Staff

TMO Lead Organizer- Elizabeth Valdez

Jacob Cortes -  Senior Organizer

Office: 713.807.1429 Email: jcortes@tmohouston.net

         Born in Houston, Texas, Jacob grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated from Lyndon Baines Johnson Science Academy, a magnet program that is part of the Austin Independent School District. He then attended Swarthmore College and studied Political Science and History. After graduating Swarthmore in 2005, he worked on a special project with the Pima County Interfaith Council, an affiliate of the IAF in Tucson, Arizona. The project was part of a successful campaign to restore city funding to programs for children and youth in Metro Tucson. In 2006, Jacob began as an organizer for the Service Employees International Union and was part of a successful campaign to unionize 6,000 Pima County employees under the SEIU. In 2007, he returned to work as an organizer for the Pima County Interfaith Council and helped organiz further public support for expanded investments in job training, after school programs and dropout prevention strategies. In 2009, Jacob joined the staff of The Metropolitan Organization (TMO) and began organizing in inner city congregations around needed increases in public infrastructure investments, after school programs, comprehensive immigration reform and the launch of Capital IDEA Houston, an extension of Capital IDEA which is one of the most successful job training strategies in the U.S. Jacob has two sisters, Ami and Alma and parents Oralia and Ernesto.