Born and raised in the South Bronx, Tony Aguilar has over 30 years of public life. As a community organizer with the Industrial Areas Foundation, he was the associate organizer in the building of Nehemiah Homes in the South Bronx and the lead organizer for economic development in Southeast Queens, environmental cleanup and passage of a prevailing wage ordinance in Jersey City, New Jersey. As Assistant to the Lutheran Bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod, he created the Urban Leaders Institute which trained congregational leaders and the Urban Empowerment Fund which provided grants to congregations working with persons in poverty. He was also appointed to serve as presiding lay minister for a Lutheran congregation in Brooklyn. Tony Aguilar has served on the board of directors for several non-profit organizations and institutions including Lutheran Social Services of Metropolitan New York, the former Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn New York, Council of Churches for the City of New York, the Inter-church Center and Board of Managers for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. He is the author of two e-books and has hosted a cable television and radio talk show where he interviewed public figures on current events. He is a member of the President’s Club of the Chicago Council for Global Affairs and the Foreign Policy Association. In addition to The Aguilar Conversations: A Global Perspective he also hosts a blog called the Aguilar Commentary.
The Aguilar Conversations: A Global Perspective premieres on June 7th 2023 and will be available on www.theaguilarconversations.com,