North High School and made an unusual request.
“He said, ‘I’m running for City Council, and I can’t win if you don’t help me,’” Figueroa, now a retired peace officer, said. “What I thought was, ‘Who is this guy who is asking a bunch of 16-year-old kids to help him?’ It was an unbelievable message. Nobody had ever asked me for help.”
That day in 1973, Figueroa realized she could make a difference
. She took that message to heart and has kept it there for 35 years, working to improve Riverside County through a variety of roles, most recently as board president of the Riverside Community College District. Figueroa helped Eric Haley win a Riverside City Council seat even though, at age 24, he wasn’t much older than the students he was recruiting as volunteers. She was on her way to a lifetime of community service.
“Mary was the most activist of them all,” doing everything from passing out fliers to working at the campaign office in the Eastside area of Riverside, where she grew up, said Haley, the former executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
“From that point on, I was constantly involved in volunteering,” Figueroa said. She soon became involved in neighborhood youth organizations formed to deal with local gang activity and police conflict. Figueroa juggled community service with family life and her education, as required by her mother, Cruz A. A single mom who supported the family on a housekeeper’s wages, Moreno instilled in her children the value of a good education. But getting that education wasn’t always easy. Growing up at a time when Riverside was voluntarily desegregating its school system, Figueroa spent three hours a day on the bus. It was during those long bus rides that she realized her talent for communicating, honing the skills that later would serve her well in her career as a correctional counselor for the California Department of Corrections and as a trustee for the RCC Board. Moreno also wanted all of her children to play musical instruments, so Figueroa and her siblings all joined the school band, with Figueroa on clarinet. This move ended up having a significant impact on her life because, through the band, Figueroa met students with whom she otherwise never would have interacted. Suddenly a girl from the Eastside was being invited to parties in the upscale Canyon Crest area of Riverside and meeting fellow students whose life experiences were dramatically different than her own. But even as her horizons were widening, Figueroa faced frustration. School counselors did not encourage her or other Mexican Americans to go to college, instead steering many students toward vocational training. Not knowing which classes would be required for acceptance to UC Riverside, Figueroa began asking college-bound friends in band about the classes they were taking, then she signed up for those. Figueroa caught a break when, as a high school senior, she met Betty Benzor, then the assistant director of the Educational Opportunity Program at UCR. Benzor met with Figueroa and encouraged her to participate in a summer residential program designed to help students who were the first in their families go to college. Decades later, Figueroa has taken on that role as one of her duties as a trustee.
“While at UCR, Mary did well,” Benzor recalls. “She was a student leader.”
Benzor said she always saw potential in Figueroa, who earned a B.A. in Chicano Studies and Political Science from the university, and commended her work on the RCC Board of Trustees.
“Clearly, she’s been a voice for the Chicano community and others in Riverside who greatly benefit from education at RCC,” Benzor said. “I would say she is dedicated and caring, and she truly wants to make a difference for youth, and she sees that education is a key to a successful life. She gives a lot of her outside time. She’s very committed and dedicated to making a difference.”
Figueroa spent more than 23 years in professional service to the correctional and law enforcement communities with the State of California, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a Correctional Counselor/Peace Officer, and with the Riverside County District Attorney’s office as a Victim/Witness Advocate. Her 21 years as a state correctional counselor reinforced her long-held belief that a good education is a fundamental building block to success. Figueroa’s commitment to helping youth also was reflected in her roles as a substitute teacher for Riverside Unified School District and as a placement counselor with the City of Riverside’s Summer Youth Employment Program. Throughout her life, Figueroa always has balanced her work schedule with a devotion to community service. Whether it was helping curb violence in the Eastside, volunteering for the R**e Crisis Center, leading the Riverside Human Relations Commission or serving on the San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council Board of Directors, Figueroa always has given her time and energy to better her community. Along the way, she noticed a trend: the volunteers always had to go to somebody else to get anything accomplished.
“Then I realized that the people we were going to were in control of the money,” she said. “That clued me in. In order to make a difference I needed to be one of the people in control of the money.”
In 1993, Figueroa ran for the Ward Four seat on the Riverside City Council. She lost the race but finished ahead of other candidates with better name recognition. After the race, Figueroa was approached about running for the RCC board. She was elected in 1995 and has served four terms. She has previously served several years as Board President.
“What I bring to the table are the common, everyday concerns from common, everyday people,” she said. Figueroa’s insistence on always standing up for her beliefs and doing what is in the best interest of the district and her community has resulted in numerous honors. She received the YWCA’s “Woman of Achievement Award” in 2004 and the “Inland Empire Influential Latina of the Year Award” in 2005 by the Hispanic Image Awards. She recently was selected to sit on the Search Committee for the Founding Dean of the UCR Medical School. Throughout her journey, Figueroa has operated under the belief that every young person, regardless of his or her life experiences, can be successful, given the opportunity. Over time, she has proven to be a living example of that.
“She has had a lifelong commitment to the community,” Haley said. “After 35 years, it’s not hard to tell that she is the real thing.”
