Alixon Collazos-Gill Declares Candidacy for NJ State Assembly 27th District

MONTCLAIR, NJ (March 27, 2023)—Montclair resident Alixon Collazos- Gill has announced her candidacy for NJ State Assembly in the 27th District, which includes the Essex County communities of Livingston, Millburn, Montclair, Roseland and West Orange, and Clifton in Passaic County. 

Collazos-Gill has the endorsement of both the Essex and Passaic County Democratic parties and will be on the ballot with incumbent State Sen. Richard Codey and Assemblyman John McKeon. If elected, Collazos-Gill—who migrated to the United States from Colombia at age 14—will make history as the first woman and Latina to represent the district and be possibly one of just three Latinas in the state assembly. “This district has a long, distinguished history of sending strong, Democratic leadership to Trenton, and I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to continue and expand upon that tradition,” Collazos-Gill said. “As a long-time resident of Montclair, I am very familiar with the communities in this district, but I am eager to get to know them as their potential representative. I look forward to listening to the different and diverse groups within these communities and understanding their priorities and their needs. I think voters will appreciate the perspective I can offer as a woman, a working mother, a small business owner and a Latina,” she said. 

Alixon serves on the boards of the New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center, housed at the Newark Public Library, BlueWave NJ, and is a former board member of LUPE Fund, a statewide organization whose mission is to educate, empower, and engage Latinas while promoting leadership and civic engagement. She is an alumnus of EmergeNJ, a nationwide organization that trains democratic women to run for public office. Alixon is the co-founder, with her husband, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, of The BGill Group, a public affairs and strategic communications firm based in Montclair. She is recognized as one of the top Spanish-language media and political consultants in New Jersey, specializing in outreach to New Jersey’s diverse Latino community. Collazos served as Director of Latino Outreach for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s historic 2017 campaign, where she helped design and execute the campaign’s successful Latino outreach program. Under her leadership, the campaign established a series of Latino Policy Forums which provided for early input from the Latino community on the campaign’s policy agenda. 

Prior to founding The BGill Group, Alixon served as a grant manager for Millennium Strategies, where she helped secure $900,000 in funding for the firm’s public sector clients. As Director of Constituent Services for former Rep. Steven R. Rothman (D-9), she oversaw community outreach and communications, specialized in immigration casework and served as a liaison between the congressional office and community-based leaders and organizations She was named to ROI-NJ’s 2023 Power Influencers List and 2023 Women in Business Influencers List. 

Alixon holds a degree in sociology and Latin American Literature from Rutgers University and has completed graduate level course work in international relations at New York University. She lives in Montclair with her husband, Brendan Gill, and two children, Gabriel and Kristen.

press release via the Collazos- Gill campaign

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