Who is Rhetta?
Representative Bowers was elected to serve House District 113 in the Texas House of Representatives on November 8, 2018. She made history elected as the first African American to represent this district. House District 113 includes parts of Rowlett, Garland, and Mesquite.
Bowers was drawn to activism at an early age, following the example of her mother, a prominent community leader, and her father, a nationally recognized surgeon. She is an alumna of Spelman College and Texas Southern University, earning her bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism.
Upon graduation, she began her career as a Broadcast Journalist in the District of Columbia in public television working at PBS headquarters and for WETA-TV 26/Radio 90.9. She moved to commercial television once she returned home to Texas working at KCEN-TV 6 in production and later was promoted to news producer.. Bowers has held many positions within the television industry, however her dedication to education was shown as the educational services coordinator for KERA TV 13/Radio 90.1.
Throughout her adult life, Representative Bowers has always invested her time and energy in her community. Bowers is a champion for children and education. She is a former educator and has volunteered many hours on district PTA and Band Booster executive boards within the Garland Independent School District. She has maintained an active membership at St. Paul United Methodist Church and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, of which she is a lifetime member. She was previously appointed to the Rowlett Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, where she served eight years. Representative Bowers is a Co-founder and four-time Co-chair of the Dallas Women’s March.
During the 86th Legislative Session, Bowers served on the House Committees for Corrections, Juvenile Justice & Family Issues and Local and Consent Calendars. Representative Bowers champions women and children’s rights, juvenile justice issues, working towards eliminating the school to prison pipeline, and uplifting marginalized communities on every level of government. Bowers is celebrated across the State of Texas for authoring House Bill 3435, which declares March 1st of every year as “Texas Girls in STEM Day,” designated to highlight women in STEM and encourage and expose young girls along with our local school districts and organizations to embrace and enter fields relating to science, engineering, technology, math and the arts.
As a champion among us, Representative Bowers has been honored by several organizations including but not limited to the following as the recipient of the 2019 Bands of Hope “Trailblazer Award”, The Afiya Center’s “Legislative Achievement Award”, Texas Southern University’s “Distinguished Alumna of the Year”, Greater North Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club “Woman of the Year,” and named the Texas Legislative Black Caucus 2019 “Freshman of the Year.” Though she is a proud native Houstonian, Representative Bowers has resided in Rowlett with her husband MSG (ret.) John P. Bowers, Jr. and their 2 children for over 20 years and proudly calls House District 113 home.
In 2021, she received the Humanitarian Award from the Alpha Sigma Lambda chapter of Alphi Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Representative Bowers was elected to serve House District 113 in the Texas House of Representatives on November 8, 2018. She made history elected as the first African American to represent this district. House District 113 includes parts of Rowlett, Garland, and Mesquite.
Bowers was drawn to activism at an early age, following the example of her mother, a prominent community leader, and her father, a nationally recognized surgeon. She is an alumna of Spelman College and Texas Southern University, earning her bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism.
Upon graduation, she began her career as a Broadcast Journalist in the District of Columbia in public television working at PBS headquarters and for WETA-TV 26/Radio 90.9. She moved to commercial television once she returned home to Texas working at KCEN-TV 6 in production and later was promoted to news producer.. Bowers has held many positions within the television industry, however her dedication to education was shown as the educational services coordinator for KERA TV 13/Radio 90.1.
Throughout her adult life, Representative Bowers has always invested her time and energy in her community. Bowers is a champion for children and education. She is a former educator and has volunteered many hours on district PTA and Band Booster executive boards within the Garland Independent School District. She has maintained an active membership at St. Paul United Methodist Church and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, of which she is a lifetime member. She was previously appointed to the Rowlett Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, where she served eight years. Representative Bowers is a Co-founder and four-time Co-chair of the Dallas Women’s March.
During the 86th Legislative Session, Bowers served on the House Committees for Corrections, Juvenile Justice & Family Issues and Local and Consent Calendars. Representative Bowers champions women and children’s rights, juvenile justice issues, working towards eliminating the school to prison pipeline, and uplifting marginalized communities on every level of government. Bowers is celebrated across the State of Texas for authoring House Bill 3435, which declares March 1st of every year as “Texas Girls in STEM Day,” designated to highlight women in STEM and encourage and expose young girls along with our local school districts and organizations to embrace and enter fields relating to science, engineering, technology, math and the arts.
As a champion among us, Representative Bowers has been honored by several organizations including but not limited to the following as the recipient of the 2019 Bands of Hope “Trailblazer Award”, The Afiya Center’s “Legislative Achievement Award”, Texas Southern University’s “Distinguished Alumna of the Year”, Greater North Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club “Woman of the Year,” and named the Texas Legislative Black Caucus 2019 “Freshman of the Year.”
Though she is a proud native Houstonian, Representative Bowers has resided in Rowlett with her husband MSG (ret.) John P. Bowers, Jr. and their 2 children for nearly 20 years and proudly calls House District 113 home.
