STATE SENATOR GUSTAVO RIVERA ELECTED TO NALEO BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

The only member of NALEO’s Board of Directors from New York, Senator Rivera will serve an initial three-year term on the nonpartisan organization’s 35-member board.

(Bronx, NY) – In late June, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) unanimously elected State Senator Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) to serve an initial three-year term on the nonpartisan organization’s 35-member Board of Directors. The election was held during the group’s 35th Annual Conference celebrated in Phoenix, Arizona, which brought together more than 1,000 Latino policymakers and leaders from across the country.

As a new member of NALEO’s Board of Directors, State Senator Gustavo Rivera will help the organization in implementing strategies to further the organization’s mission of fostering civic engagement in Latino communities, increasing the effectiveness of Latino policymakers, and promoting policies that advance Latino political engagement.

“I am truly grateful to NALEO’s leadership for electing me to serve on this important organization’s Board of Directors. As a public servant, I believe that I not only have a responsibility to represent my Bronx constituency, but also to motivate them to become involved in the political process in an effort to make our government more diverse and transparent. As their State Senator, I have been deeply involved in my community and my state to further issues that directly affect the Latino community. Whether we are talking about immigration, workers’ rights, access to healthcare or education, it is clear we need more Latino policymakers to ensure our community’s interests are being heard. I am looking forward to working together with my NALEO family to continue to further its mission, and it is my hope to use my experience to propel future leaders in the Latino community to do the same.”

In one of his first actions as new member of the NALEO Board of Directors, Senator Rivera joined the organization’s CEO, Arturo Vargas, and a delegation of 12 fellow board members and officials at a rally in Tornillo, Texas, near El Paso, to call on the Trump administration to immediately work to reunify the thousands of children who have been separated from their families as a result of the abominable “zero tolerance” policy. The rally also denounced the shameful and immoral practice of keeping children detained in jail like conditions. These damaging practices have been rejected by a large portion of the American public, as seen by the hundreds of #FamiliesBelongTogether marches held last Saturday all over the U.S.