to serve as CEO of the Democratic National Convention. The 2000 Democratic convention is rated as one of the most successful and diverse in our nation’s history, with the third largest political bounce provided to the presumptive nominee, at 24 points, in the last forty years. Lydia was responsible for a fifty-five million dollar budget, 350 staff members, a production team of over 1,000 and over 10,000 volunteers. She also worked on the Gore Campaign as an official surrogate after her assignment as CEO of the 2000 Democratic Convention. Lydia served as political and business consultant, and serve on the 2001 Villarigosa campaign before returning to SVREP in August of 2003.

Prior to joining SVREP, Lydia served as the National Director of the Leadership Development Program for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). Prior to working at MALDEF, Camarillo served as Program Director for the statewide Latino Issues Forum. She also served as Field Director for the Monterey Bay Girl Scouts.

Lydia is convener of the National Latino Congreso. Lydia serves on the Board of Directors for MALDEF and is a member of the Executive Committee and the Personnel and Nominations Committee, Chair of the CELD Committee; she serves on the Board of Director for the City Project, a civil rights and environmental justice nonprofit organization. Lydia is on the Board of Directors for NACC and the Texas Coalition on Lawyer Accountability.

Lydia also served on the State Farm Bank National Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Advisory Board; the National Girl Scouts of America for 2, 3 year terms; Board of the California Proposition 40 executive committee, the 1.5 billion dollar clean water bond; the board of directors for the Center for Law in the Public Interest; the San Antonio Planned Parenthood Board of Directors; The City of San Antonio Ethics Committee; the Affirmative Action Commission of Santa Cruz; the United Way Allocations Committee of Santa Cruz; the Affirmative Action Committee of Salinas; the Central Coastal Immigrant Rights Coalition; the YWCA of Watsonville; and California's Legislative Task Force on the Representation of Latinos in the Civil Service. Lydia served as Deputy Director of California LULAC, elected in 1986; President of Salinas LULAC Council; and Vice President of Pajaro Valley LULAC Council.

Lydia has been featured in the "Movers and Shakers" of Elections and Campaigns Magazine, Working Women Magazine,People en Español, Latina Magazine, Latina Style Magazine, the California Journal, Hispanic Magazine, Hispanic Business Magazine, Los Angeles Times and has been interviewed by hundreds of media organizations across the United States and around the world.

In 2000 Lydia was named one of the 10 most influential Latinas in the September issue of Latina Magazine. She has twice been named one of the “100 Influential" Latinos in the United States in Hispanic BusinessMagazine -- in 2000 and in 1996. On February 22, 2004, Lydia was presented with the Dallas Morning News Distinguished Leaders series. She has received many awards from other nonprofit groups for her dedication to fighting for the civil rights of the Latino community and all communities.

Lydia has a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She is a published poet and speaks widely on leadership, politics and Latino issues. Lydia is married to Michael Antonio Cohen and they have two sons: Miguel Alejandro Camarillo-Cohen, 20 years old, and Antonio Andres Camarillo-Cohen, 11 years old.

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