Dianne Morales is an American
nonprofit executive and politician. She was an unsuccessful candidate in the
2021 New York City mayoral election
The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election.
On June 22, 2021, the primary elections for the Democratic and Republican primaries ...
.
Early life and education
Morales is
Afro-Latina; her parents are from
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
She was born and raised in
Bedford-Stuyvesant in
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 ...
, growing up on
DeKalb Avenue
At Fort Greene Park
DeKalb Avenue is a thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, with the majority of its length in Brooklyn.
It runs from Woodward Avenue (Linden Hill Cemetery) in Ridgewood, Queens to Downtown Brookly ...
, and graduated from
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in New York City.
Morales then went on to attend
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...
and earned a Master of Social Administration from the
Harvard Graduate School of Education
The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first Harvard school ...
, and a Master of Education Administration from
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 ...
.
Career
While working at the
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...
, Morales helped open the Office of Youth Development and School-Community Services under
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Joel Klein
Joel Irwin Klein (born October 25, 1946) is an American lawyer and school superintendent. He was the New York City School Chancellor, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest school district, public school system in t ...
, and served as its
Chief of Operations from 2002 to 2004.
From 2004 to 2005, she served as a director of The Teaching Commission, a national
task force that focuses on improving teaching quality in American schools.
Morales was a founding member of Jumpstart, a national
early childhood
Early childhood is a stage in human development following infancy and preceding middle childhood. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterward. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood.
...
nonprofit organization.
From 2005 to 2009, she served as
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
of The Door, a
youth-development organization that serves over 11,000 young people every year.
Since 2010 Morales had been the
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Phipps Neighborhoods in the South Bronx, a Bronx
social services
Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...
organization that fights poverty, until she stepped down to run for mayor in 2019.
She serves on the board of the NYC Human Services Council and the Community Schools Advisory Board.
In 2011, she founded the
charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...
Broome Street Academy.
2021 NYC Mayoral campaign
In 2019, Morales announced her candidacy for
Mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
in the
2021 election.
In January 2020 she quit her job to campaign full time,
in her first political campaign.
Her campaign-announced priorities include reforming the
New York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...
, desegregating city schools, promoting equitable and affordable
mass transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
, creating
green job
Green jobs (green-collar jobs, sustainability jobs, eco jobs or environmental jobs) are, according to the United Nations Environment Program, "work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and serv ...
s, building
affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...
, a guaranteed
minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income (GMI), also called minimum income (or mincome for short), is a social-welfare system that guarantees all citizens or families an income sufficient to live on, provided that certain eligibility conditions are met, typicall ...
, rent cancellation, cutting the
New York Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
budget, an elected police oversight body, and reforming the police.
Morales also is looking to create a "community
first responder
A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...
s department" to respond to non-criminal issues such as
homelessness
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
and mental health that are currently handled by the police. ''
The New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' in November 2020 described her as one of the most progressive candidates in the race. If elected, she would have become the city's first Afro-Latina mayor and its first female mayor.
In May 2021, senior staffers
campaign manager
{{Political campaigning
A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...
Whitney Hu and senior adviser Ifeoma Ike resigned from the campaign.
[ Four other women attempting to unionize remaining staffers were fired.] The departures were preceded by allegations of racial discrimination
Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
, sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
, and employee abuse. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported on June 9, 2021: "At least four political groups, including 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, Nev ...
, have rescinded their endorsements, donations slowed to a crawl and her senior adviser has joined a rival campaign."
Morales finished in sixth place in the Democratic primary election held on June 22, 2021.
Personal life
Morales is a single mother and lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant with her two children and her parents.
References
External links
Dianne Morales for NYC Mayor (campaign website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Dianne
21st-century American politicians
Candidates in the 2021 United States elections
People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Politicians from Brooklyn
Living people
Stony Brook University alumni
Columbia University alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
1967 births