In 1975, Hon. Cisneros was elected to the San Antonio City Council, at the time becoming the youngest councilman in the city’s history. After six years on the Council, he was elected Mayor – the first Hispanic to hold the post. During his four terms, Hon. Cisneros revitalized San Antonio by developing new growth in the business sector, creating new jobs through massive infrastructure improvements and promoting cooperation among various ethnic groups. Under his leadership San Antonio became one of the nation’s most progressive cities.

Hon. Cisneros served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration, from 1993 to 1997. He is credited with initiating the revitalization of many of the nation’s public housing developments and with formulating policies that have contributed to today’s record homeownership rate. Upon resigning from his post with HUD, he became president of Univision until 2000. Hon. Cisneros is currently chairman of CityView, a community-building company dedicated to producing reasonably priced housing for central city work force residents. Along with his wife, Mary Alice, he co-founded American Sunrise, a community-based nonprofit that focuses on homeownership for working families and after-school curricula for central city children.

Hon. Cisneros has enjoyed numerous honors during his career. In 1984, he was interviewed as a possible Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States. He has served as president of the National League of Cities, chairman of the National Civic League and the After-School All-Stars, deputy chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and board member for Latino Public Broadcasting, the American Democracy Institute, the Rockefeller Foundation and Countrywide Financial. In 1986, City and State magazine named Hon. Cisneros Outstanding Mayor; and in the summer of 2006, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce selected him for its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.