Adam Bermudez is a native of the 80th Assembly District and at 29, is ready to take the plunge into public life.
Early Life
I was born at the Weiler Hospital at Einstein College of Medicine in 1983 and grew up on Olinville, Seymour, Morgan and Lodovick Avenues. Summers were filled with Zoo Camp and Bronx House while during the school year, PS 97 was the spot for pickup football games. Sometimes Pelham Parkway. They say "it takes a village" and I grew up with one and its town square is Eastchester and Mace.
Villa Maria Academy and Regis High School
In elementary school in the Bronx and high school in Manhattan, I received a fine Catholic education that both prepared me for my professional life as well as to be a moral, thoughtful citizen. Everyone knows I love to talk, and got my start on the debate team at 14 and 15 years later, high school debate is still a part of my life as my professional experience highlights.
Wesleyan University
In college in Connecticut, I majored in Sociology as well as African American Studies, taking coursework in labor history, American history, Russian literature in translation and philosophy, as well as some politcal science classes at Fordham University. I wrote my senior essay on race and gender as portrayed in the sorts of books I'd read as a young kid at the Allerton Branch of the NYPL. Anyone familiar with Corderoy? book live action
The Democratic Party
I support the overall vision of the Democratic Party, which has championed necessary reforms to the state that our forefathers could have only dreamed about. Today, I support many fantastic Democratic legislators in the Bronx such as the two neighboring members of the Assembly, Carl Heastie and former teacher Michael Benedetto, and I know I am the best candidate in this race to work with them for the benefit of our community and the state as a whole. Politics needs to be about getting things done, and I am prepared to work with my fellow Democrats in Albany to pass progressive legislation that responds to the many crises in our society today.
Professional Experience
Having worked as a journalist at The Bronx Times Reporter and as a community liaison for former Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benjamin, I learned a great deal about our community and our borough. I have also worked in real estate and event development freelance, encountering and working in diverse venues with a variety of employers and clients. As a freelancer, I understand how tough our current economic climate is and have lived check to check, rather than paycheck to paycheck, for a few years while working on administrative and event projects as well as political campaign work. I am currently the Head Coach of Speech and Debate at Fordham Prepartory School, a part time role.
Working with Young People
During high school, I began working as a summer camp counselor and then head counselor at Villa Maria and continued my work with kids at university, assisting to teach theater classes to underprivileged kids. I went onto work at a number of childcare facilities and eventually student teach 3rd graders while going graduate work. While I decided against a career in the classroom, my experiences inform my desire to reform educational policy but consider our hardworking teachers. I now continue my work with young people, though the boys are a bit older, as a debate coach.