Kevin de León

Background

Kevin de León was born on December 10, 1966, to Carmen Osorio and Andrés León in Los Angeles. His parents were born in Guatemala, though his father may have either been of full or partial Chinese descent. In the 1960s, his mother, a single mom of two children, moved from Guatemala to Tijuana, Mexico. De León’s mother later moved to Los Angeles. She worked as a housekeeper before she met De León’s father, who wasn’t in the picture for most of his childhood. Later, his mother met and married a man of Mexican descent, after which she relocated to San Diego. His mother eventually divorced him, and single-handedly raised her kids in the Logan Heights neighborhood. De León also spent portions of his youth living close to his stepfather’s family in Tijuana. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school, after which he briefly attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, then dropped out. He later earned a bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College in 2003 and it was while attending UC Santa Barbara, that he began going by Kevin de De León.

De León was elected to the California State Senate in 2010 and he took the initiative to revitalize the Los Angeles River, securing about $68 to $176 million to clean up toxic waste around the former Exide Technologies facility. He also secured funding for more than a dozen new parks and an additional $26 million to complete the Los Angeles State Historic Park. He built permanent supportive housing for Californians experiencing homelessness and relieved city taxpayers by making Los Angeles schools more energy-efficient.

Before being elected to public office, he worked as an English and citizenship teacher. He was also a community organizer, working for the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association. He advocated for the improvement of schools in low-income neighborhoods by modifying fees, refurbishing school facilities, and creating better health insurance for children. As a result, he is renowned as an activist and an advocate for education.