Martha M. Escutia

Martha M. Escutia served in the California Senate until 2006 and is currently vice-president for state government relations and special counsel at the University of Southern California. Escutia was the first in her immigrant family to graduate from high school, college, and law school. She earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of Southern California and was awarded a full scholarship to Georgetown Law School.

Escutia was elected to both the California State Assembly (1992) and State Senate (1998), where she was the first woman to chair the judiciary committee. As a lawmaker, she introduced several initiatives focused on English language learners, most notably AB 748, which created the first-ever California standards to evaluate the English language development skills of English language learners. She also introduced a bill to expand access to Advanced Placement classes.