The Rhode Island Legislative Black & Latino Caucus (ePub)

Tomás Ávila is a bilingual/bicultural, professional and community servant, with extensive experience in economic development, capacity building and Civic Engagement. He possesses strong organizational development, strategic planning/implementation, and demonstrated commitment to successful community building.

He spent over 40 years in the corporate, private, nonprofit and government sectors; most recently as Commissioner and Chairman of the City of Providence Board of Canvassers, appointed by Mayor Angel Taveras, becoming the first Latino Chairman in the city's 378 years history.

He is a founding member and past President of the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee (RILPAC), a nonpartisan organization that works "to influence the political process in the state of Rhode Island," to improve the quality of life in the Latino and urban communities. Cofounder of the New York Latina PAC, Delaware Latino PAC, New York Garifuna PAC.

Ávila is the editor of three books documenting the rise of Latino political power in Rhode Island; A Decade of Latino Political Empowerment (2006), Mayor Angel Taveras, An Administration of Political Will (2011), and Rhode Island Black & Brown Ethnic Succession: 1984 - 1994, 2012.

He is the recipient of the 2020 United Way of Rhode Island, John H. Chafee Lifetime Service Award