ADÁN ORTEGA, JR.: 2024 LEGADO Award, Community Commitment

The LEGADO Community Commitment Award celebrates organizations, groups, and communities that have demonstrated an unwavering dedication to their community. MOLAA, as a nonprofit institution, empathizes with the needs of similar organizations worldwide. LEGADO Community Commitment awardees embody exemplary leadership, inspiring others with their vision, compassion, and determination to create a brighter and just future for all.
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2024 LEGADO Award for Community Commitment
Adán Ortega, Jr. took office as the 20th chair of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board of Directors on Jan. 1, 2023. Ortega is the first Latino chair and the first former Metropolitan employee to serve in this role. He has represented the city of San Fernando on the board since March 2021, after representing the city of Fullerton on the board from February 2019 to February 2021.
As chair, Ortega leads a 38-member board of directors, representing each of Metropolitan’s 26 member agencies across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. He also represents the district and its policies and programs on the national, state, and local levels. Metropolitan is the largest supplier of treated water in the nation, providing water for nearly 20 million people.
Chair Ortega has three decades of experience in government relations and has helped lead efforts to bring assistance to small community water systems in disadvantaged communities across the state. The principal of Ortega Strategies Group, a public affairs and government relations firm based in Fullerton, Ortega previously served as Metropolitan’s vice president of external affairs from 1999 to 2005. Prior to his position at Metropolitan, he held roles as chief deputy for then-Secretary of State Bill Jones and assistant general manager of both West Basin and Central Basin municipal water districts.
In 2013, Chair Ortega was appointed by then Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Water Commission. Prior to that, he was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, where Ortega chaired its water committee from 2005 to 2012. Additionally, he has served on the boards of Heal the Bay, Mujeres de la Tierra, National Audubon Society, Southern California Water Coalition, Whittier College and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. He also co-founded Water Education for Latino Leaders and the California Association of Mutual Water Companies.
A dedicated trail runner, avid swimmer, mural art collector and biography reader, Chair Ortega earned his bachelor’s degree in English and history from Whittier College. He and his wife Susan reside in Fullerton.
As a Metropolitan director, Ortega has served on the Engineering and Operations Committee; Finance and Insurance Committee; Organization, Personnel and Technology Committee; Underserved Communities Committee; and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.