SACRAMENTO – Today, Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) presented Luisa Buada with the Woman of the Year award in recognition of her public service to the 24th Assembly District. Since 1980, Buada has been instrumental in providing health care to the neediest residents of in San Mateo County and the larger Bay Area region.
From left to right: Assembly Republican Leader Brian Dahle, Assemblymember Marc Berman, Woman of the Year Luisa Buada, Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.
“It is an honor to recognize Luisa for her extraordinary work in the 24th Assembly District,” said Assemblymember Berman. “For over three decades, Luisa has expanded access to health care to tens of thousands of residents who would not have care otherwise. With limited resources, Luisa is creating healthier communities, one patient at a time.”
The daughter of a Filipino farm worker and a nurse, Buada has been a lifelong advocate for farmworkers' rights and health care for all. As a teenager, she witnessed the poor health conditions of migrant farmworkers while volunteering with the United Farm Workers’ Union alongside Cesar Chavez.
Just out of nursing school, Buada founded a community health center for farmworkers in the Salinas Valley – Clínica Popular del Valle de Salinas. She also founded the Berkeley Primary Access Clinic and was integral in the establishment of LifeLong Medical Care.
As Chief Executive Officer for that last 15 years, Buada revitalized the Ravenswood Family Health Center, which provides critically-needed health care services to predominantly low-income, uninsured, and undocumented residents in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and North Fair Oaks.
Under her leadership, Ravenswood Family Health Center has grown from 13 employees to over 200 and from a modular building into a 38,300 sq. ft. custom-built facility. Today, Ravenswood Family Health Center offers comprehensive, multigenerational health care, along with dental, optometry, pharmacy, and preventative health services. Ravenswood Family Health Center also connects patients to additional resources that impact one’s health – food, shelter, clothing, special education, and intimate partner violence and parenting support.
In March of 2010, Buada was inducted into the San Mateo County Women’s Hall of Fame. Recently, she was awarded the 2016 Visionary of the Year Award sponsored by The San Francisco Chronicle and the School of Economics and Business Administration at St. Mary’s College as well as the John W. Gardner Exemplary Leadership Award from the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley.
Contact: Kaitlin Curry, (916) 319-2024