Contreras-Sweet, 58, became the first Latina cabinet secretary in the history of California, oversaw one of the largest state government agencies in the country and built a successful bank dedicated to serving Latino communities from scratch.
Said a White House press release: “Contreras-Sweet came to the United States at age five with her mother and five brothers and sisters. She didn’t speak a word of English and while growing up, she watched her mother work long and dangerous hours in a chicken packaging plant so that someday her children could work in an office.”
Speaking during her nomination in January, Obama said: “Maria Contreras-Sweet will help small businesses get their good ideas off the ground, to expand, to hire, to sell their products and ideas not only in our domestic markets, but also overseas.”
Contreras-Sweet entered the private sector as the Director of Public Affairs for Westinghouse’s 7-Up/RC Bottling Company and rose to Vice-President of Public Affairs. During her tenure with the company, they grew their portfolio to include other beverage companies such as Evian, Perrier, Sunkist, Lipton, and several others.
Later she started the Contreras-Sweet Company, a marketing and research consulting firm with a specialization in the Latino market. Her clients included The Coca-Cola Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Hoechst AG, The Walt Disney Company, and Sempra Energy.
As Secretary of the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency for California, Contreras-Sweet managed an approximately 12 billion-dollar budget, oversaw a workforce of over 40,000 and numerous state-wide departments. Mrs. Contreras-Sweet founded ProAmerica Bank – a bank focused on serving small and mid-sized businesses and the first Latino-owned business bank in California in over 30 years.