Alexa Avilés is an American politician, community activist, and non-profit manager from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She is a member of the New York City Council for the 38th district, which covers Sunset Park along

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

's western shoreline, also covering Red Hook, Greenwood Heights, and small parts of Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park neighborhoods in western

. Prior to taking office, Avilés worked in the non-profit sector, served as president of a parent-teacher association and a member of

Brooklyn Community Board 7 Brooklyn Community Board 7 is a New York City community board that encompasses the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights and South Park Slope. It is delimited by Gowanus Bay on the west; by 15th Street ...

Early life and education

Avilés was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and raised in

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...

. She was the youngest of seven children to a substance abuse counselor mother, and the first in her family to attend college. She graduated

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1995, and received a master's degree from CUNY's

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates unde ...

School of Public and International Affairs A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compul ...

. She is a National Urban Fellow and an alumna of

A Better Chance A Better Chance (ABC) is a non-profit organization with the goal of helping more talented young people of color to become well-educated by attending high-achieving boarding, day, and public schools in the United States. ABC was founded in ...

Career

Her first job began as internship in college and then continued after graduation, at a philanthropy that provided environmental grants in under-served communities in Mississippi, and from there she branched out to work in

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest o ...

and justice drives for native communities. She later worked for the Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance Foundation (JEHT), focused on mass incarceration issues as a program manage, focusing on juvenile decarceration. She also worked at the Fund of the Four Directions. Avilés was a program officer and then program director at the Scherman Foundation from 2011 to 2021, working on advocacy for human rights, reproductive rights, and strengthening programs for the arts.

Elected office

In 2021, Avilés defeated five other candidates to win the Democratic nomination, prevailing over her closest opponent Yu Lin 65%-35%. in the fifth round of ranked choice voting. She received endorsements from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Congressmembers

Nydia Velázquez Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (born March 28, 1953) is a politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. He ...

and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, State Senators

Julia Salazar Julia Salazar (born December 30, 1990) is an American politician and activist. She is the New York State Senator for the 18th district, which covers much of northern Brooklyn, centered on Bushwick. She won the seat as a first-time candidate af ...

and

Jabari Brisport Jabari Brisport (born August 9, 1987) is an American politician, activist, and former public school teacher. He is the state senator for New York's 25th State Senate district in Brooklyn, and the first openly gay person of color ever elected to t ...

, Assemblymember

Marcela Mitaynes Marcela Mitaynes is a Peruvian-American politician and tenant organizer. She is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 51st district as a Democrat. Mitaynes is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Early life a ...

, the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...

United Federation of Teachers The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is the labor union that represents most teachers in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service teachers and 17,000 paraprofessional educators in the union, as well as about 54,00 ...

District Council 37 District Council 37 (Also known as DC37) is New York City's largest public sector employee union, representing over 150,000 members and 50,000 retirees. DC37 was chartered in 1944 by AFSCME to represent public employees in New York City. It w ...

, and other local groups and elected officials. No Republican challenged her in the November 2021 general election, and Avilés won with over 80% of the vote. She took office in January 2022.

Personal life

She lives with her husband, Frankie, and her two daughters in Sunset Park, where she has lived since 2000. Avilés is a board member of the Management Assistance Group, and serves on the Racial Justice Advisory Council of the Brooklyn Community Foundation. She is a member of

and serves as the president of the PS 172 parent-teacher association. She is a member of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

Election history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avilés, Alexa 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Democratic Socialists of America politicians from New York Hispanic and Latino American politicians Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members Columbia University alumni Living people New York (state) Democrats New York (state) socialists New York City Council members People from Bayamón, Puerto Rico People from Sunset Park, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn 21st-century American women politicians Women New York City Council members 1973 births