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Notes:
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District 34 - Council Member - Democrat - Williamsburg, Bushwick, Ridgewood - Jennifer Gutiérrez is an organizer, activist, and ally. For nearly a decade, Jennifer has been deeply entrenched in the issues and struggles of the Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Ridgewood families she seeks to represent. Born and raised in Queens to parents who emigrated from Colombia in the 1980s, Jennifer grew up in a one bedroom apartment with her family in an immigrant rich community and attended local public schools all her life. Jennifer graduated from SUNY Albany with a B.A. in Political Science. An advocate from a young age, Jennifer accompanied her mom, who worked as a domestic worker for over twenty years, to cleaning jobs to interpret and negotiate her wages. When she was ten years old, her father became disabled and it was Jennifer who would spend hours on the phone and write letters to insurance companies to ensure her family had the means to make rent. Jennifer began working as a community organizer in Williamsburg, working directly with residents on tenant and anti-eviction issues. It was here that she gained a deep respect for the existing organizing efforts to preserve crucial services in communities, the dire need for affordable housing, environmental justice, and equity in education. As the Chief of Staff to City Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Jennifer implemented greater transparency and access for constituents by leading 8 cycles of Participatory Budgeting which led to over $5 Million of investments to public spaces like schools, streets, parks, and NYCHA. Jennifer has also been instrumental in leading the office’s legislative and constituent services operations. She played a leading role in passing the Right to Know Act, which brought transparency to police stops, as well as the Waste Equity Bill, which reduced the amount of trash trucks and their associated pollution in North Brooklyn. She has served as the office’s liaison in negotiating the extension of the Nuestros Niños daycare and the public actions related to this daycare and Small World Daycare; and orchestrated multiple annual community events. Jennifer was elected to represent Council District 34- which include the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn and Ridgewood in Queens in November of 2021. She welcomed the birth of her first child in the same month and lives in Bushwick with her family. As the incoming Council Member she looks forward to working with the diverse constituency of her district to institute community based solutions, institute legislative and budget transparency at the Council, and strengthen our communities for all.
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