Gil Cisneros

Gilbert Cisneros enlisted in the United States Navy in 1989 after graduating from high school. He was selected for the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training Program, received a Navy R.O.T.C. scholarship and was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Navy in 1994. In 2010, with his wife Jacki, he started The Gilbert & Jacki Cisneros Foundation, focused on helping students find a path to higher education with scholarships and college access programs. Along with supporting education initiatives, they have supported the USO, an organization that supports our active duty troops. In 2015, he founded The Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute at his alma mater The George Washington University, which not only provides scholarships for Latino students, but is also becoming a leading institute for policy issues that affect the Latino community. As a Congressman representing CA – 39, Cisneros served on both the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees, and was a strong advocate, for our veterans, servicemembers and our military families. He fought to address the issue of mental health and suicide amongst both our veterans and service members. After the death of Spc. Venessa Guillén, he was invited to participate in discussions about the status of Latinos in the Army and helped to introduce the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act to make sexual harassment a crime within the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He has been an advocate for military families on issues of housing, child abuse, and exceptional family members. He is committed to building a diverse military, and removing extremism from our ranks. He has been married to his wife Jacki for over 15 years, they have twin sons, Christopher and Alexander, and reside in Yorba Linda, CA. Cisneros has a Bachelor’s degree in political science, from the George Washington University, an M.B.A. from Regis University, and a Masters in Urban Education Policy from Brown University. Cisneros served 11 years in the US Navy. Winner of a lottery jackpot worth $266M, he and his wife became philanthropists. A Republican until 2008, Cisneros switched to the Democratic party because it felt the former was too ideological.