Andrade was born as Enriqueta Mixco on July 8, 1932, in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
[1] Andrade met her second husband, Jorge Colon, while representing El Salvador in a cultural pageant.
[1] Andrade began her career in the early 1950s working in factories, first in an airplane parts plant and later in the garment industry.
She worked closely with union leaders to develop policies supporting immigrant rights and amnesty.
[1][2] She also developed the union's collaboration with other social justice movements, notably civil rights organizations.