When Charlotte elects its city council members this September, an East Meck graduate will be on the ballot.
Juan Diego Mazuera-Arias (also known as JD) graduated from East in 2016. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Queens University, becoming the first member of his family to do so. He later earned his master’s from New York University.
Immigrating from Colombia at eight months old, he built a thriving career in politics. Currently, he serves as the Chair of the Hispanic democratic Caucus of Mecklenburg County and the founder of the North Carolina Latino Political Caucus.
This spring, JD launched his campaign to run as a candidate for District 5 of Charlotte City Council. If he wins. JD will become the first Hispanic member of the city council as well as the youngest/ As a council member he would work with the mayor and 10 other council members to create policies and approve the city budget, along with a host of other responsibilities.
JD began planting the seeds of his career while he was still at east. He was a member of Amigos De la Biblioteca and an officer in a club called Voces de Latinos that worked to give back to the community through cultural events and community service. His dedication to serving minority groups continues to be crucial to his campaign.
“Juan was an ambitious, hard-working student,” former Voces de Latinos advisor Jonathan Janus said. “As an officer in Voces de Latinos, he was a great leader. Creative, unafraid to express his opinions. He was one of the students who helped elevate Voces into one of the most active and influential clubs on campus from 2014-2016.”
He began pursuing politics seriously after running into challenges while applying to colleges, due to his undocumented status at the time.
“I found out that I didn’t have access to financial aid and I would be charged as an international student,” JD said. “That was very upsetting for me. I worked really hard during my public school years, and to know that my legal status defined me was heartbreaking. So I started to get involved in politics.”
JD volunteered for the campaigns of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton when he was 17, but this was just the beginning. In less than 10 year, he had worked for the Democratic National Committe, co-led the immigration policy for congresswomen Alexanderia Ocasio Cortez and became a senior government affairs assistant to the Century foundation where he lobbied members of Congress and the president’s staff.
JD was a legislative Fellow, part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, which gave him access to many of these opportunities. Now running for city council, he’s taking what he learned from these experiences and using it to develop his policies.
“I think I was able to understand the factors that went into making good policy for people, to help the people,” JD said. “I understood how to analyze policy, what factors to think of and how to make sure that it reflects the valuves of the community. I learned how to really make sure that policy was informed by people impacted by it the most.”
Growing up he watched his mother support small, Latino businesses, which instilled in him a strong sense of giving back. Before launching his campaign, JD talked to the residents of East Charlotte and used their concerns to build the foundation of his platform and vision for the city. He is proud of hs Latino roots and to call East Charlotte his home.
“We are a community of hard working people, families, individuals young and old,” JD said. “We’re also very diverse, multicultural. We make this corner of the city so special because we are the melting pot of the city. East Charlotte raised me for who I am today.”
