Many people have lost faith in the political process, especially after the outcome of the recent election. On our latest podcast, Assemblyman Marcos Crespo joins us for a Cafecito Break conversation about the election outcome, the importance of getting involved on a grassroots level, co creating healthier communities, and more.

"We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community." - Haile Selassie
Marcos A. Crespo is a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly representing the 85th Assembly District, which includes the Soundview, Clason Point, Longwood, and Hunts Point sections of the South Bronx.

Assemblyman Marcos A. Crespo was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico, on July 29th 1980, one of four children of Ivette Fontanez and Alberto Crespo. At a young age, Marcos moved with his family to New York City, where he began his elementary studies in the New York City Public Schools System. Marcos would also spend three years living in Lima, Perú, where he completed his fourth and fifth grade studies while attending Santa Teresita. He returned to Puerto Rico with his younger sister and his mother and completed High School at Carmen Bozello de Huyke High School, but soon thereafter, returned to New York to live with his father. His time living in Peru, Puerto Rico and New York allowed Marcos to broaden his views about the living conditions of people in other parts of the world.

Elected to the New York State Assembly at the age of 28, his hard work and outcome proven approach has allowed him to quickly move into leadership positions. In April of 2013 he was appointed to the Chairmanship of the Assembly Task Force on New Americans. In his new post he has moved diligently to address major issues facing the 4.3 million immigrants that call New York their home by holding statewide forums on health and education issues to help improve the lives of tens of thousands of our fellow residents. Assemblyman Crespo has used his Chairmanship to highlight the enormous contributions of immigrants to New York Immigrants are responsible for $229 billion in economic activity in New York State and comprise 27.3 percent of our labor force. He authored and both houses of the legislature passed the most comprehensive anti-fraud measure to protect immigrants in over 50 years.

Read more here...
http://nyassembly.gov/mem/Marcos-A-Crespo/bio/