Melissa Mark-Viverito is an activist, social justice champion, and trailblazing Puerto Rican woman from New York City. Her career has been filled with incredible successes and hard work, including positions as a New York City Council Member, Speaker of the New York City Council, interim president of Latino Victory, NYC Public Advocate Candidate, and president of the Hamilton Campaign Network. Mark-Viverito has spent over two decades of her life working on the local and national levels to advocate for diverse and disadvantaged communities in the United States.

Mark-Viverito was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she witnessed her political activist mother fight for justice in her country. Mark-Viverito moved to the United States and attended Columbia University in NYC, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She then earned her degree in Public Administration from Baruch College, CUNY when she was selected to attend the National Urban Fellows Program. After completing her education, she chose to stay in New York City and serve her community for over a decade through local activism and labor at nonprofit organizations, including ASPIRA where she served as Deputy Director. In 2005, she ran and was elected to the New York City Council, becoming the first Puerto Rican woman and Latina to represent her district in the Council and hold a citywide elected position. She represented the 8th District, which includes El Barrio/East Harlem and the South Bronx.

Because of the success and impact of her work as a Council Member, she was re-elected for two more terms, serving a total of 12 consecutive years in the City Council. During her second term, she served as Chair of the Committee on Parks and Recreation, the founding Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus and as a member of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus. In 2011, she was one of four Council Members to pioneer the first-ever Participatory Budgeting process in New York City. From 2014 to 2017, she was chosen to serve as Speaker of the New York City Council where she presided over 51 Council Members and negotiated a $72 billion annual budget. During her time on the city council, Mark-Viverito made great advancements in her community and continued her work as an equity-centered activist and intersectional social justice champion. Two of her most notable achievements were enacting the Unaccompanied Minors Initiative and her work on the groundbreaking criminal justice reform initiative to close Rikers Island. She worked to address gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, workers’ rights, housing, and immigration issues, and she championed and co-founded a number of coalitions, task forces and organizations including 21 for 21, Power 4 Puerto Rico, the Young Women’s Initiative and East Harlem/El Barrio/Bronx LGBTQ Task Force. Due to her work as a city council member, Mark-Viverito is known for progressive and compassionate decision-making, challenging entrenched systems, and doing what is right as opposed to what’s most politically astute.

Since her time serving on the City Council, Mark-Viverito has continued to work for equity and political justice. She has served as the interim president for Latino Victory, and she has been the President of Hamilton Campaign Network since January of 2023. She has received awards and recognition for her work, including the Latina Trailblazer Award (2014), Vision Award (2016), and Emery Award (2017).