Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez is an American government official who serves as the commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging, and previously served as the 65th

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secre ...

, appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer and serving in the cabinets of both Spitzer and his successor,

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. ...

Early life and education

Cortés-Vázquez was born in East Harlem,

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 earned her undergraduate degree from Hunter College, and a Master of Public Administration from the

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is the public policy school of New York University in New York City, New York. The school is named after New York City former mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. in 1989. History In 1938, NYU of ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. She has pursued further studies at

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 ...

's School of Non-Profit Management, as well as at the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

Career

A former Vice President for Government and Public Affairs with

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

, she was chief of staff to former New York Assemblyman Roberto Ramirez. From 2001 to 2007, she served on the

New York State Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Depa ...

. Since April 2019, she has been serving as Commissioner for the Department for the Aging under New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. As Secretary of State, she was formally responsible with accepting Spitzer's resignation from the governorship on March 17, 2008, due to a sex scandal. She also accepted the resignation of U.S. Senator

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

when she resigned after she accepted the position of

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

. She serves as Executive Vice President for Multicultural Markets and Engagement for the AARP, resuming employment in the non-profit sector which included previous stints as Executive Director of Aspira of New York during the 1990s and president of the Hispanic Federation. In 2020, she was appointed by Mayor Bill De Blasio and confirmed by the New York State Senate to serve on the board of the

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 ...

Personal life

Cortés-Vázquez is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent and is the second person of Puerto Rican ancestry to serve as Secretary of State in a state of the Union, preceded only by Pedro Cortés, of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

.New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés - Vázquez To Address The DANR 11th Annual National Conference in Providence
from ''The Dominican American National Roundtable'', date September 22, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2009.

References

External links

* 1950 births 2004 United States presidential electors 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Dominican Republic descent Commissioners in New York City Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Hunter College alumni Living people New York (state) Democrats People from East Harlem Politicians from Manhattan Puerto Rican people in New York (state) politics Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service alumni Secretaries of State of New York (state) Women in New York (state) politics {{NewYork-politician-stub

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Further reading

References

External links