Six dynamic women will be honored at the “Power, Leadership and Influence of the Black Woman” event sponsored by Bakewell Media and the L.A. Sentinel on Saturday, April 13, at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
One of the remarkable honorees is a Los Angeles County Board Supervisor representing the second district, Holly J. Mitchell. Mitchell was elected to the Board of Supervisors on November 3rd, 2020, and is still proudly serving her community.
Raised by second-generation Angeleno parents and civil servants, Mitchell developed a great sense of the crucial protection L.A. County gives millions of people. She is dedicated to guaranteeing that everyone can flourish.
Mitchell eventually attended and graduated from UC Riverside and was later given an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Charles Drew University. She also serves on the boards of Los Angeles County Children and Families First (First 5 LA), Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, and the L.A. Care Health Plan.
Mitchell gained leadership experience working for pioneering legislative leaders like the Honorable Diane Watson, a CORO Foundation Fellow and a legislative advocate for Californians encountering poverty at the Western Center on Law and Poverty after her college career.
Poverty alleviation has been made a countywide first concern for Mitchell and she has secured an impartial recovery plan from the health and economic pandemic caused by COVID-19.
During her primary year as Supervisor and with the County Board of Supervisors’ assistance, Mitchell passed a turning point guaranteed income initiative that made L.A. County the “first in the nation to phase out urban oil drilling and has strengthened the County’s ability to quickly respond to mental health crises among our unhoused residents,” according to her website.
For 10 years in the California Legislature, she served as a representative for the 54th Assembly District and 30th Senate District in L.A. County before being a part of the first all-women-led Board of Supervisors in the history of LA County, according to her website. During Mitchell’s role, she has passed over 90 bills – including The CROWN Act.
The CROWN Act is an acronym for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” This law “prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots,” according to the Crown Act’s website.
Mitchell represents millions of residents in Los Angeles County’s Second District, which includes Leimert Park, the neighborhood Mitchell grew up in – along with the cities of Carson, Compton, Culver City, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, portions of Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and a dozen distinct areas.
For more information on Mitchell, follow her on her Instagram account @hollyjmitchell or visit her website https://mitchell.lacounty.gov/.
