Rosario Marin: 19(?)(?)—: U.S. Treasurer - Became Advocate For The Mentally Disabled

Marin became an advocate for the disabled and founded the first support group for Spanish-speaking families of children with Down's syndrome, Fuerza, Inc. In 1992 her activity drew the notice of then-California State Governor Pete Wilson and he appointed Marin chief of Legislative Affairs for the Department of Developmental Services. She was then made chair of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities and later assistant deputy director of the California State Department of Social Services. For her work on behalf of the mentally disabled the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation presented her with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Award at the United Nations in 1995. She was only the second person to receive this prestigious international award. Marin also served on the Board of the Special Olympics.

In 1994 Marin ran for office in her hometown of Huntington Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. She was first elected to City Council and in turn the council elected her mayor. Huntington Park, with a population of 85,000 is overwhelmingly Hispanic and Democratic. Despite this political break with her constituency, Marin was easily reelected in 1999. During her tenure she revamped the Huntington Park police department, ousting the chief of police, building up support for community policing, and acquiring the city's first police helicopter. Her actions resulted in a fifty percent reduction in crime during her first term.

While still maintaining her mayoral and councilwoman duties, Marin took on the position of deputy director of Governor Wilson's community relations department in 1997. It was a role that taxed her political skills as she had to simultaneously explain the Governor's support of various anti-immigrant propositions, while reassuring her own constituents that she was firmly against these measures. Her next position was much less political. She became the public relations manager for AT&T's Hispanic Market in the Southern California Region, and Marin successfully executed this role while continuing to serve Huntington Park. She also found time to complete a program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.