Embedded Files
Research by: Ulises A. Castorena
Edited by: Emily Anderson
"I came out to live in the Bay Area, imagining a more tolerant society but finding discrimination against women and people of color."
"I came out to live in the Bay Area, imagining a more tolerant society but finding discrimination against women and people of color."
-Viola Gonzales
Early Life
Early Life
Born in 1947, Viola Gonzales grew up in a segregated community in South Texas. Her parents encouraged her to strive for greatness & accept everyone’s uniqueness– a vision of tolerance she carried into her education and career. In 1971, Gonzales attended Harvard University, eventually earning a masters degree in business administration. By the late 1970s, Gonzales had relocated to San Francisco & then across the bay to Oakland.
Community Advocacy
Community Advocacy
In 1977 Gonzales served on the coordinating and resolutions commitees for the California State Meeting in Los Angeles. She was also elected as a delegate representing San Francisco at the National Conference in Houston.
Gonzales served as the Executive Director of the Latino Issues Forum from 1999 to 2002. The Forum seeks to give greater voice to vulnerable communities by offering consumer education and advancing policies related to economic development.
From 2011 to 2016, Gonzales worked as Chief Executive Officer of AnewAmerica Community Corporation, which provided training and technical assistance to targeted communities with an emphasis on green entrepreneurship, asset building, social responsibility and civic engagement. The organization's ultimate goal is social empowerment.
Personal Life
Personal Life
Photo by Aran Johnson
Viola Gonzales has lived in the Bay Area since the late 1970s, where she launched a career dedicated to the service of others – particularly women and people of color. She married her husband Penn Hughes in 1978 and raised two children with him in the area.
"Oakland is a city that gives opportunity to all people, from all walks of life. It deserves to be well-managed so that we see and feel the value of our tax dollars."
"Oakland is a city that gives opportunity to all people, from all walks of life. It deserves to be well-managed so that we see and feel the value of our tax dollars."
- Viola Gonzales
Political Career
Political Career
Gonzales ran for Oakland’s city council in 2016 after years of professional activism. She campaigned on a platform of economic progress, emphasizing job creation, small and large businesses and self-employment. Other key issues included crime reduction, housing, transportation, intergovernmental collaboration and cooperation, better city management and tolerance. Gonzales lost the seat to Noel Gallo.
Gonzales has served as the president of the League of Women Voters in Oakland since June 2021. She also serves on the board of the Health Access Foundation.
Gonzales, now 75, lives with her family in the Bay Area– the community she loved throughout her career.
Sources
Sources
Automobile Blue Book. Oakland and Berkeley Map. Photograph. Austin, 1917. University of Texas.
California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985, digital image s.v. “Viola Gonzales,” Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/inst/discoveries/?emailId=N-67faac40-7513-4059-872e-f38b360b9c88&language=en-US&ahsht=2022-01-26T01%3a41%3a59&ahsh=e92a8ef788d71bff49215404a26b03f1&o_xid=59215&o_lid=59215&o_sch=Email+Programs
“Viola Gonzales.” Ballotpedia. Accessed January 27, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Viola_Gonzales
Gonzales, Viola. “Viola Gonzales - Linkedin.” Linkedin. Accessed January 27, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/violagonzales.
Gonzales, Viola. “Who I Am/ My Goals.” Voteviola.com. Accessed January 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20170214225625/http://www.voteviola.com/about.html.
Viola Gonzales, Photograph, Ballotpedia, accessed March 5, 2022, https://ballotpedia.org/Viola_Gonzales
Gonzales, Viola, Vote Viola, Photograph, Twitter, accessed March 5 2022, https://mobile.twitter.com/voteviola
League of Women Voters of the United States, ed. League of Women Voters Logo. September 9, 2020. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons.
“Mission, History & Leadership.” LWV Oakland. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.lwvoakland.org/mission-history-leadership.
“International Women’s Year: California State Meeting, Final Report to the National Commission on the Observance of International
Women’s Year” June 1977, p. 6, box 1, folder: California, National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year Records, 1975-1978, Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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