Know Your Candidates: Mathylde Frontus

November 5, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Mathylde Frontus. Photo USA Network/Eugene Cologursky

Share this:

Dr. Mathylde Frontus defied all odds in winning the Democratic primary nomination for the 46th Assembly District seat. Despite not having the support of elected officials or local community leaders, Frontus persevered and defeated the heavily backed Ethan Lustig-Elgrably to win the nomination.

What Frontus did have was an incredible support system of people within the district who specifically wanted the kind of change Frontus was advocating.

Frontus, an educator and Coney Island civic activist, said she is on a mission to bring government closer to the people.

As a way to encourage citizen engagement, she plans to sponsor workshops for people interested in running for public office, even if they want to run for her Assembly seat someday.

Frontus comes from the world of academia.

She earned a Master’s degree in social work at NYU. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the Columbia University School of Social Work.

Prior to running, Frontus was an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University, where she taught a course in advocacy. She has also taught courses in advocacy and social justice at New York University.

Frontus founded Urban Neighborhood Services, a social services agency, started a project to help local military veterans, created an LGBT Outreach program, organized the group Coney Island College Bound, which offers free SAT prep for high school students and founded the Coney Island Anti-Violence Academy.

She has served as a consultant to other organizations such as the YWCA of NYC and HeartShare Human Services to lend her expertise in youth leadership and adolescent mental health. She also spent several years on the Community Advisory Board at Coney Island Hospital and served as the secretary of the 60th Precinct Community Council.

Frontus is running to succeed Democrat Pamela Harris, the former assemblymember who resigned from office in disgrace earlier this year after she was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraud and corruption. –JA