Listen to the PodcastSila Maria Calderón graduated with honors in 1964 from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government. She later attended the Graduate School of Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico and earned several honorary doctorate degrees.
In 1985, then Governor Hernandez appointed Calderón the first female Chief of Staff for the commonwealth and, two years later, as Puerto Rico's Secretary of State. In November of 2000, Calderón was elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
Perhaps the most transcendent inititative of her administration has been the Special Communities Program, though which more than a million citizens living in 686 barrios under the poverty level get the tools and opportunties to break out of the cycle of poverty. The program organizes communities, empowers its residents, and is investing more than $1 billion of local funds in housing and infrastructure.
