Patsy Mink
Patsy Mink, one of our HopSkipDrive heroes, was the first Asian-American and the first woman of color elected to the United States Congress. In Washington D.C., she represented Hawaii for a total of 24 years.
Congresswoman Mink made significant contributions to educational equity in her years as a public servant. In the 1960s, she pushed for federally-funded child care under the Early Childhood Education Act. Mink also worked on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. She was one of the authors of the Title IX Amendment, a watershed piece of legislation that prohibited sex-based discrimination by any federally-funded school or educational program.
In 2014, former President Barack Obama posthumously honored Mink with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.