5 Leaders In Essex County Honored For Hispanic Heritage Month

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — There are no shortage of high-achieving leaders in Essex County, including five local community members who recently earned honors in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Last week, the Essex County Board of County Commissioners held its annual Hispanic Heritage Month Event, which honors “outstanding Essex County citizens for their unique contributions both to our county and society as a whole.”

This year, the board recognized three people:

• Luis A. Quintana of Newark – Newark Councilman At-Large
• Alejandro Echevarria of Bloomfield – Principal of Abington Avenue Elementary School in Newark
• Vereliz Santana of Newark – Co-Vice President of the Newark Board of Education and Director of Lawmaker Engagement at Lawmaker Network

“Today we celebrate Hispanic Americans and Hispanic culture,” Commissioner Vice President Pomares said.

“Our honorees are just a mere reflection of the outstanding people that have done great things here in Essex who are of Hispanic descent,” Pomares added. “We know because of your contributions, we are all the better as a community. We thank you for all you do, and we congratulate all of you on this honor.”

The commissioner board offered the following background about each of this year’s honorees.

LUIS QUINTANA - The Honorable Luis A. Quintana, presented by Commissioner Patricia Sebold, is a Councilman At-Large for the City of Newark. He was re-elected to his eighth term on May 10, 2022, and made history as the first person of Hispanic descent elected to this position in June 1994. He was also the first person of Puerto Rican ethnicity appointed City Council President, and the first Hispanic person to serve as interim Mayor of Newark – a position he served from October 2013 to July 2014. During his career in public service, he has been driven by his concern that all Newark children receive a fair and equitable education regardless of race, creed or color. He has also served on the Board of the Essex County Vocational Schools; the Board of Trustees of the United Way; the Black & Latino Coalitions of Black & Hispanic Clergy; and as a member of HELO (Hispanic Elected and Local Officials) and President of its Board

ALEJANDRO ECHEVARRIA - Alejandro Echevarria, presented by Commissioner Vice President Pomares, is the principal of Abington Avenue School in Newark. He has worked in the Newark Public School system for 21-years as an elementary teacher, science teacher, vice principal and principal. He is a Newark native and product of Newark Public Schools having attended Roberto Clemente Elementary School, Broadway Junior High School, and Science High School. During the 2017-2018 school year, he was elected Chief Innovation Officer with the City Association of Supervisors and Administrators (CASA), and serves as the president of the Latino Educators Association. He is proud to have his two children attend Abington Avenue School, and is a firm believer that, “if you don’t stand up for children, then you don’t stand for much.”

VERELIZ SANTANA - Vereliz Santana, presented by Commissioner Mercado, is the Director of Lawmaker Engagement at The Lawmaker Network, where she provides the tools and resources needed to connect a diverse community of state lawmakers. Additionally, she currently serves as Co-Vice President of the Newark Board of Education. As the proud daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, she has dedicated her career to public service and has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to championing social, racial, and educational justice. Prior to serving in her current roles, she worked as the Legislative Director to New Jersey Senate President Pro Tempore M. Teresa Ruiz, and in the office of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka as a Senior Aide where she established and maintained relationships with constituents, community stakeholders, local businesses and partners.

LATINO HERITAGE CELEBRATION

On Tuesday, officials held Essex County’s annual Latino Heritage Celebration at the Essex County Martin Luther King Jr. Justice Building in Newark.

This year, two community members earned “Estrella del Condado de Essex Awards”:

• Isabel Cruz - Constituent Services Coordinator for Congressman Donald Payne, Jr. and member of the Essex County College Board of Trustees
• Alfaro Ortiz - retired Director of the Essex County Correctional Facility

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award – you have no idea how much receiving this award means to me,” Ortiz said. “I want to thank the county executive for giving me the opportunity to have a leadership role in the facility for the last 16 years.”

“I am proud and humbled to be chosen to receive this honor,” Cruz said. “I really do enjoy being able to help constituents and I feel great pride to serve as a Board member at the college and give back to the community.”

“We are honored to recognize Isabel Cruz and Alfaro Ortiz for their commitment to improving the lives of all residents, their leadership and their dedication to public service,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

“Our cultural celebrations give us an opportunity to honor and recognize the diversity of Essex County and learn about the heritage of our constituents,” he noted.

Here’s why each leader earned their award, county officials said:

ISABEL CRUZ - Isabel Cruz is a seasoned professional with 26 years of experience working for members of the United States House of Representatives. Currently serving as the Constituent Services Coordinator for the Office of Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. in the 10th Congressional District, Ms. Cruz has a myriad of responsibilities such as: serving as liaison for constituents to resolve issues with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Internal Revenue Service, Welfare & SNAP, organizing mobile offices in municipalities and opportunities to partner with Essex County and other agencies, training new employees and assigning all casework for the Newark, Jersey City and Hillside offices, among other things. She also created the Congressman’s Identity Theft Presentation to protect senior citizens from becoming victims of identity theft. From 1996 to 2012, Ms. Cruz was Special Assistant to the late Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr., serving as the liaison for constituents to resolve issues with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Military & Veterans Affairs, the IRS and United States Citizen and Immigration Services. Serving as a Trustee on the Essex County Board of Trustees is a full-circle moment for her, as a May 2008 graduate of the institution. In this role, she is a member of the Personnel and Community Relations Committees and Chair of the Policy and Governance Committee. Ms. Cruz is a New Jersey Democratic State Committee Member, Executive Committee Member of the Essex County Democratic Committee and former Member of the Advisory Commission, Council for Airport Opportunity and former Board Member of Newark Day Center.

ALFARO ORTIZ - Alfaro Ortiz joined the Essex County team in 2006 as Deputy Director and was promoted to Director in 2009. In Essex County, he helped gain accreditation from the American Corrections Association for the first time, got the facility through Hurricane Sandy, established intergovernmental partnerships with Federal and municipal agencies, and led the facility through the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to coming to Essex County, he had 30 years of industry experience with the NJ Department of Corrections. His wealth of knowledge and experience proved beneficial to the County as he led the Department to new heights. Alfaro was a career NJ Department of Corrections employee who worked his way up the ranks from a Corrections Officer Recruit to Administrator. Prior to Essex County, Ortiz was the Administrator at East Jersey State Prison, a maximum-security prison from 2004-2006, where he was responsible for 800 employees, 2,000 inmates and a budget of about $60 million. He also was responsible for establishing policy, procedures, and rehabilitative programs. Earlier, Ortiz was Administrator at Riverfront State Prison, a medium security prison in Camden, from 2002 to 2004; Northern State Prison, a maximum-security prison in Newark, from 2000 to 2002; and Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility in Annandale from 1996 to 2000. Before that, he worked at East Jersey State Prison as Associate Administrator and Assistant Superintendent and at the NJ Corrections Central Office in Trenton as Principal Investigator and Certified Polygraph Examiner in the Internal Affairs unit. He began his career as a Corrections Officer at New Jersey State Prison (formerly Trenton State Prison) in Trenton in 1976. He is a member of the American Polygraph Association and American Correctional Association, Board of Trustees member with the Middle Atlantic State Correctional Association and Board Member with the Mercer County Hispanic Association. Ortiz attended Caldwell College (now University) School of Criminal Justice where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. He attended Trenton State College, now the College of New Jersey, and received certification as a public manager from Rutgers University. He is a resident of Avenel.

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