Topic: Michael Garcia

Michael Garcia (born January 11, 1974) is a former Colorado legislator. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2000, Garcia was re-elected three times to represent House District 42, which includes central Aurora, Colorado.

Born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina to a U.S. Army veteran, Garcia's family settled in Aurora, Colorado, where he attended Aurora Public Schools and graduated from Aurora Central High School in 1992. He then earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado in 1996 and a master's degree from the University of Arizona in 1998. After graduation, Garcia received a fellowship from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to serve as a legislative assistant to Texas U.S. Representative Solomon P. Ortiz; he worked in Washington, DC until 1999 before returning to Colorado.

From May 2003 to December 2007, he was as Coordinator for the Youth Council for Public Policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. While working at CU, he taught college courses on American government, including a course titled "Civic Engagement: Using the Electoral Process as a Tool for Social Change. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Spirit of Aurora, the Aurora Education Foundation, and the Aurora Museum Foundation. In 2006, Garcia was named one of the Denver Business Journal's "40 under 40" list of young achievers.