Education Is the Truest Form of Freedom with Daniel Garza - The Libre Initiative, President, EP #122

When I read Daniel’s biography, I was so impressed with what he has achieved. He admitted to me that his successes were a surprise to him and he could never have imagined the path his life has taken. In fact, he was a high school dropout.

Daniel Garza was born in the Central Valley of California, and would migrate with his family annually from their ancestral hometown of Garza Gonzalez in Nuevo Leon, Mexico- throughout California, Nebraska and Washington State following the crop season as farm workers until he was 19 years of age.

Daniel Garza began his public service career as congressional staff assistant for U.S. congressman Richard "Doc" Hastings and was later elected as councilman for the city of Toppenish, Washington in 1996. In 2001, he was tapped by the George W. Bush Administration to serve as Deputy Director of External and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Office of the Secretary at The Department of Interior, and was appointed in 2004 to Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison in the White House. 

In 2007, Daniel joined Univision to host and co-produce "Agenda Washington", a weekly Spanish-language news talk show covering the issues impacting the U.S. Hispanic community. Mr. Garza was appointed to serve on the Board of The Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy in 2016, was designated as one of Washington, D.C.’s “Influentials” by Congressional Quarterly Magazine in 2018, and in 2019, Daniel was named 1 of the 50 most influential voices in Washington DC by The National Journal. Garza currently serves as President of The LIBRE Initiative and resides in Mission, TX with his wife and three children.

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...

  • How Daniel found himself after dropping out of high school (3:22)

  • What he learned from becoming a policeman in Washington (6:40)

  • Why education and language present barriers for the Latin community (9:29)

  • How mentors can help to remove fear and bring confidence (17:28)

  • How Daniel overcame imposter syndrome (22:53)

  • Why being resourceful and executing under fear proves successful (25:51)

  • The importance of border protection and a bipartisan immigration plan (28:27)

  • How the Libre Initiative’s policies are helping the country (32:58)

Starting on the path of public service

After dropping out of high school and working as a farm worker, Daniel found himself getting handed the job of police officer in a Washington town just because he was Latino and could speak Spanish on a police force where there was no Latino representation. It was the first time his eyes were opened to what was going on in his community in a real way. He saw the worst of what was happening to Latinos and he realized that there was no one to represent them. This led him to running for city council, which he won. It put him on the track for doors opening to him that he couldn’t have imagined, including being the Republican representative for Pres. Bush to the Latino community in Washington, then the Department of the Interior, and on to the White House. Just 17 years after dropping out of high school, Daniel found himself working for the most powerful man on Earth.

Why the Latino community is still struggling with tough issues

Daniel saw his parents work extremely hard as farm workers and then save up to start a small business. The amount of effort it took them motivated him to make better opportunities for his community. 33% of Latino adults in the U.S. don’t have a high school diploma, which is a major barrier to equal opportunity in the marketplace. Many of them don’t speak English. Daniel understands the value of removing these barriers because he knows that if they are gone, Latinos will become champions in the marketplace. He told me, “I believe in the redistribution of knowledge and opportunity, not in the redistribution of someone else’s earned wealth.”

Turning fear into confidence

As Daniel experienced, with mentors opening doors and showing Latios the way forward, their fear of getting better work and moving up in the American workforce transforms to confidence. He felt huge imposter syndrome early in his career, fearing he would be exposed as a know-nothing who wasn’t sophisticated in the Washington ways. But he decided to go for it anyway. He was the first one into the office and the last one out. He made his boss look good, showed resourcefulness, and committed to being the guy that was the reason a project should move forward. This led him to getting a call from the White House to come work over there from his position in the Department of the Interior and he knew it was because he had generated value. He executed despite his fear, moved forward, and the success he sought was on the other side.


Connect with Daniel

Connect With Peter O. Estévez

Subscribe to the Peter O. Estévez Show on
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts

Peter EstévezComment