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Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

Government

In a stunning primary upset, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — a young socialist activist, woman of color and political newcomer — has unseated leading House Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s deep-blue 14th Congressional District.

Ocasio-Cortez, 28, a former organizer for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and a one-time staffer for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, ran on an unalloyed leftist progressive platform, calling for a “political revolution” that includes Medicare and higher education for all, gun control measures, an end to private prisons and the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

The district Ocasio-Cortez hopes to represent is in the Bronx and Queens; roughly 50 percent of the people there are immigrants — and she says they’ve been yearning for a representative who speaks to them, and speaks for their needs.

“We’re having an affordability crisis in New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition on Wednesday. “We have a security crisis with our current immigration system, and I think I was able to allow our community to really feel seen and heard, and visited and advocated for.”

Ocasio-Cortez said she wants to abolish ICE because the agency represents the militarization of immigration enforcement.

“What we’re basically saying is that the structure of ICE — in a similar manner as the structure of the Patriot Act — is kind of built on a scaffolding of questionable civil liberties infringement and abuse,” she said. “So what we’re really talking about is re-imagining immigration to be humane, and in a way that is transparent and accountable.”

Ocasio-Cortez defeated Crowley, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, whom many saw as a possible successor to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should Democrats win a majority in November.

As for whether she feels Pelosi should continue to lead Democrats in the House, Ocasio-Cortez said she’s open to the idea of new leadership in Congress. She added: “I think it’d be inappropriate to commit to any one individual before we’ve even won back the House in November. Let’s make sure we do that, and then we can have that conversation.”

Jovita Carranza is the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in Trump’s Cabinet

CareersGovernment

This year, President Donald Trump nominated Jovita Carranza to lead the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), taking over for Linda McMahon as the Administrator.

This would make her the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in Trump’s cabinet, according to the Senate.

Carranza has been the Treasurer of the United States since 2017, serving as a principal adviser to Secretary Mnuchin. Her focus was to increase participation in our vibrant economy by fostering financial capability and sustainability.

Treasurer Carranza is a Chicago native and founder of the supply-chain management company JCR Group. She previously served as the Deputy Administrator for the SBA under President George W. Bush, where she received a bi-partisan, unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

At SBA, she managed more than 80 field offices across the country and a portfolio of direct and guaranteed business loans, venture capital investments, and disaster loans worth almost $80 billion.

Prior to her SBA appointment, Carranza had a distinguished 20+ year career at United Parcel Service, where she was the highest-ranking Latina in the history of the company. She started as a part-time, night-shift box handler and worked her way up to President of Latin America and Caribbean operations. As Vice President of Air Operations at its facility in Louisville, Kentucky, she led the cutting-edge automated package processing operation.

Source: npr.org, home.treasury.gov, nasba.biz

10 Reasons to Work for the Federal Government

BusinessCareersGovernment

three professionally dressed Latina women

Are you thinking of working for the federal government? If so, opportunities and benefits lie ahead. Check out these ten reasons to pursue a career in the field.

Make a difference
The work of government employees impacts the lives of every American and the lives of people around the world. Federal employees can play a vital role in addressing pressing issues, from homelessness to homeland security. Students interested in working in government can engage in high-impact work, such as helping disrupt the laundering of billions of dollars derived from illicit U.S. drug deals.
Great benefits/competitive pay
Average government salaries are competitive with the private and nonprofit sectors. Recent graduates can expect a starting salary from $32,415 to $42,631 a year. Pay can also increase fairly quickly for top candidates with experience and a strong education. Federal benefits, including health insurance, retirement and vacation, are extremely competitive with, if not superior to, other sectors.
The government is hiring
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected an employment increase of ten percent through 2018 in federal employment.
Location, location, location
Federal opportunities are not only found in the D.C area. Eighty-four percent of federal government jobs are outside of Washington, D.C. If students are interested in international job opportunities, more than 50,000 federal employees work abroad.
Jobs for every major
Working in the federal government is not just for political science majors. In fact, 28.4 percent of federal employees work in STEM fields. There are federal jobs for every interest and skill, from art history to zoology.
Opportunities for advancement and professional development
Federal employees have many opportunities for career advancement in government. An internal Merit Promotion Program helps ensure that new employees succeeding in their job have easy access to information about job openings within government. The government also offers excellent training and development opportunities and has human resources personnel to help connect current employees with these opportunities.
Interesting and challenging work
Today’s government workers are leading and innovating on issues, such as developing vaccines for deadly diseases, fighting sexual and racial discrimination, and keeping our massive systems of transportation safe.
Work-life balance
Flexible work schedules, including telework, are a major plus for those with busy schedules or long commute. Competitive benefits also include generous vacation time combined with federal holidays and sick leave. All of these packaged together make government an attractive employer for students looking to successfully balance their work and personal lives.
Job security
Government work is steady and secure, an attractive selling point, especially during difficult economic times.
The federal government can help pay for school loans
Some federal agencies can help pay back up to $10,000 per year in student loans, up to a total of $60,000.

