California's First Lady

First Lady of California, Maria Shriver is a best selling author and an award-winning broadcast journalist. She left her job at NBC News in January 2004 to embark on the new phase of her life as First Lady of California.

In addition to shining the spotlight on Alzheimer's, in her role as First Lady, Maria Shriver continues to support the Special Olympics, the largest and most respected sports organization in the world for the developmentally disabled. In addition, Maria continues to support "Best Buddies", a one on one partnership program for people with disabilities.

Maria champions the contributions of women throughout the State of California. "Women have played a vital role in California history and they play a critical role in our day to day life. California is the #1 State in the U.S. for women owned businesses. We are mothers, daughters, and sisters, we are activists, volunteers, businesswomen, we are educators, we are environmentalists, we are caretakers. There is no part of California life that we do not participate in. I want to celebrate our strengths, our services, and our accomplishments".

First Lady of California, Maria Shriver is a graduate of Georgetown and mother of four children. The First Lady spends part of each week in Sacramento. The Governor and First Lady continue to make their home in Los Angeles.