Senator | Utah State Senate

Senator Luz Escamilla is a legislator, business owner and voice for those who need it most. Escamilla was born in Mexico, where she attended school until her junior year of high school. Her location required her to travel across the border to attend high school in San Diego each day, where she was living a bicultural experience.

“It certainly made a difference in what the future looked like for me. I’ve always wanted to be a part of the world and transcend borders and languages,” she says.

Escamilla earned her bachelor’s degree in business marketing at the University of Utah in 2000. She also holds a master’s in political science, which she earned from the University of Utah in 2005. Health care has always been an important part of her career, and she served as a medical interpreter and a board member for Primary Children’s Hospital. Her experience and passion have allowed her to see the connections between social inequality and health care, which has served as a focus for much of her work.

In 2005, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. appointed Escamilla to The State Office of Ethnic Affairs. She was first elected to the Utah State Senate in 2008. Simultaneously, she was building a career with Zions Bank as a director for the Business Resource Center and the community development team.

Communication and connection have always been driving forces in Escamilla’s career. “A strong leader is a leader that listens. Listening to someone’s story can sometimes break barriers in ways that a report on data can’t,” she says. “Data-driven policy is critical. That is how you create good public policy, emotional connections and the ability to say, ‘We may come from different places or different backgrounds, but I can hear you.’ A strong leader is someone who can manage and understand those lenses in an emotional way and translate that into good public policy.”

What’s more, Escamilla recently started her own business, ESCATEC Solutions. “I am an entrepreneur at heart,” she says, advising, “Do not wait. When you know inside of you that you are ready for whatever it is—a promotion, entrepreneurship, running for office, changing careers—follow your gut feeling unapologetically. When your heart is in the right place, things will happen.”

Connect with Luz on LinkedIn.