Candidate for
Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of San Francisco; Assembly District 13

Miguel Bustos was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, on 24th and Harrison Streets in the Mission District. Born to Rosa and Salvador Bustos, he is the youngest of six children. Like his siblings before him, he attended St. Peter's Elementary School on 24th and Florida Streets. It was at Archbishop Riordan High School where he became heavily involved in student activities. He played the clarinet in the band and acted in several plays in the school's drama department. He was also involved with Riordan's Retreat Program, coordinating and directing several retreats around the city. By his senior year in 1989, he was elected Student Activities Director.

In the Fall of 1989, he attended college, the first in his family to pursue a post-secondary education. At Holy Names College in the Oakland Hills, he began his work toward a degree in Political Science and Politics. Throughout college, Miguel was actively involved in student government, first as class officer his freshman and sophomore years, moving on to Student Body Vice President his junior year and finally as Student Body President his senior year. During this time, Miguel was the World Affairs Council of Northern California's first Community Outreach Intern. During his internship, he designed a public educational forum, held in the Mission, on the issue of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was the first time that the World Affairs Council had held a forum in the Mission. When he graduated in 1993, Miguel was leaving Holy Names College as its Commencement Valedictorian, a B.A. in Political Science and a Founder's Medal Recipient.

After completing his B.A., Miguel moved to Washington, DC, to pursue his M.A. in Political Science at The American University. As a Graduate Fellow in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, he worked closely with the various ethnic and minority communities within the university and the local DC Metro area. In 1994, Miguel had an idea. He wanted to gather a group of students and young professionals from California who and were concerned with the issues (Proposition 187) happening in their state. Soon after, he and a few others founded the Young Latino Initiative. The group met at his home every Saturday and, over a breakfast of chorizo and eggs, planned workshops and conferences designed to help individuals within Latino communities confront the issues of health, education, immigration and violence. In May 1995, he graduated from The American University with a Masters Degree in Political Science, concentrating on Conflict Resolution and Community Development.

After graduation, Miguel was appointed to serve as one of four youth advisors to President Clinton on Youth and HIV/AIDS. Together, they wrote a policy report entitled "Youth and HIV/AIDS: An American Agenda," that investigated concerns relating to the physical and mental health issues of adolescents regarding HIV/AIDS. The report furnished recommendations on AIDS policy to the President, Members of Congress, local officials, and various leaders who can influence the lives of young people.

In 1997, Miguel was promoted to the Office of the Vice President and became Policy Advisor to Mrs. Gore. He advised Mrs. Gore on issues relating to health (SIDS, AIDS, Cancer and Physical Fitness), education (Higher Education and Technology) and community development. In addition, he served as one of the Vice President's key advisors and liaisons to the Latino, Native American and Gay and Lesbian Communities.

In 2000, Miguel returned home to serve as Director of Community Affairs for Northern California for the Gore/Lieberman Presidential Campaign. Miguel developed and oversaw the implementation of Gore 2000's Campaign's Outreach and Inclusion plan for Bay Area communities. He successfully built relationships with constituency groups; especially faith based communities and communities of color. In addition, he focused on registering more Democrats and engaging women and communities of color in civic activities and the political process.

Recently, Miguel was appointed Executive Director of the California Latino Civil Rights Network (Latino Network). The Latino Network is the only statewide organization that focuses on the threats to civil rights aimed at the Latino community in California. However, realizing that a threat to one community is a threat to all communities, the Latino Network works to bridge the issues and threats against communities of color, women, religious minorities and marginalized peoples and create a solid movement to protect the civil rights of all people.

Miguel loves his city- his home. And he still lives in the same house that he grew up in on 24th and Harrison Streets.