Source: ourpublicservice.org

The Top 25 Highest Paid Federal Jobs

Did you know that the 25 highest paying government jobs all pay over $50,000 per year?

Below is a list of 25 of the most sought after federal jobs, ranked by the Office of Personnel Management as the highest paid jobs currently offered by the U.S. Government.

1) Astronomer – $116,072

2) Attorney – $114,240

3) Financial Manager – $101,022

4) General Engineer – $100,051

5) Economist – $94,098

6) Computer Scientist – $90,929

7) Chemist – $89,954

8) Criminal Investigator – $88,174

9) Microbiologist – $87,206

10) Architect – $85,690

11) Statistician – $81,524

12) Librarian – $78,665

13) Accountant – $78,030

14) Chaplain – $76,511

15) Ecologist – $76,511

16) Human Resources Manager – $76,503

17) Health and Safety Specialist – $73,003

18) Air Traffic Controller – $72,049

19) Budget Analyst – $71,267

20) Correctional Officer – $67,140

21) Nurse – $65,345

22) Technical Engineer – $63,951

23) Border Patrol Agent – $63,550

24) Medical Technician- $59,840

25) Customs Inspector – $59,248

Source: Office of Personnel Management

The Hispanic consumer has a major impact on the 2019 U.S. markets

BusinessGovernmentHispanic Lifestyle

If one thing is clear as we start 2019, it’s that America is changing. According to a Claritas report (registration required), in the United States today, there are 131 million multicultural Americans, making up 37.5% of the U.S. population, with Hispanics accounting for the largest portion at 19.6%.

Minority groups now represent the majority of the population in more than 400 U.S. counties. There can be no doubt that America is becoming multicultural and that Hispanics are a significant part of this change.

Although some brands are starting to face the facts, there is a still a long way to go before advertisers understand the U.S. Hispanic market and unlock its potential.

What’s Changed

From the enormous success of Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians to the rising popularity of Hispanic celebrities like Cardi B, America has changed a lot in the past year. We’ve seen advancement in film representation, a resurgence in cultural and political movements, and the continued popularity and application of technology like smart homes and streaming media. And 2019 will be no different, with these changes impacting not only the people living in the U.S. but also brands across industries that will have to evolve with the changing American landscape.

According to 2017 estimates from the Census Bureau, there are over 58.9 million Hispanics living in the United States, and by 2030, U.S. Hispanics are expected to reach more than 72 million. More than that, this growth doesn’t just mean more Hispanics, it also means a transformation of the Hispanic market.

Hispanic consumers today are not the same as Hispanic consumers from years back. They are now the youngest ethnic group in America with the median age being 28. Realizing their youth is crucial for advertisers as it influences their media consumption habits, the technology they use, their abundance in prime spending years, and much more. Hispanics — especially in the younger age groups of the U.S. population — are also increasingly more diverse than older Americans. As a matter of fact, almost half of the U.S. millennial population will be multicultural by 2024 (registration required).

To read the complete article, continue on to Forbes.

