La Mesa Boricua de Florida (The Puerto Rican Table of Florida) is a left-of-center organization founded to facilitate the growth of influence of left-of-center Puerto Ricans on Florida state and local as well as national U.S. politics, networking, cultural affirmation, and advancement of “social justice.” The group was founded by Jimmy Torres Velez and Maria Rodriguez. ¹

La Mesa Boricua de Florida is a program of the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) ^{2 3} and is a member of the left-of-center Hispanic Federation. ⁴

Issues

La Mesa Boricua de Florida denounced the removal of certain books from Florida grade schools, including the temporary removal of one by Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente. ⁵ The book had been paused for access to students pending review, and has since been approved for school use. ⁶

La Mesa Boricua de Florida was listed among 450 organizations that urged the Biden administration to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians. ⁷

La Mesa Boricua was connected to the protests over the handling of Hurricane Maria, which struck and devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, along with Alianza For Progress at then-President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago properties. ⁸

Programs

La Mesa Boricua de Florida’s programs include a leadership academy, civic engagement courses, an issues-based economic platform, among other initiatives. ⁹

The leadership academy offers a mentorship program to train future Puerto Rican community leaders, but also with legislative proposals connected to the program. The program is meant to train future leaders on issues related to “LGBTQ+ rights, Toxic Masculinity, 501(c)(3)/(c)(4) compliance, and Grant Writing seminars.” ¹⁰

Alianza For Progress

The group has connections with Alianza For Progress, another Hispanic advocacy group. La Mesa Boricua de Florida’s founder, Jimmy Torres Velez, hosts a radio program called “Red de Accion Boricua,” which is listed on the Alianza For Progress website. ^{11 12}

“La Mesa Boricua” is also the name of the Alianza For Progress online newsletter, which is described as a “coalition of Florida non-profit and community advocates.” ¹³ Alianza For Progress is a left-of-center Florida nonprofit which registers voters in partnership with the Democrat Party. ¹⁴ There is also an overlap of leadership at both Alianza For Progress and La Mesa Boricua de Florida, with Zoe Colón working at both organizations. ¹⁵

Funding

La Mesa Boricua de Florida received funding as a nonprofit organization from a Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation grant. The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation is a corporate foundation based out of Philadelphia, PA with revenues of $826,787 and assets of $55,109,352 in 2022. ¹⁶ Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation is a grantmaking foundation that donates to third party nonprofits, including through its NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants. In 2024, the foundation made grants of $2.5 million to nonprofits in “11 NBC and Telemundo owned television station markets” with grant amounts ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000. ¹⁷ La Mesa Boricua de Florida was a recipient of the NBCUniversal Local Impact Grant, receiving $30,000 in 2024. ¹⁸

People

Jimmy Torres Velez is the founder of La Mesa Boricua de Florida. ¹⁹ Torres was the former state director of the Puerto Rico chapter of the AFL-CIO, as well as former senior campaign coordinator at SEIU. Torres previously worked as Professor of Collective Bargaining, Labor History, Labor Union Administration and Governance, Labor & Society at University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras. Torres is associated with several Puerto Rican advocacy groups. He is the president of Iniciativa Accion Puertorriquena, hosts a radio program called “Red de Accion Boricua,” was the founder of the now-closed Boricua Vota, and is the vice president of National Puerto Rican Agenda. ^{20 21 22}

1.  “About Us.” La Mesa Boricua de Florida. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.lamesaboricuadefl.com/aboutus.html.
2. “Florida Immigrant Coalition Inc.” GuideStar. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-2123833.
3. “Support La Mesa Boricua de Florida.” Give Butter. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://givebutter.com/nYVA9a.
4. “La Mesa Boricua de Florida.” Hispanic Federation, July 22, 2024. https://www.hispanicfederation.org/nonprofit-member/la-mesa-boricua-de-florida/.
5. “La Mesa Boricua de Florida Denuncia La Prohibición En Condados Del Estado Contra Libros, Incluido Uno de Roberto Clemente.” El Nuevo Día, February 8, 2023. https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/la-mesa-boricua-de-florida-denuncia-la-prohibicion-en-condados-del-estado-contra-libros-incluido-uno-de-roberto-clemente/
6. “Roberto Clemente Book Approved for Use in Florida Public Schools Following Review over Discrimination References.” NBCNews.com, February 22, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/roberto-clemente-book-florida-discrimination-review-approved-rcna71771.
7. “Over 450 Organizations Urge the Biden Administration to Extend TPS for Haiti.” Human Rights Watch, April 3, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/27/over-450-organizations-urge-biden-administration-extend-tps-haiti.
8.  Folley, Aris. “Thousands Expected to Attend Protests Planned at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.” The Hill, September 13, 2018. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/406436-thousands-expected-to-attend-massive-protests-planned-at-trumps/.
9. “Programs.” La Mesa Boricua de Florida. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.lamesaboricuadefl.com/index.html.
10.  “Leadership.” La Mesa Boricua de Florida. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.lamesaboricuadefl.com/leadership.html.
11. “La Mesa Boricua.” Alianza. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://lamesaboricua.alianza.org/january/.
12. “Red De Acción Boricua.” Facebook. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079574898983.
13. “La Mesa Boricua.” Alianza. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://lamesaboricua.alianza.org/january/.
14.  Powers, Scott. “Democrats Say They’re on Pace to Register 200,000 New Voters for November Election.” Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government., February 26, 2020. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/320607-democrats-say-theyre-on-pace-to-register-200000-new-voters-for-november-election/.
15.  “Puerto Rico Research Hub Moves to Global, Announces Staff Changes and New Initiatives.” UCF Global Perspectives and International Initiatives, August 9, 2021. https://ucfglobalperspectives.org/blog/2021/08/09/puerto-rico-research-hub-moves-to-global-announces-staff-changes-and-new-initiatives/.
16. The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/the-comcast-nbcuniversal-foundation,510390132/.
17. “Supporting Organizations Strengthening Our Communities.” Local Impact Grants. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.localimpactgrants.com/.
18.  “Comcast NBCUniversal Announces $2.5 Million in Unrestricted Grants to 76 Nonprofits.” NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.nbcuniversal.com/article/comcast-nbcuniversal-announces-25-million-unrestricted-grants-76-nonprofits.
19. “About Us.” La Mesa Boricua de Florida. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.lamesaboricuadefl.com/aboutus.html.
20. Jimmy Torres Velez – Puerto Rican Action Initiative. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-torres-velez-46a45220.
21. “Red De Acción Boricua.” Facebook. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079574898983.
22. “Boricua Vota.” Committee Tracking System – Florida Division of Elections – Department of State. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/committees/ComDetail.asp?account=73901.