Emilia Marroquin was born in El Salvador, and moved to the United States in 1992 and to Iowa in 2000. She married Douglas Marroquin 23 years ago, and she has 4 children ages 21-36 along with two grandchildren ages 11 and 12. 

Emilia learned to speak English when she moved to Iowa and started working for Head Start as a community liaison for a few years. She became a home Visitor once obtaining her bachelor's degree in Human Services from Buena Vista university. 

After 15 years working with Head Start, she decided to move to a career path with the Department of Education as an Identification Specialist with the Migratory Education Program, where her main role is to qualify families for the program and find resources for families needs. 

 Her passion for helping others motivated her to start being involved in the community. Emilia previously has served on the board for the United Community Health Center, and currently serves on the board for SALUD and Storm Lake Community School District. 

For Emilia, it’s very important to represent the Latino community while also inspiring other cultures to take the steps to grow in representation in every way possible.