Alexa Avilés has lived in New York City Council District 38’s Sunset Park neighborhood for nearly two decades.

As a proud Boricua, education activist, working-class mother, and democratic socialist, she is driven by service — to her family, to her community, and to New York City.

Raised in East New York, Brooklyn, Alexa is fueled by her family’s struggles, resilience, and deep commitment to service. As a child, Alexa watched her mother help young people rebuild their lives after experiencing poverty, incarceration, and substance-abuse disorders. Her mother’s strength laid a solid foundation of love and hope for Alexa’s family and for her relationship with her surrounding community. It also inspired her vision and values for a better Brooklyn and New York City, and it’s core to Alexa’s vision to build collective power. Through her City Council run and community organizing work, she will address the root causes of the issues that impact working people’s lives. 

The first in her family to attend college, Alexa graduated from Columbia University, then from Baruch College’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.  

Since then, Alexa has developed and nurtured a distinguished career in community philanthropy, working on decarceration efforts to keep young people and adults out of our country’s criminal injustice system. She is also an organizer and activist who has continually supported intersectional justice and the revitalization of native cultures and languages. She currently serves as the Program Director for the Scherman Foundation, managing grant application programs for local and national organizations working on human rights, the arts, and NYC community issues.

Alexa has been proud to serve her community on a local level. For the past decade, Alexa has served as the PS 172 PTA president, where she partnered with parents to build programs, address families’ needs, and support neighborhood children. As a member of the local Community Board 7, she serves as a Parent Representative of the M.S. 88 School Leadership Team, as Chair of the New York City Youth Board, and member of NYC-DSA. She volunteers as the Chair of the Personnel and Internal Budget Committee and Vice-Chair of the Youth and Education Committee on Brooklyn Community Board Seven. 

Alexa brings a humble but intense focus to leadership. As a Latina, a mom, a professional, and your neighbor, she is sensible and pragmatic — seeking to leverage what the district has to offer to the community's collective benefit. She is diplomatic and persistent, patient, and organized, building and leveraging relationships with respect and follow-through.

Alexa is fighting for a society where every person can live with dignity in a healthy and safe community. Alexa’s husband Frankie is a TWU Local 101 Member and lifelong resident of Red Hook and Sunset Park. Her intensely political 12- and 14-year-old daughters fuel her fight for a radically different world. 

Juntos podemos luchar por una sociedad mejor para todos – together we can fight for a better society for all.