When Carmen Lomellin steps into her new office Tuesday as ambassador to the Organization of American States in the U.S. State Department, she will carry with her the hopes and dreams of her parents.

Her boss will be U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her job will be to carry out President Barack Obama's policies in Latin America. Obama nominated the East Chicago native in September, and the U. S. Senate confirmed her as ambassador Nov. 20.

"It is very humbling," Lomellin said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C. "I've worked very hard all my life, setting goals -- little ones and big ones. My last 11 years at OAS has been a training period to learn the Western Hemisphere. It prepared me for this job."

Lomellin will become the second woman and the first Latina to fill the post for the OAS, the world's oldest regional organization that spurs dialogue on political, economic and social issues.

"I'm taking my work ethic into the job," she said. "My parents taught us to work hard for what we want -- 'Si quieres algo, trabaja' (If you want something, work). And it served all of (my family) well. We were not trust fund babies.

"But as Latinas, you have to be twice as prepared, twice as good and work twice as hard," she said in an exclusive interview with The Times.

In her new position, she sees her first goal as "encouraging more Latinos to take an interest in international relations." People must begin with knowing geography and the impact of geography on international business, she said.

"We are horribly under-represented in international relations," Lomellin said. "I learned in graduate school how little we know."

Lomellin said Latinos also need to be encouraged at home and at school to study and apply for scholarships. She called East Chicago's high school graduation rate of 53.9 percent "tragic."

"We are developing a permanent underclass, and why?" she said. "It is a combined failure of the public school system and the counseling. Parents want their kids to go to school, but they are overburdened themselves, underemployed or unemployed."

Her brother-in-law R. Louie Gonzalez, who is vice chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College in East Chicago, is "huge on education," just like her parents, she said.

"Those of us that have a position are responsible to mentor other Latinos and young people," she said. "I got my education going to night school or part time. I worked seven or eight years at Inland Steel, worked the midnight shift in central billing. I was carrying a full load and worked full time."

She worked from 1969 to 1985 at the steel mill.

"You find ways to make it work" would be her message to those East Chicago students who may not believe they have an opportunity to go to college, she said.

Lomellin said her "big break" came when she became the director of leadership training for the Mexican-American Legal Defense & Education Fund in Chicago.

"It opened my eyes to a lot of issues in the community," she said. "I learned that it was important to be part of the system to fix it internally and to create change."

Next, as director of economic development for Chicago United, a community organization, she caught the attention of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and became director of the Private Industry Council. From there, the Bill Clinton administration tapped her for the White House, and her Washington career was launched. But East Chicago remained home.

The oldest of five children, Lomellin grew up on Butternut Street in the Harbor section with her siblings David, Theresa, Martha and Lucy. Her parents died in 1994 and 1997.

When Obama became president, Lomellin said she remembers her sister Martha crying. "People like me don't get appointed to be an ambassador," Lomellin said. "And I remember my sister saying, 'We never had a president like Barack Obama.'"

A friend told her she was too nice to be in Washington, and Lomellin said she responded: "That's when that East Chicago attitude comes in handy."

On Tuesday, when she is confirmed and heads to her new office in the State Department, Lomellin said she knows her parents will be with her. To them, she will say, "I made it."

"They have been with me every day through this process," she said.

She will focus on two areas she is passionate about: human rights and democracy. She already has worked on the issue of global trafficking of people sold into prostitution and forced labor.

"We all have a responsibility for each other," Lomellin said.

"We cannot build stable democratic countries of women and men who do not benefit from an equal democracy. We can and should address issues of employment and issues facing the disabled, women and children, but it is not a true democracy if people -- all people -- cannot share the benefits of a democracy."

Career highlights:

- Inland Steel, 1969-1985

- Director of leadership training, Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund

- Director of economic development, Chicago United

- White House liaison and senior policy adviser, Office of Personnel Management

- Adviser on Hispanic affairs, White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach

- Executive secretary, the Inter-American Commission of Women, the Organization of American States

- Director of outreach, OAS