Representative Cherie L. Cruz
Rep. Cherie L. Cruz (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket) was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in November 2022. She represents Pawtucket's Fairlawn and Woodlawn neighborhoods, where she was born and raised. She is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee, and the House Special Legislation Committee.
Education
She is a graduate of Brown University, with a Bachelor's degree in Education Studies Cum Laude and a Master's degree in Urban Education Policy as the Urban Education Policy Fellow. She also earned an Associate's degree with Highest Honors in Liberal Arts at the Community College of Rhode Island.
Professional and public service
Representative Cruz is a tenant organizer with ReclaimRI. Previously, she ran an early-childhood development program, Parents as Teachers, at CCAP through the Love That Baby program supported by the Rhode Island Department of Health. Representative Cruz is a certified CLC and CPRS.
She currently serves on the Joint Commission on Reducing the Recidivism of Women. She has served as a board member of the RI Welcome Back Center, The Reentry Campus Program, and The Transcending Through Education Foundation, on the executive board of the RI American Civil Liberties Association, and is the co-founder of the Formerly Incarcerated Union of Rhode Island. In addition, her past public service includes appointments on the Rhode Island Special Education Advisory Committee and the RI Governor's Council on Behavioral Health.
Personal
Born on January 14, she is the mother of four children, Christopher, Charice, Aaron and Terrell, and grandmother to Jazzlynn.
State representatives write and vote on state laws and the state budget. Each represents a district in the legislature's lower chamber, which is called the House, the Assembly, or the House of Delegates depending on the state. Most serve two-year terms.