News 12 is profiling Bianca Cunningham, who is running for a City Council seat in District 41.

Bianca Cunningham says her start in advocacy came several years ago, as she worked to help unionize and rally workers against injustices in the workplace.

“I have a proven record of building coalitions to fight for a New York that's clean,” said Cunningham. “Safe and affordable for all. My work reflects that I want to prioritize the dignity of our retirees, of our public servants, and our essential workers.”

She says she is ready to take on more for her community after 15 years of living in District 41.

The first thing she wants to do is bring in more jobs.

“Brownsville has one of the highest unemployment rates in the city,” said Cunningham. “So, it's really important that we're expanding apprenticeship programs and good pathways to these strong union jobs. Making sure that not only our youth as they're graduating, but people who are reentering society from being incarcerated have opportunities to get great jobs that pay livable wages.”

She also wants to improve public health.

“To me, safety means that we have stable housing,” said Cunningham. “Clean streets, adequately funded public hospitals, as well as fully funded healing circles and mental health clinics. I'm advocating for a 24/7 mobile crisis unit as first responders to nonviolent 911 calls.”

Third on her priorities is fully funding all public schools of District 41.

“We want to see public schools with culturally relevant curriculum that have fully funded after school programs and opportunities for internship programs,” said Cunningham. “There are a lot of community schools in District 41. We want to see consistency across the board with the services that they're able to offer.”

While she’s never been an elected official before, Cunningham said her disappointment in November's elections inspired her to be the change she wants to see locally.

“We've had the same leadership for so long, and I truly do feel like that we deserve true representation and presence, consistency, strategy, and a plan,” she said. “Those are things that are very much needed here in this district.”