Jon's Story
Service to others is what drives Jon. As an ER doctor at Boston Medical Center, former volunteer in the Peace Corps, and captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, Jon’s life has been focused on serving his community. He’s taken these experiences to Beacon Hill and now advocates for Boston as a state representative.
Born in Puerto Rico, Jon and his family left in search of opportunity and made their way to Boston. The move allowed his father to finish college at Northeastern University while they lived in subsidized housing and relied on government support. But while Boston offered the promise of expanded opportunity, Jon’s family also found a city facing a scourge of gun violence, struggling schools, and worsening inequity.
At ten years old, Jon learned that his uncle had been diagnosed with HIV, a disease that would eventually claim his life and leave his son — Jon’s cousin — an AIDS orphan. The memory of his uncle’s inability to access care while living just blocks away from the world’s greatest health care institutions remains a central motivation to Jon’s public service. It’s a story that reflects the systemic inequities that too many families across Boston face and it sparked Jon’s lifelong interest to serve those most in need.
After several years in Boston, looking for a better life for their children, Jon’s parents moved the family to rural Texas, where Jon went to public schools, attended community college, and went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin.
After college, drawn to service, Jon volunteered for the Peace Corps, organizing sugarcane workers and communities in the Dominican Republic; won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Paris; and ultimately spent almost five years abroad working across Europe, Latin America, and Africa.
Jon returned to Boston with a plan to study medicine and give back to his community. A graduate of Yale School of Medicine, Jon now works as an ER doctor at Boston Medical Center, the city’s safety net hospital. Continuing his service and following a family tradition, Jon also serves as captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and has been deployed overseas.
Beyond his work as an ER physician, Jon has fought to address health disparities and combat the opioid epidemic as a state representative in the Massachusetts Legislature. Jon secured millions of dollars for his neighborhood to address the opioid crisis, helped to preserve and expand affordable housing, and worked to pass a once-in-a-generation education reform bill. Jon also successfully lobbied the MBTA to preserve the #43 MBTA bus, protecting vital public transportation serving seniors and vulnerable communities. Jon is proud to have been a leader in one of the most productive and progressive legislative sessions in recent memory.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jon has been one of the city’s leading voices informing and educating the public. In addition to doubling his hours in the emergency room, Jon served as a member of the House of Representative COVID-19 Working Group to advise policy making and ensure state government accountability. Jon is actively working with community leaders across the city and has filed legislation to ensure equitable distribution of vaccinations to working families and communities of color throughout the city.
He lives in the South End with his wife Alexandra.
Born in Puerto Rico, Jon and his family left in search of opportunity and made their way to Boston. The move allowed his father to finish college at Northeastern University while they lived in subsidized housing and relied on government support. But while Boston offered the promise of expanded opportunity, Jon’s family also found a city facing a scourge of gun violence, struggling schools, and worsening inequity.
At ten years old, Jon learned that his uncle had been diagnosed with HIV, a disease that would eventually claim his life and leave his son — Jon’s cousin — an AIDS orphan. The memory of his uncle’s inability to access care while living just blocks away from the world’s greatest health care institutions remains a central motivation to Jon’s public service. It’s a story that reflects the systemic inequities that too many families across Boston face and it sparked Jon’s lifelong interest to serve those most in need.
After college, drawn to service, Jon volunteered for the Peace Corps, organizing sugarcane workers and communities in the Dominican Republic; won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Paris; and ultimately spent almost five years abroad working across Europe, Latin America, and Africa.
Jon returned to Boston with a plan to study medicine and give back to his community. A graduate of Yale School of Medicine, Jon now works as an ER doctor at Boston Medical Center, the city’s safety net hospital. Continuing his service and following a family tradition, Jon also serves as captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and has been deployed overseas.
Beyond his work as an ER physician, Jon has fought to address health disparities and combat the opioid epidemic as a state representative in the Massachusetts Legislature. Jon secured millions of dollars for his neighborhood to address the opioid crisis, helped to preserve and expand affordable housing, and worked to pass a once-in-a-generation education reform bill. Jon also successfully lobbied the MBTA to preserve the #43 MBTA bus, protecting vital public transportation serving seniors and vulnerable communities. Jon is proud to have been a leader in one of the most productive and progressive legislative sessions in recent memory.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jon has been one of the city’s leading voices informing and educating the public. In addition to doubling his hours in the emergency room, Jon served as a member of the House of Representative COVID-19 Working Group to advise policy making and ensure state government accountability. Jon is actively working with community leaders across the city and has filed legislation to ensure equitable distribution of vaccinations to working families and communities of color throughout the city.
He lives in the South End with his wife Alexandra.