Gina Ortiz Jones
Gina Maria Ortiz Jones (born February 1, 1981) is an American intelligence officer and politician. She served in the Biden administration as Under Secretary of the Air Force from July 2021 to March 2023.
In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Ortiz and the surname or paternal family name is Jones.
Gina Ortiz Jones
The 2018 Democratic nominee for Texas's 23rd congressional district, Jones was the first gay woman of color and military veteran running for office in Texas. She narrowly lost to the incumbent Republican Will Hurd.[1] In May 2019, she launched a second campaign for the office.[2][3] In the November 2020 general election, Republican nominee Tony Gonzales defeated Jones by four percentage points.
Early life and education[edit]
Born on February 1, 1981, in Arlington, Virginia,[4] Jones grew up in San Antonio, Texas, as a first-generation American daughter of a single mother, Victorina Ortiz, an Ilocano from Pangasinan, Philippines.[5] Her mother emigrated to the U.S. and earned a teaching certificate.[6] Jones has a younger sister, Christi Ann.[7]
Jones graduated from John Jay High School in 1999.[6] She earned a four-year Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) scholarship,[8] allowing her to enroll at Boston University. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in East Asian studies and a master's degree in economics in 2003.[9] A lesbian who came out to her mother at 15, Jones served under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, where she was at risk of losing her AFROTC scholarship if her sexual orientation was disclosed.[10]
She later earned a master's degree in military arts and sciences at the School of Advanced Military Studies of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.[6]
Personal life[edit]
Jones has a younger sister who is an intelligence officer in the United States Navy.[42] She identifies as an Ilocano, a Filipino ethnolinguistic group.[5]
