Serving others, from her family to her community and country, is a way of life for Lydia Cano. Trials she faced when her family moved to Anaheim in 1957 from Las Cruces, New Mexico, made such an impression on Lydia that she ultimately became a lifelong voice to help people overcome bigotry and obtain education, housing and medical services.
Lydia said her journey to becoming a community leader, which has taken her through barrios and corporate board rooms, started when she enrolled as a 9th grader at Fremont Junior High. By second semester, she was elected student body vice-president. Her leadership roles continued during her days at Anaheim High, where she served in various service clubs, often as officer. At the end of her sophomore year, she was elected as the only junior to serve on the five-member song leader team. In her senior year, she was elected head song leader and homecoming queen, one of the first Hispanic girls to hold these positions.
Lydia continued to attain “firsts” in her life and career. As vice president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, she was the first and only female and the first Hispanic bank officer. She was also the only Hispanic on the national staff of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the first female and first Hispanic on the Cal State Dominguez Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Other accomplishments include development of a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at both county and state levels, being named “Woman of the Year” by California State Assemblyman Jim Morrissey and being selected as a delegate to the 2001 Republican Convention in Philadelphia.
She also served as one of the few female officers with the San Diego Police Department, then later the Anaheim Police Department as a reserve officer. She was also the only female in a training class of 50 males at the OC Sheriff’s Department Academy.
From first serving as a spokesperson for her classmates, then working with the Barona Indian Reservation to raise funds for housing and economic development, to representing corporations with the governments of the United States and Mexico, Lydia made a tremendous impact on whatever community she served.
The success of one project she headed, which united people from all walks of life to work to in neighborhoods that had suffered disinvestment, led to her being recognized by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in Washington D.C. and being recruited to establish and oversee the federally mandated $10 billion Community Investment Program of 1978. This federal law was in response to the allegations of “red lining” brought against the lenders by community leaders throughout the country.
Her next position with Mercury Savings and Loan Association brought her back to Orange County. Her job was to enhance the presence of savings and loans in their lending areas. To gain this exposure, Lydia became involved as a board member and chairperson in many organizations, helping develop and implemented various new programs such as the 2% Club of Orange County.
In this effort, she approached the county’s largest corporations to increase donations to non-profit entities serving low- and moderate-income and minority clients. The program was praised by President Reagan and Lydia received a personal letter of congratulations from the president.
Governor Deukmejian also took notice. He recruited Lydia serve in his administration as Deputy Director of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs with oversight of California’s then $350 billion CalVet Loan Program. Her innovations did away with bottlenecks in the loan process, automating the entire system. Under Lydia’s tenure, the department raised $562 million for mortgage financing for California veterans.
Her second appointment by Governor Deukmejian was as Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. As the state’s first mobile home ombudsman, she had oversight of California’s then 18 loan and grant programs for housing and economic development. Lydia said the most rewarding part of this experience was helping farm workers and the homeless obtain housing and better living conditions. After four years of service to California, she was recruited and received an appointment by New Mexico Governor as the Director of the Office of Manufactured Housing and Building Ordinances for the State of New Mexico.
Her career was interrupted by a severe automobile accident and subsequent cervical spine surgeries from 1987 to 2003. During this lengthy recovery period, Lydia began her service to the Hispanic Chamber of Orange County as Executive Director and assisted in the development of the California State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Lydia’s exciting career included serving as the editor of the Orange County Register’s Spanish language newspaper “Excelsior.” Her edict was to establish a greater presence in the Hispanic community of Orange County.
Along with her everyday responsibilities of publishing a newspaper, she established and chaired the Hispanic Heritage Committee to provide cultural and historical understanding to the public. Books presenting information on the Hispanic culture from the Aztecs to the present were distributed to libraries and schools throughout Orange County.
Her last position before retiring was with the Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County, for which she established a multi-cultural program that assisted a case load of clients and their families understand and cope with this devastating disease.
Lydia credits her life’s work of helping others to her parents, saying she inherited her father’s fortitude and mother’s gentleness. Her 92 –year- old father and 89- year-old mother still live in Anaheim.
Lydia said her philosophy is to always treat people with respect and recognize their valid place in society; whether it was a homeless person or a corporate CEO. Her response to each individual was to determining their needs and bringing them to a better way of life. She considers herself a “resource seeker with resolutions to problems.”
After decades of public service, Lydia is focusing her attentions on family by helping her son and daughter-in-law raise two children in the San Francisco Bay area. Now she’s lending her leadership skills to helping run a Cub Scout pack. Lydia’s legacy of giving is still growing as she continues to touch the lives around her.
