Marianela Jordan
Marianela's mother worked on an assembly line for $103 a week while her father worked 16 hour days.
Marianela Jordan is currently the Executive Director of the Nassau County Coordinating Agency Spanish Americans (C.A.S.A). She is the highest ranking Latino in County Executive Thomas Suozzi's administration. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Psychology and is currently working towards a Masters in Public Administration from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public education at New York University.
Marianela and her family left the Dominican Republic after a devastating Hurricane hit the country. Her family came to live with relatives in Freeport, Long Island in 1979. Marianela's mother worked on an assembly line for $103 a week while her father worked 16 hour days. The hard work and strong values Marianela's parents exhibited shaped Marianela's future.
Marianela overcame her undocumented status, becoming a US Citizen, went to a top-tier university, and now is the highest ranking Latino in the Suozzi administration. As the Executive Director of CASA, Marianela oversees an agency that offers a wide range of assistance to immigrants from English as a Second Language (ESL) class to Naturalization Services.
Watch an interview with Marianela: