Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (born November 2, 1976) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She is the former

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

Member for the 21st district from 2009 to 2017, which includes portions of College Point,

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

East Elmhurst East Elmhurst is a residential neighborhood in the northwest section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Jackson Heights and Corona, to the north and east by Bowery Bay, and to the west by Woodside and Ditmars ...

, Elmhurst,

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

Flushing Meadows Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

, Jackson Heights and

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. During her tenure, Ferreras-Copeland served as the chairman of the Finance Committee. She was the first woman, the first

person of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

, and the youngest member to be elected Finance Chair. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Early life and education

Ferreras-Copeland grew up in

to mother Josefina Ferreras-Peláez, an office aide who worked at the

New York City Human Resources Administration The Human Resources Administration or Department of Social Services (HRA/DSS) is the department of the government of New York City in charge of the majority of the city's social services programs. HRA helps New Yorkers in need through a variety o ...

, and father Julio Alejandro Ferreras, a subway car inspector at New York City's

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

. Her parents are both from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

but met in New York City at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

at a

Fania All-Stars The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading salsa music record label of the time. History Beginnings In 1964, Fania Records was founded in New York City by Jerry Masucci, ...

concert. Ferreras-Copeland graduated from

John Bowne High School John Bowne High School is a public high school located in Flushing, New York City and has an enrollment of nearly four thousand students.Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

. She attended

LaGuardia Community College LaGuardia Community College is a public community college in New York City. It is in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in and part of the City University of New York. LaGuardia is named after former congressman and New York City mayor ...

and

Metropolitan College of New York Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY), formerly Audrey Cohen College, is a private college in New York City. MCNY is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and consists of three schools: The Audrey Cohen School for Huma ...

Career

In 1999, at age 19 and after graduating from high school, Ferreras-Copeland became the director of a Beacon program housed in one of the most crowded public schools in the world, Public School 19Q. She was Assistant Director of the Community Conciliation Network in Corona, Queens. Ferreras-Copeland's political career officially commenced in 2001 when she became a

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

delegate appointed by Assemblyman

Ivan Lafayette Ivan C. Lafayette (July 28, 1930 – October 4, 2016) was an American politician who represented the 34th District in the New York State Assembly, which comprises portions of Jackson Heights, Corona, and Elmhurst. He served as Deputy Speaker of ...

. She then became the

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

and campaign manager for her then-predecessor Councilman

Hiram Monserrate Hiram Monserrate (born July 12, 1967) is an American politician and convicted felon from the State of New York. A Democrat, Monserrate represented New York's 13th State Senate District in Queens from January 1, 2009 until February 9, 2010, when ...

. She served in this position from 2001 to 2008. Ferreras-Copeland briefly left the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and from 2005 to 2007 served as the New York Director of the

National Association of Latino Elected Officials The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) is the 501(c)(4) nonpartisan leadership organization of the nation's more than 6,700 Latino election, elected and appointed Latino (demonym), Latino Official, public offic ...

(NALEO), working to support the NALEO Education Fund. When Councilman Monserrate became involved in a scandal (in 2012, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud), Ferreras-Copeland was among those questioned and cleared. "It was an experience I learned a great deal from," she said. "It was something I overcame and was able to step into my own." "This was a lesson learned," she said, "especially since I worked so hard at building my name and my integrity, to have this little bit of tarnish is not something I ever want to have to face again." In 2017, Ferreras-Copeland decided to leave politics and not seek re-election, returning to the private sector in order to focus on her family.

New York City Council

In February 2009, Ferreras-Copeland was elected to the 21st district of the

. Ferreras-Copeland was the first Latina elected to political office in Queens. Starting in 2010, Ferreras-Copeland served as the head of the Committee on Women's Issues. While serving on this committee, in 2010 she held the first city council hearing on

street harassment Street harassment is a form of harassment, primarily sexual harassment that consists of unwanted sexualised comments, provocative gestures, honking, wolf-whistlings, indecent exposures, stalking, persistent sexual advances, and touching by str ...

. After being re-elected for a second term in 2014, Ferreras-Copeland was appointed by Council Speaker

Melissa Mark-Viverito Melissa Mark-Viverito (born April 1, 1969) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and former speaker of the New York City Council from 2014 to 2017, as well as councilmember for the New York City's 8th City Council ...

to the serve as the first woman and first person of color to Chair the City Council's Finance Committee. In this role, Ferreras-Copeland oversaw the city's $78.3 billion budget as well as the Department of Finance, Banking Commission, Tax Commission, Comptroller's Office, Department of Design and Construction and Independent Budget Office. Ferreras-Copeland was responsible for building hundreds of school seats in Corona, Jackson Heights, and East Elmhurst. Ferreras-Copeland told ''

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 ...

'' that she allocated funding to build five new schools in her district and all were scheduled to open in Corona in the coming years to handle increased demand. Ferreras-Copeland developed and supported the creation of Corona Plaza, a former underutilized parking space which has been transformed in a public square. Corona Plaza, which is located at 103rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, has become a meeting place since it was turned into a pedestrian zone in 2012. Ferreras-Copeland said the plaza has taken on the role of the central squares found in towns and cities in Latin America. "If you go to many of these countries, everyone comes to a centrally located plaza at some point in the day." Ferreras-Copeland focused on increased transparency in the budgeting process. She improved tax exemptions to build over 15,000 affordable housing developments in

. She supported regulations to help small businesses that also fostered job creation. Ferreras-Copeland supported Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and after school programs, HANAC Affordable Senior Housing, Beacon programs,

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

, paid sick days, and tenants' rights. She is also an advocate against

and

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

. Ferreras-Copeland co-sponsored the paid sick leave bill, which in 2017 was expanded in 2017 to include victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking paid leave to attend to immediate safety needs. She advocated for expanded Universal Pre-Kindergarten and launched the creation of the Alliance for Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a public-private partnership. In 2016, Ferreras-Copeland sponsored menstrual equity legislation, the first laws of this type in the United States that guarantee access to feminine hygiene products in schools, prisons, and homeless shelters.

Personal life

In 2015, Ferreras-Copeland married Aaron Copeland in a ceremony officiated by Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

New York City Hall New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...

. Copeland is an

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

and aerospace industry executive. They have one son, Julian, born on September 11, 2013. The family lives in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, where her husband works.

Awards and leadership

* Corona Youth Council, Member * Corona-East Elmhurst NAACP Youth Council, President, 3 years * 2008:

City & State ''City & State'' is a political journalism organization based in New York City. The company publishes a weekly magazine covering politics and government in New York City and New York State that is distributed to New York State legislators, count ...

, 40 Under 40 * 2010: Queens Dominican Culture & Heritage Month Organizing Committee, Juan Pablo Duarte Award * New York City Commission on Gender Equity, Commissioner * 2014:

Crain's New York Crain Communications Inc is an American multi-industry publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 non-US subsidiaries. History Gustavus Dedman (G.D.) Crain, Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain, Jr.; 1885–1973), pre ...

, 40 Under 40 * Dominican American National Roundtable, Board Member *

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, Board Member (former) * Neighborhood Housing Services, Board Member * Renaissance Music and Sports, Board Member * Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities, Inc., Board Member * National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Board Member

References

External links

* * at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreras-Copeland, Julissa New York City Council members Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats American politicians of Dominican Republic descent Hispanic and Latino American teachers Living people Hispanic and Latino American women in politics 1976 births Women New York City Council members 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Educators from New York City American women educators People from Corona, Queens Hispanic and Latino American city council members