A new voice!

Eva Bermúdez Zimmerman was born and raised in Connecticut to parents who migrated to Hartford from Puerto Rico. Growing up, she and her parents were strong activists. As a child, Eva became a plaintiff in the landmark school desegregation case Sheff v. O'Neill. The court ruled that, "the state had an affirmative obligation to provide Connecticut's school children with a substantially equal educational opportunity." The Court further concluded that school districting based upon town and city boundary lines are unconstitutional.

     Eva’s family lived in the South End of Hartford where her father, Pedro, served in the military and became a k-12 teacher. He taught at schools in Hartford's North End during a time in which that community saw violence in unprecedented levels. Eva remembers losing friends to gang and drug violence that plagued Hartford during the years of her youth. Her mother, Carmen, owned and operated a local business located in New Britain, Connecticut that made wedding and sweet fifteen “Quinceanera” cakes.

     Eva attended a regional magnet school, which was setup in response to the Sheff v. O'Neill verdict. During her time in school she loved learning, finding passions in engineering, debate, and science. Zimmerman finished high school early at age 16. After high school, Zimmerman was selected by Rotary International to go on a humanitarian service project that would bring her to the Favelas of Brazil. During this time, she became fluent in Portuguese. Growing up in a bilingual community, she became fluent in Spanish as well. Her time in Brazil lead her to a career in activism, a career that has fought against poverty, for wider access to healthcare, and labor rights.

"They want someone who is not a coward, someone who is standing up to corporations, someone who is standing up to anyone who is not focusing on safer schools, to anyone who's not there having conversations about jobs, vocational training, infrastructure opportunities, sustainable energy," she said. From her experience in Brazil, Eva was motivated to become a community organizer and proudly took her first assignment with the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group “CONN-PIRG”, helping to reduce carbon emission and create more environmentally sustainable policies as a field organizer.  ConnPIRG is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded grassroots organization and is a member of PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups since 1970. 

     Eva continued her advocacy during college, protesting the tuition cost increase of the University of Puerto Rico, where she was a political science major. She finished her studies cum laude at the University of Puerto Rico Interamericana and was awarded a prestige’s spot representing the government of Puerto Rico through the Cordova Fernos fellowship program where she was stationed with Congressman Rangel Chair of Ways and Means and Representing Harlem New York. As an aide, Eva was assigned to lead abatement, labor relations and Puerto Rico affairs. 

 Eva has also served on the Newtown Legislative Council. She has been  organizing for over 16 years and is currently Director of Child Care and Organizing for CSEA.

      Eva was awarded by the CT Legislature due her enrolling of over 15,000 people in the states exchange in the first three years of the ACA. She has been a leader in early education, CT's fight for a $15 minimum wage, environmental justice and health care reform. She currently serves on Connecticut’s Paid Family Medical Leave board and Early Childhood Cabinet.