This 26-Year-Old Latino Biologist Wants to Become Philly’s First Gay Councilman

Government

Adrian Rivera-Reyes, a democratic socialist, has officially announced his City Council at-large bid as “a nontraditional candidate.”Adrian Rivera-Reyes, a Penn grad and labor organizer, announced on Wednesday his bid for an at-large seat on Philadelphia City Council.Rivera-Reyes says he is running on a progressive platform that centers the working class, people of color, LGBTQ community members, and millennials. He’s already aware that he’s a “nontraditional” candidate (Latino, gay, and millennial) in what is shaping up to be a crowded race — but has hope that his campaign will bring “moral clarity” to the city and secure a victory.

Tell us a little about your background.
I was born in Puerto Rico to a struggling working-class family. Despite the struggles we faced, I was fortunate to receive an education that allowed me to come to Philadelphia to continue dedicating my life to developing cancer treatments at the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is my home. Here I’ve grown as person, came out of the closet, made many friends, and found community. In Philly, I’ve had the opportunity to work on improving healthcare, to organize workers alongside fellow graduate students fighting for proper work protections, and to ensure everyone has a welcoming home in our city through LGBTQ+ advocacy work and diversity and inclusion initiatives. I am also a dues-paying member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and I’m running a grassroots campaign as a democratic socialist in the Democratic primary for an at-large seat on Philadelphia City Council. I am also currently working as postdoctoral fellow at Penn doing cancer research while running for office.

You’re currently a cancer biologist. What made you decide to switch from science to politics?
Issues such as housing instability, job insecurity, an underfunded education system and toxic schools, and the opioid epidemic echo those of my own upbringing. Our local government is not investing in and providing the opportunities necessary for working-class Philadelphians to succeed. I decided to switch to politics because people like me don’t have proper representation in City Council, and I will bring a public health and healthcare mentality when finding solutions for our problems. Our local government is overwhelmingly made up of lawyers, businesspeople, and career politicians. It is no wonder that the policies they enact do not benefit the many. I will be a voice for the voiceless, for the working class, for people of color, for millennials and the elderly, for the LGBTQ community, and for immigrants, Hispanics, and Latinos.

You’re entering what has become a crowded City Council at-large race. What do you think makes you stand out from the rest?
It’s not very hard to determine that I’m a nontraditional candidate running for office. I am a cancer biologist running as democratic socialist because I recognize that our current systems favor the few, at the cost of the many. My platform reflects the interest of the many as well as my background in healthcare. My campaign will be radical, bold, and about moral clarity. To paraphrase Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, throughout our history radicals have been the ones to change the country.

Continue onto the Philadelphia Magazine to read the complete article.

‘Si, se puede’: With inauguration, Latina legislators make history in Congress

Government

Congress’s youngest member, its first two Texan Latinas and first South American were sworn in on Thursday.

The youngest woman ever elected to Congress, first South American and first two Latinas from Texas: With their inauguration on Thursday, a group of Hispanic women made history in the 116th Congress.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., enters the Congress as its youngest woman elected and its current youngest member. Ocasio-Corterz, 29, of Puerto Rican descent, beat a veteran Democratic incumbent in the primaries with a grassroots campaign focusing on progressive policies such as “Medicare for all” as well as free higher education or trade school for all. She has publicly said she willoppose her own party’s rules against deficit spending if it takes money away from areas such as health care.

On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted out a picture of her and other incoming women legislators with the phrase “Si, se puede,” (Yes, we can), the words that were coined by labor activist and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and then immortalized by President Barack Obama during his campaign.

Another women in the picture is Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, one of two Latinas who are the first to represent Texas in Congress.

Escobar takes the place of Beto O’Rourke, also a Democrat, in representing Texas’ 16th Congressional District, which includes the heavily Latino border area of El Paso. She was previously a county commissioner and county judge.

On Twitter, Escobar took on Trump’s insistence on $5 billion for a border wall — which has led to the current government shutdown — by writing that “the border has never been more secure” and “immigration is lower today than it was a decade ago.” Escobar instead argued for the need to work with Central American countries to address the root causes of migration.

Continue onto NBC News to read the complete article.

Councilwoman and hotel housekeeper: Latina lawmaker redefines public service

Government

Carmen Castillo, re-elected to the Providence City Council, has defied political odds as a working-class candidate, say experts.

By day, Carmen Castillo works as a hotel housekeeper, making beds and cleaning rooms. By night, she’s sitting on committees and voting on decisions at City Hall — she was recently re-elected to the Providence City Council.

