Leading by example: Councilman Cory Booker

Cory Booker is that rare public servant who leads more by his action than by his words. As the elected representative of one of America's poorest communities, Newark's Central Ward, Councilman Cory Booker has in just two short years earned a reputation as an ardent community activist, innovative problem solver, and passionate advocate for social justice.

His tireless, sometimes unorthodox, work on behalf of his community has been recognized by The New York Times, Time Magazine, CBS Evening News, the Newark Star-Ledger, and numerous other publications and news programs.

In 1998, against a popular incumbent, Cory Booker took on the political establishment and won a hotly contested run-off election. Thus, at 29 years old, Cory Booker became the youngest member ever elected to Newark's Municipal Council.

Prior to his election, Cory earned a Bachelor's degree in political science and master's degree in sociology from Stanford University. A New Jersey Player of the Year and high school All-American, Cory played tight end for Stanford on an athletic scholarship. After Stanford, Cory continued his education as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. Upon returning from Oxford, Cory enrolled at Yale Law School. During his time at Yale, Cory worked as a legal advisor for a low-income tenants association in Newark.

Seeing potential where others saw failure, Cory moved into a distressed crime-ridden neighborhood in Newark's Central Ward and commuted from there to New Haven, Connecticut. At Yale, Cory ran a student legal clinic, volunteered in a local big brother program, and was a founding member of the Yale Chai society. He spent his free hours in Newark volunteering with children and serving as a tenant's rights advocate.

Today, change is coming to Newark's Central Ward, due to the diligence of Cory and those like him, who believe not only in its potential but in the city's as well. Cory has committed himself to finding real solutions no matter how difficult the effort required. During the summer and autumn of 2000 he lived in a mobile home so that he could move as needed to troubled areas of his ward to address pressing problems.

In the summer of 1999, he and many of his supporters spent 10 days and nights fasting in a tent by the drug infested Garden Spires housing complex to garner support for more police presence and security for the residence. It worked. But Cory Booker is far from finished.

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