“This was a turning point in my life. I became a public figure, a public servant, a volunteer, a philanthropist, and a fighter for what is good,” she says. “I took a three-year break from school. I got married to my college sweetheart and switched my major twice until I found my passion for broadcast journalism.”

A native of Usulutan, El Salvador who came to the U.S. when she was in sixth-grade to escape the ongoing civil war there, Owen graduated from the University of Southern California with a dual degree in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish.

In 2009, after being let go from her job at Univision due to the flagging economy, she decided to go back to school and earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California.

She has been emcee for nine years for Noche Bohemia, an evening of music, poetry and creative expression for and by the Spanish-speaking community, and is co-chair of Juntos Podemos (Together We Can) a non-profit organization housed under Action Council, that informs the Latino community of tools, services, and organizations that will help them live a better life.

She was married to Bill Owen in 2009 and they have a son, Matthew Joseph.