Maria Luisa Alanis Ruiz

Maria Luisa Alanis Ruiz (born 1948) is an American Chicana activist and academic in Oregon. She has been active in Chicano and Latino social justice work in the state of Oregon since the 1970s, helped found Portland's Cinco de Mayo festival, and has been a long-term volunteer for the Portland-Guadalajara Sister-City Association.

Early life and education Born in 1948 in Linares, Mexico, Alanis Ruiz spent parts of her childhood living with her grandmother Maria Luisa "Lichita" in Monterrey. Raised a Catholic, her family consisted of her mother, father, Maria, four brothers, and three sisters.

Alanis Ruiz was recruited by graduate students Felipe Cañeda and Alfonso Cabrera to join the University of Oregon's High School Equivalency Program in 1970. She took a position in the admissions office at Portland State University and held many roles in the admissions department at the university, including Affirmative Action Program Admissions Counselor and Assistant Admissions Director.

Alanis Ruiz was involved in the creation of the PSU Chicano-Latino studies certificate in 1995, serving as the program's Associate Director. Alanis Ruiz was active in the farm worker movement, the urban struggle for education, and the anti-war movement while attending the University of Oregon. While working at Portland State University, she organized the Scholarship Gala annually for 13 years starting in 1997; the gala raised money to fund hundreds of $1,000 scholarships to Portland State University. She worked with TRIO Talent Search through Portland Community College to support disadvantaged high school students and put them on a path to college.

She was the founding Second Vice President of the Portland Chapter of the Mexican-American Women's National Association; organized in 1992, the group exposed Mexican American women to different topics like financial skills. Alanis Ruiz helped found Portland's annual Cinco de Mayo Festival with the PGSCA in 1985. The festival started with a movie screening and a few musicians in Portland's Waterfront Park, with around 500 participants; in 2008, 300,000 people attended the festival.