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Maria Contreras-Sweet

Maria Contreras-Sweet (born 1955) is an American businesswoman and former government official who served as the 24th Administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2014 to 2017. She was the executive chairwoman and founder of ProAmérica Bank, a commercial bank focusing on small to mid-sized businesses with a specialty in the Latino community. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Contreras-Sweet immigrated to Los Angeles, California and has since been involved in both the private sector founding a private equity firm and in public service as the California Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing under Governor Gray Davis.

Maria Contreras-Sweet

Barack Obama

Karen Mills

Linda McMahon

Gray Davis

Dean Dunphy

Sunny McPeak

1955 (age 68–69)
Guadalajara, Mexico

Democratic

San Antonio College
California State University, Los Angeles (BA)

On January 15, 2014, she was nominated by President Barack Obama to join his Cabinet as head of the Small Business Administration. She was confirmed as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration by voice vote on March 27, 2014. She assumed that role on April 7, 2014.

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Contreras-Sweet's family, including her mother and five siblings, immigrated to the United States when Contreras-Sweet was five years old.[1] Her mother worked at a chicken packaging plant in El-Monte, California to support the family.[1][2] Contreas-Sweet earned a bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles.[3]

Creating of the Department of Managed Health Care and its accompanying Office of Patient Advocate

Serving as Chairwomen for the Commission on Building for the 21st Century and published the Invest for California Infrastructure Report

Securing funding; building consensus among local, state, and federal governments; and commencing the construction of the eastern span of the (at the time, the project was considered one of the largest infrastructure projects in the United States)

San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge

Driving the passage of California Proposition 46, a $2.1 billion housing bond

Creating the first international architectural competition ever undertaken for a state building, which led to the construction of the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters.

[4]

Serving as Chairwoman of the 2000 United States Census for California.[6]

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Other activities[edit]

Contreras-Sweet is the Founding President[10] of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE). This organization's mission is to provide political education of Hispanic women so that they can improve the communities in which they live for the betterment of all. HOPE's key programs include the HOPE Leadership Institute, Latina Action Day in Sacramento and Washington D.C., and the Youth Leadership through Literacy Program (YLTLP). HOPE celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009 with a special banquet and video presentation that featured Contreras-Sweet sharing the progress the organization has made through the years.[11]


Contreras-Sweet was appointed by the United States Senate to the original Federal Glass Ceiling Commission.[12][13][14][15] These two investigations examined the effects of the Glass ceiling on women and minorities in the workplace.


Contreras-Sweet is a Founding Director of The California Endowment, a multibillion-dollar philanthropic foundation.


Contreras-Sweet was an elected member of the Board of Directors for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association of California during the critical years of its turn-around period and transition to WellPoint (now Anthem). She was selected to serve on the Harvard Women's Leadership Board, which advises Harvard University on women's issues and supports research opportunities for female professors. During her period of service, the University consulted the Board in their selection of Drew Faust, Harvard's first female president. She serves on PepsiCo's Ethnic Advisory Board, which executives turn to for consulting on marketing, employment, health, environment, and procurement opportunities. Contreras-Sweet serves on the Milken Institute's California Advisory Board[16] which studies key policy and economic topics that affect California's well-being.


Contreras-Sweet is an executive member of the Board[17] of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. In November 2017, Contreras-Sweet joined the LA-based Larta Institute as the first-ever [18] to help champion and advance the commercialization of science. She is a member of the board[19] of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Contreras-Sweet served for 10 years as a Board Member and 2 years as the Chairwoman of the Board of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF). She was appointed to the Board of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension Commission (LAFPP). She was a member of the Independent System Operator (ISO) executive board for California.[20] She was a member of the Rebuild Los Angeles board, which was formed to provide economic development in the southern portion of Los Angeles after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.


Contreras-Sweet spearheaded the committee that produced the "Latinas: The Spirit of California" Exhibition featured at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.


In November 2017, Contreras-Sweet placed a $275 million bid on American film studio The Weinstein Company, after the studio's founder Harvey Weinstein was fired after dozens of women accused him of sexual abuse. Contreras-Sweet proposed turning The Weinstein Company into a female-led company.[21] The studio was expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 26, 2018 before Contreras-Sweet's company reached a deal to purchase the company on March 1, 2018 for $500 million, including a $90 million victims compensation fund.[22] On March 6, 2018, the acquisition deal collapsed after the studio had an extra debt of $50 million revealed.[23]


Contreras-Sweet was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Whittier College in 2016.[24]