Sitting at her kitchen table, Castillo laughed with her friend and assistant Martha Siddique when recalling her re-election campaign.

“This was headquarters,” Castillo said, gesturing around her home. “We moved the couches in the living room, hung up charts on the wall, and all the volunteers came over. We would go out knocking on doors in the rain, and then stay up working until 3 a.m.”

“We were always tired,” Siddique added, “because we had to go to work the next day.”

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Castillo immigrated with her three daughters to the U.S. in 1994. After working in a factory, she took a job as a room attendant in a downtown Providence hotel, a job she has held for 24 years. At the hotel, she helped organize a union and became an activist for workers.

After being active in her community and her union for many years, she was elected to the City Council in 2011, then re-elected in 2014 and 2018.

At the local level, Castillo embodies the trend of political candidates becoming more diverse in terms of gender, class and ethnicity.

WORKING-CLASS POLITICIANS? ‘ALMOST NEVER’

According to Nicholas Carnes, associate professor at Duke University and author of “The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office — and What We Can Do About It,” it is atypical for a working-class person to run for and win elected office.

“Manual, clerical and service jobs make up a little over a half of our labor force, and working people are still the backbone of our economy,” he said. “But working-class people almost never go on to become politicians.”

In Carnes’ view, people like Castillo and former Wisconsin congressional candidate Randy Bryce are exceptions to this rule.

Although many working-class people are qualified to run for office, Carnes noted, there are structural barriers in the political system working against them. A great deal of moneyand free time is usually needed to run for public office. And the gatekeepers who recruit candidates often pass over working-class people in favor of business professionals.

Continue onto NBC to read the complete article.

Latina progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be youngest member of Congress

Government

Heavy rains on Tuesday didn’t stop voters from showing up at the polls and assuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of her congressional victory.

At 29, she will become the U.S.House’s youngest member of Congress.

“Rain is hard for turnout, sometimes people literally decide not to vote because is raining. Don’t do that,” said Ocasio-Cortez during Cosmopolitan’s Instagram-takeover on Election Day.

The newly-elected Congresswoman won on Tuesday night against her Republican opponent Anthony Pappas in New York’s 14th congressional district, which includes parts of Queens and The Bronx and it’s considered a safe Democratic district. “As the Congresswoman for New York’s 14th district, my job would be to basically commute between The Bronx and Queens and Washington D.C. to really write and pass the laws that would really govern this land,” said Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday morning during a radio interview with the New York-based station HOT 97.

Ocasio-Cortez first made national headlines back in June when she won her district’s House primary against Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley with a proudly progressive platform to address issues surrounding immigration, healthcare, education.

“We’re really fighting for a working class agenda. We’re fighting for universal healthcare. We’re fighting for tuition free colleges and universities. A 100 percent renewable energy, this is what — not just what our district needs — but what the city needs and what the country needs,” Ocasio-Cortez told HOT 97.

The 29-year-old first-time candidate of Puerto Rican heritage represents a district that is 46 percent Latino, 24.6 percent white, 16.4 Asian, and 11 percent black.

Continue on to NBCnews.com/latina to read the complete article.

The key to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s successful journey? It’s books

EntertainmentGovernment

“I saw the possibilities of things that I could have never imagined without reading,” Sotomayor, the first Latina Justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, said.

She has one of the most influential positions in the country, but as a girl who did not grow up privileged, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor credits her incredible journey to one thing.

“The key to success in my life, it’s the secret that I want to share with kids and how I became successful. I’m here as a Supreme Court Justice only because of books,” said Sotomayor.

The first Latina Supreme Court Justice spoke to a packed main hall of over 2,000 people at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday at the 18th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival.

Organizers said Sotomayor is the first children’s book author invited to speak on the main stage at the festival. After the main hall filled up, several hundred more watched on monitors in the hallways.

“I wish every kid here could see that if I can do it so can you!” said Sotomayor.

An avid reader growing up, Sotomayor’s new book for young readers, “Turning Pages: My Life Story,” is a richly illustrated book that chronicles her life growing up in New York City.

