How it all began...
Like many teenagers in my community, I worked before I was legally allowed to! We helped our families sell food, washed cars, and babysat. I particularly knocked on doors with my dad to drop off his business cards for his interior design business. I also cut strings from clothing items at a family factory with my sister. I think it was about 10 cents per item, and there were hundreds of pieces.
One year my sister and I made Dominican icee in little bags we bought while on our summer trip (an idea I picked up in San Juan de La Maguana, a small town in the Dominican Republic where my mother is from); and once I sold those, I made tie dye t-shirts with my friend and sold them door to door in my building. We knocked on every door for a few weeks until we sold enough of them to move on to the next business! I never shied away from talking to people.
Opportunities
Matter!
After four years of college in Newton, Massachusetts, having earned my Criminal Justice degree, I was hired to lead youth crime watch initiatives throughout Miami-Dade County, where I was in charge of their youth prevention and intervention programs at the local public schools, and was part of the National Take a Bite out of Crime initiative (outing my age here). I joined McGruff the crime fighting dog in preaching the stranger danger message early on and even jumped into the suit if needed. I was always talking to students and providing them with access and opportunities to get civically engaged through the Youth Crime Watch club.
Those early experiences set me on a journey of exciting opportunities – encountering the rises and crashes along the way: advising the Suffolk County District Attorney first as a victim witness advocate responsible for aiding victims and witnesses with their rights and the prosecutor procedures throughout the length of their case. Later on, I managed strategic community initiatives as head of its Community Relations Department. During this time I quit my job in 2004 to join the campaign of Senator John Kerry, where for the first time I voted on a Presidential Campaign. With this opportunity, I organized the Latino community in two bordering states and learned how to create effective teams in an extremely fast paced environment.
In 2008, I joined Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign, where I organized, recruited and trained volunteers to engage in the process, eventually participating in the historic win.
In 2009, I quit my job again as the Chief Policy Advisor and Special Assistant to the President at a local Community College in Wellesley, MA and joined former Governor Deval Patrick’s re-election campaign. I was a Deputy Campaign manager in charge of recruiting, training and managing community organizers within communities of color– and all while re-engaging past voters. I remember talking to everyone and anyone I could engage in the process, having recruited over 500 affinity group leaders and leading the overall campaign strategy for community relations and the Get Out The Vote efforts was a remarkable experience. The ability to create super hyped teams is like no other experience. I love campaigns, I caught the bug like they say! There is a goal, a start date, and an end date. You either win or lose! And then you keep it moving to the next one or next thing.
Passion
Right after in 2011, I joined Governor Deval Patrick’s administration as his Senior Policy Advisor. I launched and led a $22 million statewide interagency program, Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI), for Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). At SSYI, I established metric systems and managed program outcomes with non-profit leaders and community stakeholders to help reduce recidivism by extending wrap-around services and transitional programming for proven-risk males ages 17-24 in 11 of the state’s gateway cities. One of my proudest accomplishments to this day is that the program is still part of the state government.
While in that position, I also managed the day-to-day operations for the State Witness Protection Board and oversaw policy development and implementation of various criminal justice and crime prevention programs. I enjoyed doing state-wide policy, programming and engaging interagency professionals across state government- not an easy task.
Having had so many opportunities, I would have never imagined I wanted to pay it forward and bring others with me; I created a leadership development and mentoring program for Latinas like myself called Chica Project. In 2006, it began as an idea in my head when I settled into my professional career in Massachusetts with the goal to develop a strength-based youth leadership program that was rooted in cultural competency and the celebration of Latinx culture for underserved communities of color.
And on June 26, 2011 Chica Project was launched. It has now served over 3000 + Latinas and other women of color, who have facilitated over 170 workshops for 8th-12th graders to explore their true potential, self love, identity, stereotypes, and more. Having celebrated their 11th year, I am proud to have collaborated with so many community leaders, volunteers, mentors, and especially the youth who participated in the creation of Chica Project. As a founder who understands succession planning and the Founder syndrome, I am grateful to have transitioned this organization to the community and its leaders. It was a dream come true!
In 2014, I crossed over from the Criminal Justice field to telecommunications. I used my transferable skills to lead statewide, municipal legislative, and community relations for AT&T as the regional Director of External Affairs for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Needless to say, I thought I didn’t fit in but I made space for myself, learned the product I was selling (just like figuring out my teenage businesses), and became a subject matter expert in my role. For more than 25 years I have dedicated myself to being a life learner, forging opportunities and creating access for BIPOC and all communities. These career moves and many others allowed me to help people cast out their fishing line and power it in themselves.
Where is Nurys now?
In January of 2021 she was appointed to a five year term by Governor Baker, Attorney General Healey, and State Treasurer Goldberg as a Commissioner on the Cannabis Control Commission for Massachusetts as the Social Justice Chair.
When Nurys is not working, she takes time to enjoy the waves of life. Her ultimate love is to go fishing, ever since she was a kid. Her new love–one she took on over the pandemic–is to grow vegetables in her Mattapan community garden. She also relaxes and takes a moment to herself through reading. Nurys’s reading list consists of the Tempered Radical, Random Family, Alchemist, GRIT, Blink, The Old Man and the Sea, and a few others.
