Leslie Norwood has lived in Hoboken since 1998. Ms. Norwood and her husband have two children who attend Brandt Elementary School. She has been an active volunteer in the community, focusing her efforts largely on education and children. Ms. Norwood joined the Hoboken Public Education Foundation Board in 2017 to support the Foundation’s mission to raise private donations for the Hoboken BOE Public Schools to improve student access to valuable resources and further academic achievement. She has been active in many school groups including the Brandt Parent Consortium for Pre-K, Brandt PTO, and Hoboken Special Needs Parent Advisory Group, as well as serving as class parent. In addition to her volunteer experience, Ms. Norwood brings her analytic, financial, and advocacy skills to the BOE through her work as a securities attorney and federal lobbyist focusing on infrastructure finance.

Antonio Graña has been a Hoboken resident for 20 years and is a parent of a student attending Hoboken Middle School. Mr. Graña brings to the BOE his 6 years’ experience actively working with school administrators and the BOE on improving parent engagement and school facilities and as an officer on the Connors Elementary School PTO and the Hoboken Middle School PTO. Mr. Graña volunteers with a number of community organizations and has also served as Commissioner on the Hoboken Zoning Board of Adjustment for the past 8 years. In addition to his volunteer experience and familiarity with and knowledge of local government, Mr. Grana has 25 years of experience in business management and governance in the private sector.

Alex De La Torre has been a Hoboken resident for 15 years and has two children in Hoboken Public Schools - one each in Hoboken High School and Hoboken Middle School. Mr. De La Torre has served as a BOE Trustee for 3 years, after being appointed as a Board Trustee in 2018 to fill a vacated seat. Mr. De La Torre has been actively involved in various committees throughout his tenure on the BOE, which has accomplished an average 4-year graduation cohort rate for the class of 2018 through the class of 2021 of 94.5%, average senior class college and university acceptance rate for the class of 2018 through the class of 2021 of 94%, and numerous award-winning programs such as the award-winning debate team and internationally-recognized theater program. Additionally, Mr. De La Torre has over 25 years of experience in financial planning and analysis.