In 2001, Patricia Chavez, 36, worked with neighbors and the city of Chula Vista to rid her neighborhood of drug dealers. A seasoned PR professional, she was successful in her efforts — so successful, in fact, that she received a one-year appointment to the Chula Vista City Council in 2006.

“I tend to be solution oriented so being able to work with different agencies and companies to solve a problem and with other elected officials was fantastic,” she says.

Chavez says one of her proudest accomplishments as a council member was helping to create a safe streets program. “The engineers actually walk the streets and look at them from a bird’s-eye view, not from the office, which provides more precise results,” she says.

Chavez and husband, Richard, are active with the National Hispanic Environmental Council, which encourages Latino youth to connect with environmental issues through 10-day hands-on institutes across the country.

“Not many minorities are involved in environmental professions,” says the mom of three. “But this is our future — the next generation will move forward on environmental needs.”

After her council term ended last December, Chavez opened Patricia Chavez & Associates, a communications firm specializing in social and cause marketing.