Senator Catherine Miranda currently serves in the Arizona Senate, representing South Phoenix's District 11—the very district in which she was born, raised, and educated. She is the ranking member of the Commerce Committee and also serves on the Education and Rules Committee. She recently was appointed to serve as a member of the Joint Legislative Psychiatric Hospital Review Council, as well as the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Her passion for education was cultivated in a leadership journey that began as a teacher, then a school administrator, and then a Governing Board member. In 2011, she co-founded the Manzana Foundation, which prepares and transitions students for post-secondary education and also gives Dream Act students an opportunity to continue their education at an affordable price. Senator Miranda also founded the Arizona Business/Education Forum, a bipartisan caucus designed to guide the business and education communities in pursuit of policies that serve Arizonans for generations. Senator Miranda served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, a member of the Legislative Advisory Committee of the Western Interstate Commission, former Vice President of the National Hispanic Caucus of Hispanic Legislators, and former President of the Arizona Latino Legislative Caucus. Senator Miranda's goals for the next session are to focus on the severely mentally ill population that our Arizona State Hospital currently houses, also targeting our streets where the SMI population sadly roams.