MARYANN MEDINA, one of the few Latina women working for the San Francisco Post Office in 1996, recognized the importance of giving a helping hand. She became the first woman President of the Latin American Postal workers (LAPE) to promote Latino postal employees advancement opportunities, to offer support to newly hired Latinos and to train many others to qualify for the US Postal Service employment. While working full time, she earned her AA in 1981 and her BS in Public Administration in 1985. In 1989, she was elected Western Region Coordinator of the ALWU Post Office Women for Equal Rights. Her experience as a single mom led her to help organize her union’s Childcare Committee; she worked with it for ten years to get a 24-hour child care facility for postal workers. She overcame her shyness by joining Toastmasters International and becoming a public speaker. Despite increasing problems with her eyesight, she attended the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. She makes frequent presentations about her Beijing trip. As a Soroptomist, she helps others by her work as a facilitator in the Women’s Financial Information Program.
