Hispanic Organizer

Hola! My name is Rafael Santiago. I was born and raised in Mexico. I fell in love with the city of Newark back in 2009. I evolved as a young adult in North Newark eager to grow and learn to master the  language I enrolled in ESL in FOCUS. This interaction with a nonprofit allowed me to grow confidence in the new world and I was able to find the Latino Commission on AIDS in NYC. In this organization I discovered the passion I had for my Latinx community. With this passion burning I wanted to create change locally, where I found a new home New Labor in 2015. New Labor nurtured me to become an activist due to the exploitation, hazardous work conditions, wage  theft and lack of labor education for not only undocumented workers, but for all american labor force.

In this new chapter in my  life after becoming a Resident, I hope to be part of change in the Newark community as a proud LGBTQ member, and Latinx informing the community about their rights regardless of residential status, sex, or age. Through this process, Covid-19 has affected all of us, and along with other community organizations, I was able to meet other fearless and passionate community leaders around this beautiful city all providing help and hope to these troubling times.

This city has changed my life, and through an opportunity at New Labor as an organizer in the Ironbound district you can find me at food distributions, community meetings, labor education classes, or running around making sure my community in Newark is not left behind.