Wilmer Amina Carter was born July 12, 1941 in Neshoba County, Mississippi. A Democrat from the Inland Empire, she earned her BA in English, and MA in Education at California State University, San Bernardino. She served as Assistant Majority Policy Leader of the 2011 – 2012 Assembly session. She was elected to the Assembly in 2006 and her legislative focus includes but is not limited to transportation, job creation and education. Prior to the Assembly, she served on the Rialto Unified School District Board for sixteen years and was honored with the naming of a local high school. Wilmer Amina Carter High School is the first high school in the Inland Empire to be named in honor of a living African American woman.