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Tony Bonilla was the 5th of eight children born to Ruben and Maria Bonilla in Calvert Texas. He graduated with honors from the Calvert Public Schools and received a football scholarship to Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. While at Del Mar College, he was a Student Body President and was elected to the College Wall of Fame. He continued his education at Baylor University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Education. He subsequently received his Jurisprudence Doctorate from the University of Houston College of Law. He began his legal career in Corpus Christi in 1960 and became active in various community organizations. Tony Bonilla was the first Hispanic from Nueces County elected State Representative and subsequently served as President of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and President of the Instituto de Cultura Hispanica. He served on various local, state, and national committees and was twice elected to State Chairman of LULAC and then National President of LULAC. He has traveled to various countries representing the United States Government speaking out for drug education as well as equal employment opportunities, and the law. Tony Bonilla is a member of St. Pius Catholic Church and married to Olga Garcia Bonilla. Together, they have 4 children: Tony, Jr. (Duke), John Edward (Ted), Maria Teresa (Tessa who is now deceased), and Anna Patricia (Tricia). All 8 children had an opportunity to go to college. Four became attorneys and activists. Two became educators and two others entrepreneurs. Every sibling credits their very strict upbringing and their parents emphasis on education with the family's success. Tony was a football star and student body president and Olga was a beauty queen each year in school from the time she was 13 until she graduated from college. Since then they were called the Mexican Kennedy's. Olga was always compared to Jackie.

Professional/Civic Organizations
Member of the Nueces County Bar and State Bar of Texas President, Instituto de Cultura Hispanica (2002) Chairman, Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce (1990-91) Member of the Board of Directors for ten (10) years Chairman of the Quincentenary Commission of Corpus Christi celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Americas, 1992 Former Chairman, National Board of LULAC Education Service Centers Appointed by Governor Dolph Briscoe to a six [6] year term on the Coordinating Board for Texas Colleges and Universities State Chairman of LULAC [1971-72] Former National President of LULAC 1981-1982 and former National Executive Director of LULAC 1979-1980 Frequent appearances on state & national television/radio commenting about Latino issues Frequent lecturer at college and university campuses throughout the United States Former member of the Planning Commission for the City of Corpus Christi

Tony hosted a meeting with network television executives in Los Angeles, California to allow more Latinos on camera and behind the camera and to improve the quality of network programming to show Latinos in more positive roles. He advocated for Latinos in meetings with the late Jack Valenti President of the Motion Picture Industry and the Presidents of Columbia Studios and HBO to promote more Latinos for motion pictures, writing and directing and producing. He was appointed by the Governor of Texas to the Bilingual Education Task Force, charged with improving the delivery of bilingual education services. He was appointed by the Governor and other state-wide elected officials to the Constitution Revision Commission, a commission organized to rewrite the Texas Constitution. He was appointed by the Governor of Texas to the Education Task Force known as Perot Commission charged with improving public school education in Texas.

Political Activities
State Representative for Nueces County, 1965-67 [first Latino elected] Southwest Coordinator for the United State Viva Kennedy-Johnson Campaign, 1960 Co-Founder of Mexican American Political Association [MAPA] in 1961. Later Co- Found Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations [PASSO], both organizations were the first Latino political organizations organized in U.S.A. Visited with governors of various states and mayors of major cities to address Latino issues Speaker at Democratic National Convention in 1988. Worked in all presidential campaigns at the local, state and national level since 1960. Testified before Congressional committees on Latino issues. Participated in White House Conference on Latino Issues at the invitation of President Jimmy Carter Participated in the signing of the extension of the Voting Rights Act at the invitation of President Ronald Reagan Met with President, then Vice-President, George H. W. Bush to discuss issues of importance to the Hispanic community Participated in White House Conference on Hate Crimes at the invitation of President Bill Clinton Joined Rev. Jesse Jackson and Operation Push in signing the first joint trade agreements between Black and Latino organizations with the Southland Corporation and Miller Brewing Company, to give both Black and Latino entrepreneurs a greater opportunity to compete for business. He was one of the keynote speakers at the celebration of Martin Luther King Birthday at Ebeneezer Church in Atlanta, Georgia in 1983 Met with Editorial Boards of Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Readers Digest, Chicago Sun Times to increase the awareness of Latino issues and to promote positive coverage of this growing population

International Activities
Tony Bonilla met with several Presidents of Mexico to foster a better relationship between Mexico and the Mexican-Americans of the United States. He received special invitation to Presidential Inaugurations of several incoming Presidents of Mexico. Tony Led delegation of Hispanic leaders to Israel on two different occasions to foster better relationship between Latinos and the Jewish community in the United States and with Israel. He participated in a week long seminar in Madrid, Spain in 1991 as one of the speakers on the growing importance of Latinos in the United States. At the invitation of the U.S. Government, traveled to Germany on three occasions. At the invitation of the U.S. Government, Tony traveled to Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador to address the serious drug problem confronting Latino youths in the United States. Tony traveled to Austria to participate in a Peace Conference in the 1980's as a representative of the Latino community. In June 2005, at the invitation of the director of International Affairs, he traveled to Shanghai, China to address law students at East China University In April 2008, traveled to Southeast Asia and visited Elementary Schools in Laos and provided school children with school supplies so that they would be better equipped to do their school work. Spoke with school officials to learn about the need of the school children andto foster better understanding of what America is all about.