A LIFE ROOTED IN SERVICE
Meet Alex
Alex Valdez is a nonprofit leader, nurse in training, and former Sergeant in the New Jersey Army National Guard. He was raised in a working-class household by his mother and grandmother, who moved to the United States from Ecuador in 1990. Alex's family settled in Kearny and built a life around the stability provided by his mother's and grandmother's union jobs. Growing up as part of a family of five in a one-bedroom apartment taught Alex the value of sacrifice, service, and looking out for his neighbors.
Alex is a proud graduate of Kearny Public Schools and Rutgers–Newark, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Public Administration, and he has dedicated his career to helping others because he knows first-hand the sacrifices working families make to build a better future.
His first role after college was at the Boys & Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic, where he led after-school and summer programs teaching financial literacy to high-school seniors and providing technological access to low-income families. Alex mentored first-generation college students and provided professional development, giving back to his own community and those with similar life experiences.
That same dedication to public service led him to enlist in the New Jersey Army National Guard, where he served for seven years and earned the rank of Sergeant.
After a brief stint in private-sector HR roles, Alex joined the International Rescue Committee, a global humanitarian aid nonprofit. With the IRC, Alex worked on missions at the Southern Border assisting asylum seekers. After the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, Alex served on joint task force missions across the U.S., helping resettle Afghan refugees granted special visas for aiding NATO forces. Additionally, in the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war, he was deployed to the Poland-Ukraine border to deliver humanitarian aid to displaced Ukrainians. Now, Alex is training to become a nurse, continuing his commitment to showing up for the people of his community when they need help most.
For Alex, the challenges facing Hudson County are personal. His fight for affordable housing is centered in his own upbringing, and his support for organized labor is inspired by the pension and benefits that allowed his grandmother to buy their family home. His push for safer streets and better Hudson County infrastructure is deeply personal because of his mother, who is blind and lives on a dangerous county road. Alex believes it should be easier and safer for everyone to get around their own community.
Today, Alex and his fiancée, a public school teacher, live in Kearny just minutes from where he grew up. Rooted in this community and committed to its future, Alex is running for Hudson County Commissioner to bring a responsive and compassionate voice to county government, expanding the opportunities that have shaped his life to all District 9 residents.