By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
A daughter of East Harlem, Carmen Milagros Ortiz became both the first Hispanic and the first woman US Attorney in Massachusetts last week.
"I will work tirelessly on behalf of the Department of Justice to serve with fervor, passion and integrity, answering what I consider to be the greatest calling – public service," Ortiz said after her nomination in November.
Ortiz, who graduated from the George Washington University School of Law in 1981, was sworn in Jan. 12 by her former colleague Eric Holder, the first African-American U.S. Attorney General.
“Latinas have done pretty well over the last few months, and deservedly so,’’ Holder said in a reference to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice, according to the Boston Globe.
Holder and Ortiz worked together in the public integrity section of the Department of Justice when Ortiz was an intern and Holder a trial attorney, the Boston Herald reported.
President Barack Obama appointed Ortiz after late Sen. Edward Kennedy forwarded her name for the post.
Ortiz, 53, served as a federal prosecutor for 12 years before her appointment. The widowed mother of two said she hoped her rise to top attorney would inspire her children, according to the Herald.
"With hard work and perseverance, you can have a happy and fulfilling life, and you can have it all,” she said.
