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SOPHIA ZAYAS NYS Director of Latino Affairs for New York Governor Kathy Hochul In 2018, Sophia Zayas was appointed as Bronx Regional Representative for the State of New York. As Bronx Borough Director, Ms. Zayas has been instrumental in maintaining city and state relationships and projects with key stakeholders in the Borough of the Bronx. As part of the previous Governors administration, Ms. Zayas helped coordinate the States response to COVID-19 with local elected officials and healthcare professionals, ensuring that PPE and healthcare supplies were available to the most vulnerable populations. She helped in building and coordinating COVID and antibody testing sites, in the most impacted areas of the Bronx, where black and brown communities were most affected. Ms. Zayas was part of key projects driven by NYS to invest in the Bronx, to create more opportunities for young people. Among these is the Downtown Revitalization Initiative that has provided millions of dollars for transformational projects in the South Bronx in particular Latino and Black communities. In 2021, Ms. Zayas was promoted to Director for Latino Affairs for NYS under Governor Kathy Hochul. In November 2021, she traveled with Governor Hochul to Puerto Rico, where she witnessed firsthand some of the issues affecting the islanders. There they met with the delegation from Puerto Rico and NYS where they toured healthcare facilities and areas impacted by Covid and Hurricane Maria. Fast- forward to September 2022, Ms. Zayas was part of the delegation from the Governor’s Office that traveled to Puerto Rico to review damage caused by Hurricane Fiona and provide support for the islanders. In her role as NYS Director for Latino Affairs, Ms. Zayas helped secure $11 million in state funding for the Hispanic Federation, three years consecutively, to promote vaccination and mental health in communities across the state that were hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over $20 million for the programming needs and expansion for CUNY’s Centro for Puerto Rican Studies, $1.5 million for CUNY Dominican Studies Institute and $12.5 million for the Dominican American Cultural Center. She also spearheaded the New York State and Puerto Rico Economic Opportunity Advisory Council which would Explore, Propose, and Help Implement Policies to Strengthen New York and Puerto Rican Economies. She executed the Governor’s Latina History Proclamation – the first proclamation of its kind in the history of New York State. In addition, Ms. Zayas facilitated the state’s involvement in the reopening of the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration office in New York City. Her outstanding dedication to the Latino community has been recognized through a number of accolades, including the NYPD Hispanic Society, Negocios Now News NYC Latinos 40 Under 40, and the notable City & State NY’s Power of Diversity: Latino 100 list. Born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, and raised by her grandparents, Ms. Zayas mission in life was to succeed and prove to her community, that no outside influence should dictate her role in life. She is the first woman in her family to hold a state-wide level office position and has dedicated herself to advancing efforts that empower the younger generation to improve their life through educational and economic opportunities provided by the State of New York. She recently helped launch a Latina Mentorship Program, a mentorship initiative advanced by Governor Hochul to promote pay parity for Latinas. The program seeks to eliminate barriers to the advancement for young, Latina, women by opening early opportunities for them to work closely with others and build access to career mobility. She has plans to increase the number of Latina Mentors statewide and has advocated to the Governor to support the development in her state of state proposals to grow the program and invest in young girls throughout New York State. There are currently 100 Latina Mentors statewide. Ms. Zayas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Law.