Join Patricia's Campaign
Get campaign updates
Dr. Patricia Altagracia Alonzo: A Life Rooted in Community
"In my work, I've seen our people failed by the system when they need help the most, but I've also seen how the right local support can be the difference between life and death."
The daughter of a union mechanic and a hairdresser, Patricia grew up understanding what it means to work hard for the people you love.
A Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI), Dr. Patricia Altagracia Alonzo began her career at Moffitt Cancer Center as a multilingual medical interpreter, sitting beside cancer patients and their families during the most vulnerable moments of their lives, breaking down language barriers in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language across clinical, surgical, and research settings.
Patricia taught ASL at Middleton High School and served as Director of Training at the National Center for Latinos with Disabilities before building a distinguished executive career in the language services and healthcare industries. As Vice President of Language Operations at Universal Language Service, she drove a 45% revenue increase, saved millions in overhead, and championed an internship program to expand access for BIPOC professionals. At AMN Healthcare, she spent a decade leading national sourcing and operations teams across the U.S., Mexico, and Costa Rica.
Today, Patricia serves as Director of Strategic Partnerships at Equiti Health, leading a global vendor management portfolio spanning Latin America, the UAE, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Mexico. She oversees multimillion-dollar contracts, conducts monthly business reviews with international partners, renegotiates and rewrites contracts, vets and onboards new vendors, and travels abroad for annual site visits bringing a world-class standard of accountability and strategic leadership to everything she does.
Patricia also hosts Making Connections on WMNF 88.5 FM, Tampa's legendary listener-supported community radio station, every Tuesday morning. The show dives into the unique ways people, communities, politics, and ideas shape our shared lives, featuring inspiring personal journeys, cultural intersections, and political change. From local city council members to statewide legislators, Democrats to Republicans, Patricia asks the hard questions the community deserves answered.
A nationally recognized speaker and leader, Patricia has presented at the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) conferences, served as IMIA Treasurer and Executive Board Member, chaired the IMIA Leadership Academy, and received the prestigious Public Allies Future Leaders of Tomorrow Today Award presented by First Lady Michelle Obama.
A proud Latina of Dominican and Lebanese heritage, Patricia has called Tampa home for over twenty years. She holds an EdD. in Organizational Leadership and a Master's in Education, both from Nova Southeastern University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in American Sign Language Interpreting from Columbia College Chicago.
Become a donor to Patrica Alonzo for Tampa City Council
A Platform For Working People
Back-to-back hurricane seasons laid bare how vulnerable New Tampa and North Tampa families remain. District 7 needs serious stormwater investment and flood mitigation — not excuses. Patricia will take action and fight for funding NOW, and hold the city accountable.
- Fight for a bigger share of stormwater capital funding for District 7 projects.
- Push for district-level breakdowns in the city's existing stormwater reports, so residents can see exactly what's funded here.
- Demand a public timeline for every open District 7 drainage project.
Tampa's housing crisis is real and urgent. When the city's rental assistance hotline opens, it fills its 50 slots in under two minutes. District 7 families deserve housing they can actually afford — not just luxury development. Patricia will fight for workforce housing, anti-displacement protections for long-term residents, and policies that keep families rooted in the community they built.
- Fight to properly fund RMAP (Rental and Move-In Assistance Program).
- Anti-displacement protections for long-term renters.
- Workforce housing set-asides on every major development vote.
District 7 is a transit desert. New Tampa and North Tampa have some of the city's weakest bus connections, forcing families into car dependency and longer commutes. Patricia will fight to expand HART service into District 7, advocate for smart development that links housing to jobs and ensures that mobility is a right — not a privilege for those who can afford a car.
- Push HART working District 7 routes.
- Zoning for housing designed around our public transit options.
- Publicly track HART's gaps until they're fixed.
Too many streets in District 7 lack safe sidewalks and marked crosswalks — putting children, seniors, and pedestrians at risk every day. Tampa's Vision Zero plan calls for a citywide network of ADA-compliant sidewalks and safe crossings, but District 7 is getting left behind. Patricia will demand proper investment in safe streets, protected crosswalks, and pedestrian infrastructure that every resident can rely on.
- Fund a real sidewalk timeline for District 7.
- Prioritize crosswalks near schools and senior centers.
- Curb ramps built into every repaving job, no exceptions.
Four of the five Tampa fire stations with the longest response times are in New Tampa. That is unacceptable. A long-delayed new fire station — needed to relieve Station 13, the busiest in the city — is still years away from completion. Patricia will hold the city to account, fight for adequate staffing and resources, and ensure District 7 families get emergency response times that match the urgency of the moment.
- Hold the line on the Station 24 deadline.
- Fight for continued relief support at Station 13 until 24 opens.
- Publish response times, station by station.
Our mom-and-pop shops, food trucks, mechanics, salons, and corner stores built this city. They provide good jobs and keep our dollars local. Patricia will fight to protect them from displacement, reduce bureaucratic barriers to growth, and make sure District 7's economic future works for everyone — not just large developers.
- Fix the permitting maze with one contact, one process.
- Protect small businesses from rent-hike displacement.
- Steer real incentive dollars to local shops, not just developers.