“Reading books opened the world to me. Especially for children growing up in modest means as I did, books give you the chance to explore the wider world. Television and especially now the Internet don’t let you imagine,” said Sotomayor.

As a young girl growing up with limited economic means, it was a chance to explore and imagine a world beyond where she was living, with endless possibilities at her fingertips as she turned the pages.

“The power of words is in creating pictures in your mind and that is very special. As a child, I explored the world through books. I saw the possibilities of things that I could have never imagined without reading,” said Sotomayor. “I could have never imagined traveling to faraway places and now I do it, but that wish to meet other people and go other places came from reading. Books were the key to deciding to become what I am today.”

Continue onto NBC News to read the complete article.

Google Doodle Celebrates Mary G. Ross. Here’s What to Know About the First Native American Woman Engineer

Government

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 110th birthday of Mary G. Ross, the first Native American woman engineer. Over the course of her five-decade career, Ross achieved many firsts and made major contributions to the aerospace industry.

Here’s what to know about the trailblazer, born on Aug. 9, 1908, who opened the doors for future female engineers in the field.

Who Was Mary G. Ross?

Great-great granddaughter to Chief John Ross of the Cherokee Nation, Mary G. Ross was born in the small town of Park Hill in Oklahoma. Raised with the Cherokee value of learning, Ross pursued a path considered nontraditional for women. After receiving a degree in math from Northeastern State College, Ross taught math and science until she returned to school to earn her master’s in math from Colorado State College of Education.

What were her contributions to aerospace?

In 1942, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company hired Ross as mathematician. But after a manager recognized her talent, Ross was sent to UCLA to earn a classification in aeronautical engineering. Lockheed then rehired her as their first female engineer. Ross would go on to work on major projects such as the Agena rocket, which was a crucial step in the Apollo program to land on the moon. She also was a part of SkunkWorks, a top-secret 40-member think tank where she was the only women aside from the secretary. Ross’ work there involved developing initial design concepts for interplanetary space travel, including flyby missions to Venus and Mars.
“Often at night there were four of us working until 11 p.m.,” she once said according to Google. “I was the pencil pusher, doing a lot of research. My state of the art tools were a slide rule and a Frieden computer. We were taking the theoretical and making it real.”

How did she open the door for women?

Ross also devoted herself to encouraging women and Native Americans into careers in the field of STEM. She was a fellow of the Society of Women Engineers, where she established a scholarship in her name to support future female engineers and technologists. To support fellow Native Americans, Ross also worked closely with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Council of Energy Resource Tribes to develop their educational programs.

Continue onto TIME to read the complete article.

Meet Ralphy Lozano, the Veteran Making History as the First Gay Latino Mayor of this Bordertown

Government

Years before Will and Grace became a groundbreaking hit TV show and even before comedian Ellen DeGeneres came out, Ralphy Lozano was standing up for the LGBTQ community. In popular hangout spots, such as bars and restaurants, around his traditionalist town, the teen and his high school-aged friends gathered and refused to hide their true selves, essentially disrupting the status quo. Now, the 35-year-old Air Force veteran has made history by becoming the first openly gay candidate elected to public office in the South Texas town of Del Rio. The proud first-time candidate received 62 percent of the vote and dethroned incumbent Robert Garza, who served as mayor for four years.

Lozano ran on a platform for change and unification for all in Del Rio. For him, this meant focusing on the issues and values that connects his constituents. “I don’t believe I’m going to get too far if I start going under one identity. I have to think about unifying the city,” Lozano tells me.

He didn’t receive campaign donations from any LGBTQ groups, and he didn’t necessarily seek their support. As a matter or fact, Lozano is about $5,000 in debt after his successful grassroots campaign. But his queerness is an important aspect of his identity. Last year, Lozano marched as part of Del Rio’s Veterans Parade in heels, which garnered national headlines – something that caught him by surprise. He didn’t view his choice as a political statement, but rather something that is part of who he is.

“I’ve always thought that veterans’ parades recently have been so dreary, and I feel like we should be celebrating veterans,” he adds. “Some of us have experienced some really traumatic experiences in war zones and losing friends and suffering from PTSD, but we survived. We survived the worst that humanity has (to offer).”

Continue onto Remezcla to read the complete article.