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= Miriam Cummins =

Miriam Cummins (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Oregon House of Representatives to represent District 15. She is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on May 19, 2020.

Elections
The primary will occur on May 19, 2020. The general election will occur on November 3, 2020.

Early life and education
Miriam was born in Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico. She immigrated to the United States in 1996 where she first learned English at elementary school in Coos Bay, Oregon. While working to help her father start his own business as a General Contractor, Miriam graduated from Marshfield High School with Honors.

Miriam was awarded a scholarship through the Ford Family Foundation as a Ford Scholar and attended Western Oregon University. Before transferring to Oregon State University, Miriam studied abroad in Spain, then took another opportunity to study abroad in France after her first year at OSU.

In 2009 Miriam married her college sweetheart Basil Cummins. In 2011 Miriam Graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and a Minor in French. After college Miriam worked in the Financial Aid Office at OSU where she thoroughly enjoyed helping students find opportunities to pay for their studies.

Two years later after her daughter was born, Miriam took a job in Albany as an Interpreter/Translator for Linn Benton Lincoln ESD. At this job, Miriam interacted with a wide range of families that were seeking help and didn’t know about the services available to them. After seeing a need for minority representation and the beginnings of her family growing (with the birth of her son), Miriam obtained her US Citizenship in 2016.

Career
While pursing her college degree at OSU, she was working full time as a Financial Aid Office Specialist at the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at Oregon State University. After working at the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships for 2 years, she started working as an Interpreter/Translator at Linn Benton Lincoln ESD for the Special Education and Evaluation Services Department. While working at the ESD as an interpreter/translator, she was able to ensure that during IEP and Evaluation meetings that the parents concerns were addressed by letting the special education team ensuring awareness and inclusion.

After 5 years working at Linn Benton Lincoln ESD and because of her position there, Miriam felt that she couldn't fully advocate for the families she met. This eventually led Miriam to take her current position at Salem Keizer Coalition for Equality as a Resource Development and Executive Assistant in 2018.

Miriam currently serves on the Linn Benton Lincoln ESD Board of Directors. She has gone to Washington DC, met with the US Representatives, US Senators and advocated for Full Funding of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). During that advocacy, she also brought up issues of stigmatization of mental health, and the importance of schools working alongside families in addressing mental health; especially in their native language.

Because of her position at LBL, Miriam felt that she couldn’t fully advocate for the families she met. This eventually led Miriam to take her current position at Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality as a Resource Development and Executive Assistant in 2018.