Jarrett Barrios | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate from theMiddlesex,Suffolk andEssex district | |
| In office January 2003 – July 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Birmingham |
| Succeeded by | Anthony D. Galluccio |
| Member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives from the28th Middlesex district | |
| In office January 1999 – December 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Alvin Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Edward G. Connolly |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Doug Hattaway (divorced) |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Alma mater | Harvard College(BA) Georgetown University (JD) |
Jarrett Tomás Barrios is an American politician and activist. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of theAmerican Red Cross Los Angeles Region.[1][2] Prior to this, he was the CEO of theAmerican Red Cross of Massachusetts.[3][4] Barrios was a member of both theMassachusetts House of Representatives and theMassachusetts Senate and became the first Latino and firstopenly gay man elected to the Massachusetts Senate.[5] He subsequently was president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and, later, of theGay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).[5]
The son of a Cuban-American carpenter and a Cuban-American social worker inTampa, Florida, Barrios moved toCambridge, Massachusetts at the age of 17 to study atHarvard College after graduating fromJefferson High School in Tampa. After graduating in 1990 with high honors and working for theBoston City Council, he earned hisJuris Doctor degree with honors fromGeorgetown University.Eisenhower Fellowships selected Jarrett Barrios as a USA Eisenhower Fellow in 2009.
Barrios was the CEO of various regions of theRed Cross in the US from 2011 to 2020. Barrios took over as CEO of the Red Cross ofLos Angeles on March 3, 2014.[1] He has been the CEO of the American Red Cross ofMassachusetts since 2011. Barrios was credited with expanding and revitalizing the organization's mandate and leading it through two of Massachusetts' most serious disasters since the 1978 blizzard, namely the Boston Marathon bombings and blizzard Nemo in 2013. Since Barrios took the helm, the Red Cross of Massachusetts has expanded its volunteer base by 400 percent and doubled the number of Red Cross youth clubs in Massachusetts high schools.[1]
Barrios began his legislative career in 1998 when he was elected to theMassachusetts House of Representatives. The first major legislation he wrote was a law requiring hospital emergency rooms to provide interpreter services for non-English speakers. He also authored legislation creating a statewide affordable housing trust and establishing a low-income housing tax credit, which provides an incentive for developers to create affordable housing. He was the prime sponsor of a bill that enhanced state disaster relief efforts in coordination with the American Red Cross.
In 2002, the voters of theMiddlesex,Suffolk andEssex District - including parts of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Revere, Chelsea and Saugus - elected him to thestate Senate, and he was re-elected unopposed in both 2004 and 2006.
Barrios rose to national attention in 2006 when he proposed legislation to limitMarshmallow fluff in Massachusetts public schools after he learned his son's elementary school servedFluffernutters. In response, state repKathi-Anne Reinstein filed countersuit against this legislation by proposing the Fluffernutter be the state sandwich of Massachusetts. Barrios later dropped the proposal.[6]
As a state senator, Barrios successfully helped lead the legislative effort to protectmarriage equality in Massachusetts, and is best known for a globally televised speech where he spoke on discrimination faced by his own family.[7]
Barrios chaired the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. He authored legislation creating a statewitness protection program and establishing an anti-gang violence grant program known as the Shannon Grant. He also authored one of the nation's most comprehensiveidentity theft laws, which provided new protections to consumers whose personal data is stolen from retailers or other third parties. Barrios wrote a law updating state fire codes in the wake of adeadly night club fire in neighboring Rhode Island. He also authored an "anti-bullying" bill, which only passed the state Senate, directing schools to respond more aggressively to student reports of violence and "cyber bullying."
On other issues, Barrios authored a law designed to protect homeowners from foreclosure and to crack down on unscrupulous subprime lenders. The law created a first-in-the-nation requirement that mortgage bankers and brokers abide by the stateCommunity Reinvestment Act, which previously applied only to credit unions and banks. He led Senate passage of legislation promoting "environmental justice," addressing health care disparities among minorities, and strengthening enforcement of "buffer zones" around women's health facilities.
During the2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Barriosendorsed thecandidacy ofHillary Clinton.[8]
Barrios held leadership roles in several other organizations.
Barrios works in leadership roles in several nonprofit organizations.
Barrios has also founded three nonprofit organizations.
Barrios was a co-author of theDallas Principles.
Barrios married communications consultant and Democratic political operativeDoug Hattaway in 2004. The couple divorced in 2010.[16][17]