You’re Invited!

Join us at The Latino Action Network’s Annual Legislative Assembly—the largest gathering of Latino community organizers and public policy advocates in New Jersey! This year, we’re bringing together activists, elected officials, and community leaders to strategize, collaborate, and champion the issues that matter most to our communities.

🗓 Date: Saturday, March 1, 2024
📍 Location: Academic Building East, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
⏰ Time: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Nicole Rodriguez is President of New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). This nonpartisan think tank drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, strategic communications, and advocacy. Driven by lived experience, Nicole is deeply committed to centering Black and brown communities in policy change in pursuit of equity and justice. Nicole brings ten years of experience driving strategic campaigns through rigorous research, boosting prosperity for Massachusetts and New Jersey residents.

Born and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey, Christian has a strong record of community leadership at the state and local levels. Christian, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, understands the struggles of working families trying to provide a better future for their children. Christian earned his Bachelor's from Rutgers University, where he studied Labor Relations and Latino Studies.  He was an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University, teaching a course on Latino Workers in the United States. His career in the labor movement includes serving as Education and Training Coordinator for the New Jersey AFL-CIO from 2002-2009 and as a Union Representative for Communications Workers of America Local 1037 since 2009, where he currently serves as Executive Vice President.

Michael Pagan was born in New York City on July 29, 1976, and was raised in Washington Heights until he was 10. In 1986, his family moved to Teaneck, New Jersey. Pagan graduated from Teaneck High School in 1994 and attended Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, before transferring to Temple University in Philadelphia and graduating with a B.A. in Journalism in 1998.

Pagan has worked as a reporter for the North Jersey Herald News, as a grants writer for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and as a press secretary for three Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly, a U.S. Congressman, and two U.S. Senators.

Pagan was the first Latino elected to the Teaneck Council in 2020 and was the first Latino elected Mayor in 2023. He is also a Senior Community Relations Specialist for the Bergen County Department of Planning and Engineering.

Maria Andrade is a proactive Newark resident with an ardent drive for Social Equality and all it encompasses. Throughout the last several years, she has worked closely to develop, direct, and coordinate many Social and Strategic Impact Projects in New Jersey. She is the SITE Director of NJ GEAR UP/College Bound at NJIT and a proud ALUMNI and REGIONAL AMBASSADOR OF NJ GEAR UP. Her free time is used for professional development in her interest areas. Social Justice, Equality, and Equity concerns Minorities, Criminal Justice Reform, Education, Advocacy for the underserved community, and interrelated issues.