Elizabeth Hernandez has devoted her personal time to volunteerism in Greater Lansing in the past 15 years with Lansing Kiwanis Club, Greater Lansing Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, NorthWest Initiative, Do1Thing, the Lansing Old Newsboys and others. Hernandez, 50, was born in Lansing as one of 11 children and grew up in Detroit before returning. She is a process improvement adviser in strategic planning and development at the Lansing Board of Water & Light. She has three adult children.