governor Lou Leon Guerrero Contact information

The Honorable Lourdes “Lou” Aflague Leon Guerrero is the ninth Governor of Guam and the first female governor of the territory. She is also a registered nurse, a businesswoman, a policymaker, a mother, and a grandmother.

Since taking office in January 2019, she eliminated GovGuam’s $83 million general fund deficit, paid tax refunds the fastest in Guam’s history, raised salaries for nurses, law enforcement officers, and teachers, and ended two costly federal receiverships. Within her first year in office, she worked with the Guam Legislature to raise the minimum wage, legalize cannabis, and deliver millions in long-overdue war reparations to Guam’s World War II survivors.

Within months of the unprecedented global pandemic, Governor Leon Guerrero created the island’s first-ever unemployment program, providing $808 million to over 30,000 displaced workers. This is in addition to over $100 million in direct aid distributed to over 2,500 local businesses and multiple innovative programs to aid Guam families in recovery. Under her leadership, Guam also achieved one of the highest vaccination rates in the nation. She continues to champion healthcare initiatives, including establishing the island’s first-ever paramedic program, and she is currently on a mission to rebuild Guam’s only decades-old public hospital.

A graduate of the Academy of Our Lady of Guam (AOLG), Governor Leon Guerrero embarked on a career in nursing, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from California State University and later a Master of Public Health from UCLA. She has worked as a staff nurse in hospitals in both California and Guam. Governor Leon Guerrero has also held several management positions in health care at the Guam Memorial Hospital and FHP Inc. and served on the GMHA Board of Trustees. To this day, Governor Leon Guerrero continues to be passionate about health care and has maintained her licensure as a registered nurse.

In 1994, the people of Guam elected Governor Leon Guerrero to the first of five terms in the Guam Legislature. As a Senator, Governor Leon Guerrero served as Majority Leader and Chair of the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Health. Among her achievements are laws creating the Healthy Futures Fund and banning smoking in restaurants and bars.

In 2005, with the passing of her brother Tony, Governor Leon Guerrero assumed the helm at the Bank of Guam as its new CEO and President. Under her leadership, the Bank of Guam doubled its assets to become a $2 billion enterprise.

Governor Leon Guerrero has also served on the boards of many civic organizations. She is a founding member, past board member, and past President of the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Her many awards and honors include Guam Business Magazine’s 2010 Executive of the Year, SBA –Women in Business Champion, AOLG Hall of Fame, and American Nurses Association Excellence in Nursing.

Governor Leon Guerrero is one of three children born to the late Jesus S. Leon Guerrero and Eugenia A. Leon Guerrero. She is married to Attorney Jeff Cook, and they have two children and eight grandchildren.