The New Jersey Puerto Rican Congress

10/10/2026

10/09/2026

We gave out the number. The call never got made.

That gap is not a failure of the person. It is the gap we are here to close.

A referral feels like a win. Someone asks for help, and we hand them a phone number, a website, a name. But a referral is a starting point, not a finish line. When we walk away at the handoff, we have transferred information without delivering care. And we have quietly placed the full burden of navigation on the person who already has the least bandwidth to carry it.

Consider what actually sits between that phone number and a kept appointment. Language access. Transportation. Fear of unfamiliar systems that have not always treated our families with dignity. These are not personal shortcomings. They are the real distance between a resource and received care.

Here is the hard truth we sit with at Congreso Boricua: the communities with the highest unmet health need are often the communities with the fewest trusted guides inside the systems they are being referred into. That is not a coincidence. It is the shape of the problem.

So we measure the work differently. Health equity work does not end when a resource is identified. It ends when a community member walks out of an appointment having understood what happened and what comes next.

Follow-through. Navigation support. Trusted guides who sit beside our families inside these systems. Removing the structural barriers standing in the way. These are not extras layered on top of the mission. They are the work itself.

10/08/2026

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🇵🇷 JOSÉ E. FELICIANO:
BORICUA EXCELLENCE, FROM EDUCATION TO ENTERPRISE

José E. Feliciano’s journey offers our young Boricuas an example of how far preparation, ambition, and hard work can take them. He graduated from Princeton University in 1994 with high honors and a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, then earned his MBA from Stanford University in 1999. Those accomplishments represent years of demanding study across two different disciplines. His path also carries a valuable lesson: your first degree can become the foundation for possibilities you have yet to imagine. An engineering education can prepare you to solve problems well beyond the classroom—or the engineering profession.

Feliciano brought that preparation into finance, beginning at Goldman Sachs and gaining experience at govWorks and Tennenbaum Capital Partners before co-founding Clearlake Capital in 2006. As its managing partner, he helps oversee investments and the firm’s daily management. Building an investment business requires evaluating opportunities, navigating uncertainty, and taking responsibility for consequential decisions. His business reach also includes co-ownership of Chelsea Football Club in England through Clearlake, and leadership of the San Diego Padres ownership group alongside his wife and business partner, Kwanza Jones. For a page dedicated to showcasing the breadth of Boricua achievement, his career deserves recognition: our talent belongs in engineering, finance, entrepreneurship, and the leadership of major institutions.

His commitment to giving back adds another meaningful dimension. Following Hurricane María in 2017, Clearlake Capital and the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative jointly pledged to match donations up to $500,000 for relief through Foundation for Puerto Rico. Their broader philanthropy includes support for educational access, including a $20 million gift to Princeton to help expand undergraduate enrollment. These actions offer an example worth encouraging: pursue excellence, build enterprises, and use your resources to widen opportunities for others. Puerto Rico’s future needs people with knowledge, initiative, and a commitment to their communities. José’s story gives our youth another reason to say, “I can build something too.”

🇵🇷 JOSÉ E. FELICIANO:
EXCELENCIA BORICUA, DE LA EDUCACIÓN A LA EMPRESA

La trayectoria de José E. Feliciano ofrece a nuestra juventud Boricua un ejemplo de hasta dónde pueden llevarla la preparación, la ambición y el trabajo. Se graduó de Princeton en 1994 con altos honores y un bachillerato en Ingeniería Mecánica y Aeroespacial, y obtuvo su MBA en Stanford en 1999. Estos logros representan años de estudios exigentes en dos disciplinas distintas. Su camino también deja una lección valiosa: tu primera carrera puede convertirse en la base de posibilidades que todavía no imaginas. Una formación en ingeniería puede prepararte para resolver problemas mucho más allá del salón de clases o de la propia profesión.

Feliciano llevó esa preparación al mundo financiero. Comenzó en Goldman Sachs y adquirió experiencia en govWorks y Tennenbaum Capital Partners antes de cofundar Clearlake Capital en 2006. Como socio director, participa en la supervisión de sus inversiones y en la administración diaria de la firma. Construir una empresa de inversión exige evaluar oportunidades, manejar la incertidumbre y asumir responsabilidad por decisiones importantes. Su alcance empresarial incluye la copropiedad del Chelsea Football Club en Inglaterra mediante Clearlake, y el liderazgo del grupo propietario de los Padres de San Diego junto a su esposa y socia, Kwanza Jones. Para una página que destaca la diversidad del talento Boricua, su trayectoria merece reconocimiento: tenemos capacidad para sobresalir en ingeniería, finanzas, emprendimiento y dirección de grandes instituciones.

Su compromiso de aportar a otros añade una dimensión significativa. Tras el huracán María en 2017, Clearlake Capital y la Iniciativa Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano se comprometieron conjuntamente a igualar donaciones hasta $500,000 para ayuda mediante Foundation for Puerto Rico. Su filantropía también incluye apoyo al acceso educativo, como una donación de $20 millones a Princeton para contribuir a ampliar su matrícula subgraduada. Estas acciones ofrecen un ejemplo que debemos promover: alcanzar la excelencia, construir empresas y utilizar nuestros recursos para abrir oportunidades. El futuro de Puerto Rico necesita personas con conocimientos, iniciativa y compromiso con sus comunidades. La historia de José le da a nuestra juventud otra razón para decir: “Yo también puedo construir algo”.