The Honorable Grace Flores-Hughes serves as Vice Chair, F&H 2, Inc., a management consulting business. She is a public speaker, television and media commentator and was a weekly contributor to VOXXI.com and currently guest contributor to Latino Magazine.  Mrs. Flores-Hughes’ memoir, A Tale of Survival was published in 2011 and was awarded Honorable Mention by the New England and Southwest Book Festivals and the International Book Awards in 2013.

​

Mrs. Flores-Hughes has had a successful public service career both as a civil servant and as a political appointee.  Her expertise lies in strategic managerial structure, including management crisis, conflict resolution and mediation and immigration/refugee policy.  She has arbitration skills as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel. Additionally, Mrs. Flores-Hughes has been a college instructor in the areas of American Government and Public Policy.

Her last presidential appointment was in 2009 when President George W. Bush reappointed Mrs. Flores-Hughes as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FISP)–the Federal Labor Relations Authority to a five-year term. As a member of the FISP she was responsible for resolving impasses between federal agencies and unions representing employees arising from negotiations over conditions of employment through arbitration.

​

Prior to serving in the Bush Administration, Mrs. Flores-Hughes served in the Reagan and Bush Administrations in various capacities among them was being appointed to the Community Relations Service (CRS) at the Department of Justice where she served as the first woman Director/Assistant Attorney General from 1988-92.  As Director, Mrs. Flores-Hughes led an agency with close to 100 employees and a budget of approximately $30M. She was responsible for developing policies and establishing priorities with respect to the resolution of racial and ethnic conflict in communities throughout the country, and the resettlement of Cuban/Haitian refugees in the United States. CRS partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited as part of the agency’s hotline initiative. CRS also assisted during national disasters to provide disaster relief and recovery activities as part of its conflict resolution mandate. And was part of a federal effort to reduce youth gangs and drugs.

​

During the late 1980’s and early 90’s, Mrs. Flores-Hughes led the federal resettlement plan of unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. from Central America. She set in motion a resettlement plan that is in place today at the Dept. of Health & Human Services.  The plan included but not limited to the following; working with non-profits that would help to provide shelters for unaccompanied minors, working with local and state officials regarding placing minors in their communities until reunited with their families or deported and coordinating federal efforts with the Border Patrol to ensure the minors were processed quickly so they could be sent to temporary shelters and/or foster homes in anticipation of their being reunited them with their families or deported. She has extensive experience working in immigration and refugee policy issues.

​

Before joining the Department of Justice, Mrs. Flores-Hughes was the first woman to serve as Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business and Capital Ownership Development at the Small Business Administration.  As Associate Administrator, Mrs. Flores-Hughes managed over 20 employees with a budget of approximately $40M.  During her tenure, Mrs. Hughes initiated a number of innovative policy changes associated with reforming the 8(a) program.

​

Mrs. Flores-Hughes has extensive knowledge of the federal government.  She began her federal career as a GS-2 at Kelly AFB and subsequently transferred from the Department of Defense to the Department of Health, Education & Welfare where she assumed higher levels of management responsibility.  She later worked in the Department of Health & Human Services as Acting Director of the Office of Hispanic Americans and was responsible for the development and implementation of social policy and programs regarding Hispanic Americans and where she helped coin the term “Hispanic” for the federal government.

Mrs. Flores-Hughes is fluent in both English and Spanish and has written and presented a number of professional papers including, “The Origin of the Term Hispanic,” Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, 2006.

Mrs. Flores-Hughes was a Visiting Professor in the Political Science Departments of the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Nebraska Wesleyan University.

 

Mrs. Flores-Hughes was appointed by Virginia Governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore to serve on the VA Board of Professional and Occupational Regulation & the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  She served on the 1st Board of Visitors, Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute and served on the Diversity Advisory Committee for the Virginia National Guard.

She has received numerous awards and recognitions including, CNN Hero, 1990 Outstanding Public Service Award presented by the American Society for Public Administration.  She is included in Who’s Who in America, in the Hispanic American Profiles, Ballantine Book and in Notable Hispanic American Women, Gale Research. Mrs. Flores-Hughes was named in Hispanic Business Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S., and awarded Hispanic of the Year, 11th Cong. District of Virginia.

Mrs. Flores-Hughes is a member of numerous organizations and serves on the following non-profit boards; the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, the Media Policy Center and the Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.

​

She has been an active participant in Republican state and federal political campaigns, including; most recently served as member of the Trump Hispanic Advisory Council, she also worked on the Tom Davis Va. Congressional race, the Reagan/Bush Reelection 84’ campaign, the presidential campaigns of Dole/Kemp, Bush/Quayle, and Bush/Cheney. She also served on the 84’ Inaugural Committee. She was president of the Alexandria Commonwealth Women’s Club and has served in various high level positions in three Republican administrations.

Mrs. Flores-Hughes holds a Master of Arts Degree in Public Administration, Harvard University and a B.A. in Child Psychology, University of the District of Columbia.

 

Mrs. Flores-Hughes is a native of Taft, Texas.  She is married to Lt. General Harley A. Hughes, USAF (Ret), and resides in Alexandria, Virginia.