Caroline Menjivar
Senator - District 20
Bio
Commissioner
Senator Caroline Menjivar (she/her/ella), elected in November 2022, represents Burbank and the San Fernando Valley in California’s 20th Senate District. The daughter of Salvadorean immigrants, she was born and raised in the communities she now represents.
Inspired by her experience at the Reseda High School Police Academy Magnet, Menjivar enlisted in the Marine Corps. Serving from 2009 to 2016, she was last stationed at Miramar as a radio operator and Communications Platoon Sergeant. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was a military policy until 2011, during which Menjivar was in a relationship with her now wife.
After active duty and completing her bachelor’s degree at California State University, Northridge, Menjivar attained a Master of Social Welfare from University of California, Los Angeles. While attending classes, she worked the graveyard shift as an emergency medical technician (EMT), and later as a Fellow on the L.A. Mayor’s Gender Equity Team. It was then Menjivar knew, the fight for equity and equality would be her life’s work.
Menjivar has volunteered on the Board of Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Los Angeles Chapter, the Advisory Board of Help Group’s Kaleidoscope, and as the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer for San Fernando Valley Young Dems Club. She is a current member of the San Fernando Valley Marine Corps League.
Motivated by the desire to uplift the people of her communities and California, Senator Caroline Menjivar continues her lifelong dedication to service. She resides in Panorama City with her wife, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and their two dogs.