Angela Ramirez Holmes started her advocacy in rare diseases in 2013 when her then 8 year old son Andrew was diagnosed with a rare brain condition, an arteriovenous malformation or AVM. Angela is the founder and president of Cal Rare, a non-profit coalition of rare disease stakeholders dedicated to improving the lives of rare disease patients in California. Cal Rare started the California Rare Disease Legislative Caucus and was able to secure $2 million in the 2018 budget for a Whole Genome Sequencing Pilot Project for undiagnosed pediatric patients. In 2018, Angela was the recipient of the Rare Voice Award for State Advocacy from the EveryLife Foundation. She is the Principal of Alliance Campaign Strategies, a political consulting and public affairs firm working on local campaigns and issues. Angela has nearly twenty years of political and legislative experience on the national, state, and local levels. She is also an elected official, currently serving her second term on the Board of the Zone 7 Water Agency. Angela graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California with a B.A. in Politics and U.S. History.