{"id":118,"date":"2020-12-31T14:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/?page_id=118"},"modified":"2026-03-30T19:29:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:29:06","slug":"commissioner-lourdes-m-leon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/commissioner-lourdes-m-leon\/","title":{"rendered":"Commissioner Lourdes M. Leon"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Added by Post\/Page Specific Custom Code plugin, thank you for using! -->\n<style>.entry-title {\r\n   display: none;\r\n}\r\n.entry-header.has-text-align-center.header-footer-group {\r\n    display: none;\r\n}<\/style>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Commissioner<br>Lourdes M. Leon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full is-style-tw-shadow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"648\" src=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1.jpg\" alt=\"Commissioner Lourdes Leon is sworn in by Senate President Nick Scutari with her family by her side.\" class=\"wp-image-2267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1.jpg 1980w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1-300x98.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1-1024x335.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1-768x251.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1-1536x503.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/01\/DSC04420-1980x1111-1-1200x393.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-resized is-style-tw-shadow\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"818\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/lourdes-818x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Lourdes Leon headshot\" class=\"wp-image-1924\" style=\"width:819px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/lourdes-818x1024.jpeg 818w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/lourdes-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/lourdes-768x961.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/lourdes.jpeg 1023w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CommissionerLourdesLeon\">facebook<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Commissioner Lourdes M. Leon, a lifelong resident of Elizabeth, was elected to the Union County Board of County Commissioners in 2020. She made history as the first Hispanic woman elected to the Board and previously served as Chairwoman in 2025 under the theme <\/strong><strong><em>\u201cUnion County 2025: Connecting Communities, Committed to Progress.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><strong> During her chairmanship, she advanced initiatives focused on accessibility, inclusion, and strengthening direct connections between County government and residents.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A dedicated community advocate and award-winning educator, Commissioner Leon devoted more than 27 years to the Elizabeth School District. Born in Cuba, she immigrated to Elizabeth with her parents in 1971. She began her career in education as a teacher\u2019s aide and advanced through leadership roles to become Vice Principal and later Principal of the Donald Stewart Early Childhood Center, which she helped open in 2003. In recognition of her contributions, she received the Donald Stewart <em>Strive for Excellence<\/em> Educator\u2019s Award in 2004\u20132005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After retiring from the school district in 2013, Commissioner Leon continued her commitment to public service as President of the City of Elizabeth Mayor\u2019s Community Development Advisory Committee, a position she has held since 2017. In 2021, as a member of the Board\u2019s Public Safety Committee, she played a key role in overseeing Union County\u2019s COVID-19 response, which included the administration of hundreds of thousands of tests and vaccines and the distribution of more than 10 million meals to residents in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Chairwoman, Commissioner Leon championed a number of quality-of-life initiatives designed to serve residents of all ages and abilities. These included the expansion of free children\u2019s and senior swim programs, the return of the Summer Arts concert and movie series, summer theater programming, and the growth of sensory-friendly theater and arts experiences to ensure inclusive access to cultural programming. She also launched Coffee with a Commissioner, an outreach initiative that brought County information directly to senior housing sites and community locations, allowing residents to engage one-on-one, ask questions, and access services in a welcoming, informal setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a Commissioner, Leon has served as liaison to several boards and committees, including the Advisory Council on Aging, the Senior Citizen and Disabled Resident Transportation Board, the Union College School Board of Estimates, the Shade Tree Advisory Board, and the Community Development Block Grant Board. She also serves as an alternate liaison to the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, reflecting her continued commitment to meeting residents where they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commissioner Leon holds a Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration. She graduated <em>Summa Cum Laude<\/em> from Kean University and completed graduate coursework in Educational Leadership at Walden University and Marygrove College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-transparent-background-color has-background tw-shadow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-subtle-background-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Contact the Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ba9059a7302905882bc4d3a849f43ff4 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Office Phone Number<\/strong>: <a href=\"tel:9085274112\">908-527-4112<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7e49308f4b042b9e22bd00cee1a2c2f1 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>E-mail Address<\/strong>: <a href=\"mailto:Lourdes.Leon@ucnj.org\">Lourdes.Leon@ucnj.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CommissionerLourdes M. Leon Commissioner Lourdes M. Leon, a lifelong resident of Elizabeth, was elected to the Union County Board of County Commissioners in 2020. She made history as the first Hispanic woman elected to the Board and previously served as Chairwoman in 2025 under the theme \u201cUnion County 2025: Connecting Communities, Committed to Progress.\u201d During&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-118","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"1970-01-01 00:00:00","action":"","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","browser_timezone_offset":0},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/commissioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}