Tony Aguilar

Tony Aguilar brings a perspective based on his experience and accomplishments in the public square. Born and raised in the South Bronx, he has been an advocate, organizer, public speaker, writer, workshop leader in the public square for over 30 years. As a community organizer with the Industrial Areas Foundation, he served as the associate organizer in the building of Nehemiah Homes in the South Bronx and the efforts to clean up Lincoln Hospital. He went on to become the lead organizer for economic development in Southeast Queens, environmental cleanup and passage of a prevailing wage ordinance in Jersey City New Jersey. As Assistant to the Lutheran Bishop of New York he created the Urban Leaders Institute which trains congregational leaders and the Urban Empowerment Fund which provided grants to congregations working with persons in poverty. He has also served as lay minister for a Lutheran congregation in Brooklyn. He has served on the board of directors for non-profit institutions including Lutheran Social Services of Metropolitan New York, Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn New York (now NYU Langone) Council of Churches for the City of New York and the Inter-church Center. He also served as a member of the Board of Managers for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. He was also one of the founding members of the Commission of Religious Leaders. The author of two e-books he has hosted a cable television and radio talk show on WEVD where he interviewed public figures such as Alan Dershowitz, Bishop Stephen Bouman, former NBA star Charles Smith and author Jim Sleeper about issues such as race, athletics, religion and politics. During his career in the public square he has been quoted in major newspapers such as the New York Times, Daily News, Newsday, Jersey Journal as well as being interviewed on tv stations such as NBC and CBS. He was also featured in the book by Jim Rooney “Organizing the South Bronx.” He is a member of the President’s Club of the Chicago Council for Global Affairs and the Foreign Policy Association. In June 2023 he began hosting The Aguilar Conversations: A Global Perspective a podcast about international issues. He has covered issues from the war in Ukraine, the Niger conflict, Brazil, Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election to the Israel/Hamas war. He is presently writing his third book “The Ulysses In Me” which will be about maintaining relevancy in the later years of our lives. 

E-BOOKS BY TONY AGUILAR