New York's 13th Congressional District

The Honorable Charles B. Rangel, a lifelong public servant, former Congressman, and Scholar in Residence at The City College of New York, initiated the Charles B. Rangel Infrastructure Workforce Initiative to address the workforce skills gap in booming infrastructure industries and develop new pathways of opportunity for traditionally underrepresented communities in New York’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Harlem and the CCNY campus, and across the city.

Mr. Rangel’s successor, U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat, has taken up his vision, acting – in the words of CCNY President Vincent Boudreau – as an “angel investor” in the program. He’s marshalled substantial federal funds to support the Rangel Initiative, including $2.2 million in Congressional spending through 2026 from the U.S. Department of Education, and has generously lent his time to visit classes to meet with students and offer encouragement. “There’s lots of money coming out from Washington for infrastructure,” he told an OSHA 30 class in February 2023. “And the jobs that will be produced by that money you will be competing for. This is the training that’s so critical.” His dedication to the working people of New York is unmatched and we’re grateful he’s recognized the role of the Rangel Initiative in providing the skills-based job training that leads to real economic opportunity.

Learn more about the extraordinary life and legacy of Charles Rangel in “The Lion of Lennox Avenue” and hear from Mr. Rangel and Rep. Espaillat at the Rangel Initiative launch event in April 2020: