Rafael Flores is the Executive Director of Building Sustainable Border (BSB) and worked for years as a Community Reinvestment Relationship Manager with several major banking institutions in the northeast region. He has worked with nonprofit organizations, small businesses, minority entrepreneurs and government agencies throughout New York and New Jersey. Mr. Flores has served as the liaison for several non-profit and banking institutions assisting them with ensuring that low to moderate-income communities have access to educational, social, and community development opportunities.
Rafael is a tireless volunteer, sharing his time on various projects through creating and implementing various domestic and international educational, humanitarian, volunteer initiatives in the United States, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico.
Because of Rafael’s personal commitment to education, he has also brought together his educational, community contacts and his professional resources to created a now popular study and travel abroad program for High School students internationally from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. This educational initiative has already allowed 30+ students in the past two summers to study and travel abroad here in the city of Newark.
Which happens to be the first ever English As- A Second Language (ESL) High School Pre-College Summer initiative being offered to students from the poorest areas in Hispaniola. This important academic initiative was made possible with the cooperation and support of Essex County County (ECC), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and , Rutgers University (RU). This initiative to date has allowed more than 30+ students to benefit being given a chance to come to the United States and attend a higher learning (in preparation for college) live and study on campus in the City of Newark.
In addition, since 2009, he has taken several delegations of High Schools students and their parents from New York and New Jersey to the Dominican Republic on several humanitarian missions. Both of these initiatives purpose are to help promote more cultural, academic and humanitarian exchange among low-income youth internationally.
* Born in New York City from Puerto Rican immigrants, he resides in South Orange, New Jersey.