Drawing influence from her parents, Rebecca D. Vigil’s father was a small businessman in Taos, New Mexico. He was her inspiration in showing people to respect a person the way that you would want to be respected. He also influenced her that no one is better than her in the world and she is no better than anyone, so Ms. Vigil had an equal foundation when she started creating her life, learning the rules on how to live her life. Her mother and father were very instrumental in giving her the talents that she was able to explore and create.
Ms. Vigil began her professional career as a secretary, project monitor and customer service representative for the Public Service Co. of New Mexico in 1978, remaining in these positions for eight years before serving the State of New Mexico as secretary of state from 1987 to 1990 and from 1999 to 2006. During this time, she was the executive director of the New Mexico Commission Status of Women in 1991 and an electoral observer for the UN in Angola in 1992, as well as for the International Foundation Electoral Systems in the Dominican Republic in 1994 and Equatorial Guinea and Washington in 1996. Most recently, Ms. Vigil served as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State from 2005 to 2006. She also participated in AMPART in Mexico in 1991.
Prior to the start of her professional career, Ms. Vigil pursued a formal education at New Mexico Highlands University, where she earned an Associate of Arts in elementary education in 1978 and a Bachelor of Arts in French in 1991. Right before graduating, Ms. Vigil was notably a Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990. Currently, she is involved with the Blue and Gold Program at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, since 2009. Outside of her primary trade, she served the Albuquerque Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in a number of roles including membership representative, senior sales marketing representative and corporate relations coordinator.
In light of her exceptional undertakings, Ms. Vigil was named among the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the Nation by Hispanic Business Magazine in 1990 and was honored with the Trio Achievers Award by the Southwest Association of Student Assistance Programs in 1993. The following year, she received the Governor’s Award from the Outstanding New Mexico Women. Moreover, Ms. Vigil was selected for inclusion in the first edition Who’s Who in America: Student Version as well as several editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Politics, Who’s Who in the West and Who’s Who in the World.
