Lourdes Leon Guerrero
MPH, RN
Governor Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero is the nation’s only licensed nurse-elected governor and the first woman governor of Guam. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the response strategy, achieved vaccination for over 90% of the population, and created Guam’s first-ever paramedic program and first-ever self-insured government group health plan that lowered employee premiums while maintaining coverage and benefits.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Governor Leon Guerrero approved across-the-board pay increases for government nurses, ranging up to 25% in 2021 and 18% in 2024. Previously a senator in the Guam Legislature, Governor Leon Guerrero authored public laws to reduce the nursing shortage in Guam; widened the availability of medical care by expanding the roles of professional nurses to include advanced nursing practice; created a dedicated agency for services for people with disabilities, prohibited smoking in enclosed public spaces; created the Healthy Futures Fund to provide annual funding for health, education, public safety, and social programs aimed at reducing tobacco, alcohol, and substance abuse and supporting cancer screening, treatment, and outreach programs through the Guam Cancer Trust Fund.
Governor Leon Guerrero earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from California State University, a Master of Public Health from the University of California Los Angeles, and a Graduate Banking Diploma from the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.