Chairwoman Nora Vargas has spent her life working to dismantle barriers for underinvested communities. She is inspired by the notion of creating change through civic engagement and public policy, and the potential to build stronger and healthier communities. In 2020, the residents of District 1 in San Diego County made history by electing her as the first Latina, first woman of color, first immigrant, and first Fronteriza to serve as County Supervisor in the nearly 200-year history of the County of San Diego.

In her first two years of office, she was unanimously voted by her peers to serve as Vice Chair, and then Chair of the County Board of Supervisors. She is now serving her second term as Chair of the Board, leading the second largest County in the State of California, passing the largest public investment of $8.53 billion to break down barriers and ensure that everyone in her county has the opportunity to thrive. Supervisor Vargas has fought tirelessly for economic parity, improved working conditions for our hardworking families, clean air and environmental justice, accessible housing, and addressing our homelessness crisis. She also led the way for underinsured and underserved populations to have access to healthcare during the pandemic. An ardent believer of investing in young people, Vargas secured free public transportation in San Diego County for anyone under age 18. She also has been a champion for cleaning up the biggest environmental challenge of our time-- the cross-border contamination of our binational region and our Tijuana River Valley.

In addition, Vargas is serving her second term as Chair of SANDAG, and is Governor Newsom's appointee to the California Air Resources Board. Most recently, she was appointed to Chair the National Association of Counties (NACo) Immigration Reform Task Force. Supervisor Vargas lives in Chula Vista with her rescue dogs, Rocco and Bruno, and is a San Diego Padres super-fan! When she’s not working, you can find her riding her bicycle around neighborhoods in District 1.