Jarrett Barrios

Who is Jarrett Barrios?

Jarrett Tomás Barrios is the chief executive officer of the American Red Cross Los Angeles Chapter/Disaster Services, a former politician and activist. Prior to this, he served at the CEO of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts. Barrios served as a member of both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate and became the first Latino and first openly gay man elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He subsequently served as president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and, later, of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

The son of a Cuban-American carpenter and a Cuban-American social worker in Tampa, Florida, Barrios moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts at the age of 17 to study at Harvard College, after graduating from Jefferson High School in Tampa. After graduating in 1990 with high honors and working for the Boston City Council, he obtained his law degree with honors from Georgetown University. Eisenhower Fellowships selected Jarrett Barrios as a USA Eisenhower Fellow in 2009.