[2] In 1967, Obledo was a co-founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and was the organization's first general counsel.

Obledo served in that position until 1973, pursuing a strategy of involving MALDEF in employment and language rights litigation and conceiving the organization's role as a "law firm for the Latino community.

"[3][4] After MALDEF, Obledo taught at Harvard Law School, where he was working in 1974 when California's newly elected governor Jerry Brown asked him for assistance in recruiting potential cabinet officers.

Brown then offered Obledo the position of health and welfare secretary, making him at that time California's highest ranking Mexican American official.

[6] President Bill Clinton presented Obledo with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, describing him as having "created a powerful chorus for justice and equality.