New York – Carmen Feliciano resigned as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA) in Washington, D.C., effective Tuesday, to become Vice President of Policy & Advocacy at the Latino organization UnidosUS in early March.
“This is a new opportunity that I am embracing with great enthusiasm,” Feliciano told El Nuevo D?a. When Pierluisi was Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner in Washington, Feliciano was his Chief of Staff.
“We have a professional and friendly relationship,” About Governor Pierluisi, Feliciano said they share “professional and friendly ties”.
Feliciano will begin at UnidosUS on 6 March. UnidosUS has been one of the leading Latino advocacy organizations in the United States for decades, it was formerly known as Concilio La Raza.
With more than 20 years of experience working on Puerto Rican issues in Washington, Feliciano, a lawyer, has also worked with Puerto Rico Resident Commissioners Carlos Romero Barcel? and Luis Fortu?o.
Pierluisi – who announced Feliciano’s resignation this afternoon – appointed her as director of the PRFAA in January 2021, after Pierluisi offered her the position left vacant by Jennifer Storipan on 28 December 2020, amid the change in administration.
Feliciano will remain in office until February 28, when her resignation becomes effective.
“I am very familiar with Carmen Feliciano’s work and commitment, not only because she has headed the PRFAA for the past two years, but also because she was my Chief of Staff for eight years when I was Resident Commissioner. Her knowledge and experience in the nation’s capital have been key to our accomplishments in Congress, the White House, and federal agencies,” the governor said in a press release.
Currently, PRFAAA has 12 employees in the Washington D.C. office and three in the Orlando office. But Feliciano also highlighted the opening of an office in the South Bronx, in coordination with New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Puerto Rican Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres.
According to Feliciano, Puerto Rico governor’s agenda in Washington, D.C., will mainly focus on efforts to achieve a transition from the Nutrition Assistance Program (PAN) to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and to improve the rates of Puerto Rico’s Medicare Advantage plans.
The PRFAA is the agency that pays the salaries of five of the six delegates elected to lobby for statehood in Congress. Several of those officials – particularly former Senator Melinda Romero Donnelly – have had differences with Feliciano, who served as the liaison between them and Governor Pierluisi.
“Serving the people of Puerto Rico from our Nation?s capital Washington, D.C., has been the honor of a lifetime. For the past two decades, I have put my heart, soul, mind, and experience at the service of the people of Puerto Rico. I am very proud of all the accomplishments we have made and grateful for all the lessons I have learned along the way,” Feliciano said.
