During National Hispanic Heritage Month, we are celebrating the many leaders that bring diversity and inclusion to their workplaces and communities.

Kevindaryan Lujan was the first Latino man elected to the Orange County Legislature. Lujan grew up in a single-parent home, but remembers those years as being some of the happiest of his life.

“My mom was just the second person to ever own a home in our family, and, you know, I remember we used to rent out the top floor to a really lovely Haitian family,” said Lujan.

Lujan’s grandmother emigrated from Colombia with his mother when she was just 9 years old. He said his mom and grandmother both worked extremely hard to achieve the American dream.

“For me, it's about, it's really humbling to know where we started, you know, growing up in Section Eight apartments, and really recognizing the struggles that my family went through to come here," Lujan said. "And also just where we were, we've gotten through hard work and dedication and you know, and we wouldn't have been able to do it had it not been for the trailblazers like my grandmother, and definitely the trailblazer that is my mother.”

Issues like affordable housing encouraged Lujan to get into politics and help make a difference. In 2017, Lujan decided to run for Orange County legislator. He won in 2018, and then was re-elected last November.

“To be Latino, to be a person of color, to be someone under the age of 35, to be able to run for office, I hope to inspire other people to do that. I think that that's what it comes down to for me, is to show other people in the community, particularly with the people of color, that they have people that look like them. And so it's just so important to have representation that looks like us,” said Lujan.