Margarita H. Colmenares was appointed by the Clinton Administration as director of the Office of Corporate Liaison at the United States Department of Education. She provides national leadership for public, private, and independent sector collaborations that accelerate education improvement. Colmenares recognizes that our economic vitality is linked to a prepared and competent workforce.
Before her current appointment, she was an international marketing advisor for Chevron International Oil Company, Latin America division. Also, she has more than ten years environmental expertise managing complex and sensitive projects. Her wide ranging assignments within the Chevron family of companies have included marketing, manufacturing, chemicals and human resources.
Colmenares graduated with an engineering degree from Stanford University. In 1991, she successfully competed for the prestigious White House Fellow program. She served as a special assistant to Deputy Secretary David T. Kearns (former Xerox CEO) at the U.S. Department of Education. In 1989, she became the first woman elected national president and named executive-on-loan to the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, a nonprofit organization. During National Engineers Week, she joined prominent CEOs and astronauts as part of the All-Star Team to inspire 30,000 engineers nationwide to participate in pre-college activities.
As a recognized leader, she has been the subject of numerous profiles intended to inspire youth, such as the PBS series on careers for teenagers: "Choices for Youth." She will be profiled in a publication for young women and their parents entitled, "No Universal Constants: Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering," to be released this summer by Temple University Press. Her work as an environmental engineer inspired a lesson plan in a 4th grade elementary textbook, "Science Anytime, Margarita H. Colmenares: She Helps Keep the Environment Clean."
Colmenares has been on several boards or advisory committees in the arts and the sciences. She is the recipient of numerous awards and has been selected for various leadership programs including sessions at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the Center for Creative Leadership.
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