Mary Torres Cardona
Mary Torres Cardona is the graphic designer at Unemployed Workers United. Most recently she was a graphic designer for paid media on the Bernie Sanders campaign. Mary is a first generation Puerto Rican daughter of a working class family; her mother a licensed nurse and father a unionized auto worker. Deciding against enlisting in officer training school after graduation, she pursued a degree in graphic design. After receiving her associates degree, she moved to Puerto Rico to continue her studies and avoid accruing student loan debt. Before this time, her involvement in politics was limited to voting in the presidential election. However, in Puerto Rico politics is a sport, class issues are tangible, and history is taught from the colonized point of view. She became more involved in her university protests and protests around auditing the island's debt. While finishing her studies she took all sorts of odd jobs which she attributes to a degree in life experience. Immediately after graduation she worked in Muuaaa Design Studio as a design strategist for local brands and startups. Months later hurricane Irma and Maria devastated the island and facing uncertainty she reluctantly moved back to the United States. The Bernie Sanders campaign was her first real taste of the inner workings of political organizing and fueled her desire to use design to communicate and push for progressive platforms which she continues to do today.