Sila Calderon

Sila María Calderón Serra (San Juan, September 23, 1942) is a Puerto Rican businesswoman, nationalized Spanish. She was the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

She was the first woman to hold the position of Governor in Puerto Rico and the eighth person born in Puerto Rico to hold that position. She also becoming one of the wealthiest leaders financially to hold such an important position. Her tenure was from 2001 to 2005. Before becoming Governor, Calderón held various positions in the Government of Puerto Rico, including Secretary of State, Secretary of the Interior, and Mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.

Education

Sila María Calderón Serra grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She completed her primary and secondary studies at the Colegio Sagrado Corazón de las Madres in Santurce. She earned a BA in Political Science from Manhattanville College in New York in 1965.

Public, political and private career

From 1973 to 1984, he performed various tasks in the public and private sectors of Puerto Rico. She was an executive assistant to the Secretary of Labor, Luis Silva Recio. Later, she worked as a special assistant to the Governor of Puerto Rico, Rafael Hernández Colón, during his first four-year term, when he was a special assistant in the area of Economic Development and Labor. From there she went to a private company where she worked as Executive in charge of Business Development at Citibank, N.A. and then as president of the Commonwealth Investment Company, Inc., a family-owned corporation that owns industrial buildings.

In 1985, she became the first woman appointed Chief of Staff to Puerto Rico Governor Rafael Hernández Colón and, in 1986, was named the first Secretary of the Governorate. In these positions, she had the responsibility of directing and coordinating the work and operations of the Executive Branch.

In 1988 Calderón became the first woman to hold the position of Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, she also retained her functions as Secretary of the Interior. As Secretary of State, she served as Acting Governor of Puerto Rico and as the Governor's constitutional successor.

He was a member of government boards and councils. He belonged to the Governor's Economic Advisory Council, to the Board of Directors of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico and to the Board of Directors of the Center for Specialized Studies in Government Management. She was President of the Investment Committee of the Industrial Development Company and General Secretary of the Commission for the Celebration of the Fifth Centennial of the Discovery of America and Puerto Rico.

In the early 1990s, he returned to private activity. From then until the moment he announced his candidacy for the Popular Democratic Party's nomination for Mayor of San Juan. She was active on the Boards of Directors of several private companies and non-profit entities, including: the Puerto Rico Corporation for Public Broadcasting, BanPonce Corporation and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Pueblo International, the Committee for the Economic Development of Puerto Rico and the Sister Isolina Ferré Foundation.

Until January 1995, he directed the Cantera Peninsula Project, a joint community effort with private companies and the government for the social rehabilitation and economic development of one of the poorest sectors of the city of San Juan. This served as a pilot for his "Special Communities" that she implanted later both as Mayor, and later Governor.

Mayor of San Juan

In 1996, he returned to politics and won the mayoralty of San Juan with 51% of the vote. As mayor, she started several projects to revitalize the poorest areas of the city. She also started the Comunidades Especiales project that sought to promote self-management and empowerment in the poorest communities of San Juan.

Governor

In 2000, Calderón ran for Governor of Puerto Rico, defeating Carlos I. Pesquera and Rubén Berrios Martínez. With her victory, she became the first female Governor of Puerto Rico. Calderón's governorship agenda focused on expanding the Special Communities to the entire island. During her tenure, attempts were made to discuss mechanisms to resolve the problem of Puerto Rico's status, but no consensus was reached among the political parties.

In the summer of 2003, Calderón announced that he would not seek a second term as governor. That same year, she married Ramón Cantero Frau, a former member of his cabinet. This marked the second time a ruler had married. Her wedding event was broadcast on all television channels in the country.

Public Recognitions

She was selected Outstanding Woman in Public Service by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce in 1975, 1985 and 1987. In 1986, the Puerto Rico Products Association named her Distinguished Woman of the Year. Later, in 1987, she was invested with the Isabel La Católica Order by the Spanish government. Also, she was selected Leader of the Year in the field of public works by the Puerto Rico Chapter of the American Association of Public Works in 1988. In addition, Manhattanville College selected her Distinguished Alumna in 1987 and in 1997 awarded her a Ph.D. honoris causa in Arts and Humanities.

Withdrawal

She retired in January 2005, but continues to be active in the Special Communities and the Center for Puerto Rico of the Sila María Calderón Foundation.