Alexa Avilés: Biography
Alexa Avilés is an American politician, community activist, and former nonprofit manager who has served on the New York City Council representing Brooklyn's 38th District since 2022. A democratic socialist and the chair of the Council's Committee on Immigration, she rose from nearly three decades of nonprofit and social-justice work to become one of the body's most prominent progressive voices, particularly on immigrant defense during the second Trump administration. This biography covers her origins, family, education, and the path that brought her to office, with citations to primary or strong secondary sources.
Early life and family
Alexa Avilés was born on January 15, 1973, in Bayamón, Puerto Rico 1. She moved to New York as a young child, growing up in East New York, Brooklyn, after relocating around age five 2,3.
She has described an upbringing shaped by her mother's work helping young people rebuild their lives after experiencing poverty, incarceration, and substance-use disorders; some accounts describe her mother as a substance-abuse counselor 4,5. Avilés has framed her family's struggles, resilience, and commitment to service as the foundation of her own political drive 4.
Marriage and family
Avilés is married to Frankie Correa, a member of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 101 and a lifelong resident of Red Hook and Sunset Park 4,6. The couple has two daughters, whom Avilés has described as intensely political and as a motivating force in her work 4. She has lived in Sunset Park, the heart of her council district, for nearly two decades 7.
She identifies as a proud Boricua, a term for a Puerto Rican, and that identity is central to how she presents herself publicly 7.
Religion
Public reporting does not prominently identify Avilés with a particular religious affiliation, and her public profile centers on her ethnic and political identity, as a Puerto Rican democratic socialist and longtime community organizer, rather than on religion.
Education
Avilés holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College, part of the City University of New York system 1.
Net worth
No comprehensive, verified net-worth figure for Avilés is available in public reporting. She spent her career in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors before holding a salaried City Council seat.
Career before politics
Avilés's pre-political career spanned almost three decades in the not-for-profit and social-justice philanthropic sectors 8. Her work included managing grants to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system, supporting environmental and racial justice campaigns, demanding government transparency and accountability, and supporting the revitalization of native cultures and languages 9.
Most recently, she served as Program Director at the Scherman Foundation, where she supported local and national social-justice organizations working to protect human rights and the dignity of marginalized communities 8. She supported state and national efforts to reduce the incarceration of juveniles and adults and to fight discrimination across government systems 8.
Path to the City Council
Avilés's entry into elected politics grew out of grassroots community involvement in Sunset Park. For nearly a decade, she served as a Parent-Teacher Association president, partnering with parents and staff on public-education issues, and she served on Brooklyn Community Board 7 8,10. This education-organizing work established her local base and her identity as an education advocate.
In 2021, she ran for the open 38th District council seat being vacated by term-limited Council Member Carlos Menchaca. Backed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the United Federation of Teachers, the Working Families Party, and Rep. Nydia Velázquez, she won a crowded Democratic primary and the general election 11. She took office on January 1, 2022.
Public identity
Avilés describes herself as a proud Boricua, a mother, an education organizer, and a democratic socialist 7. She has been a member of the New York City chapter of DSA since at least 2020 and sits within the Council's bloc of socialist and progressive members 12.
She has cast herself as both an activist and a pragmatist, describing herself as sensible and pragmatic while maintaining a movement-aligned politics. Her self-presentation as a "big-table socialist," in the words of one profile, captures her attempt to combine democratic-socialist commitments with broad coalition-building in a diverse district 2.
Place in New York politics
Avilés holds a position of particular prominence as chair of the Council's Committee on Immigration, a role that placed her at the center of New York City's response to the second Trump administration's immigration-enforcement agenda 13. She represents a district covering Sunset Park, Red Hook, and parts of Gowanus, Park Slope, Borough Park, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Bath Beach, an area that is roughly 37 percent Latino and 32 percent Asian 14.
Re-elected to a third term in 2025, Avilés has aligned closely with the ascendant democratic-socialist wing of New York politics, having endorsed Zohran Mamdani's successful 2025 mayoral campaign 12. From an East New York childhood and a long career in social-justice philanthropy to a leadership role in city government during a period of intense federal-local conflict over immigration, her biography reflects the rise of the organized left within New York's Democratic politics.