Manny Cruz is a public servant, entrepreneur, and community leader in the city of Salem and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Upon graduating from the Salem Public Schools, he attended Salem State University where he studied political science and later transferred to Northeastern University where completed his studies and graduated cum laude. . Manny previously served as the legislative aide for former State Representative Juana Matias (D, Lawrence) where he specialized in education and immigration policy. Throughout his service in Representative Matias office, he also worked on constituent service related to housing, mass health, legal services, and provided emergency response to Merrimack Valley Columbia Gas Leaks.

In 2017 Manny became an elected member of the Salem School Committee where he now serves the students and families of the Salem Public School District. Manny is the first Afro-Latino of Dominican descent to serve on the Salem School Committee. He has been appointed to the Personnel, Policy, and Building and Grounds subcommittees, and also serves as the school committee’s liaison on student voice. His previous government and non-profit experience include serving as the Chair of the Governor’s Statewide Youth Council, a National Park Service Park Ranger at Salem Maritime National Historic Park, and co-ops at the Attorney General’s Office and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. On his personal time, Manny is a mentor for youth and is highly involved with youth-serving organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salem and LEAP for Education. In 2019 Manny joined the Office of State Representative Paul F. Tucker (Vice-Chair, Salem), where he continued to build his policy expertise in the areas of Education and Immigration, and advanced key strategic initiatives in the city of Salem.

Manny has served as the Massachusetts Advocacy Director at Latinos for Education since 2020, and leads the organizations advocacy efforts to close the digital divide, scale up early college and is the senior policy advisor to the Educator Diversity Act Coalition. In 2022 he was successfully elected to serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and became the first Afro-Latino State Representative for the 7th Essex District-Salem.