Mexican President Felipe Calderon as the President of the National Institute of Women appointed Rocio Garcia Gaytan, in February 2007. The National Institute of Women strives to create a culture in Mexico of gender equality free from violence and discrimination against women and encourage Mexican women’s empowerment. Prior to this, Ms. Garcia Gaytan served as Director of Social Development of Puerto Vallarta. She was later elected as State Representative of Jalisco, Mexico in which she chaired the Equity and Gender Commission, and introduced a bill in favor of women’s issues and against intra-family violence.

Her continuing work and leadership helped her become a member of the 58th Mexican Congress where she served as Secretary of the Equity and Gender Commission and promoted several legal reforms, including two that have been essential toward increasing gender equality. One of these legal reforms was a law that led to the creation of the National Institute of Women, in which she now is the president. The other involved electoral reforms that permitted the establishment of the Parliament of Women of Mexico, which promotes female candidates running for Congress.