Koay
| Ethan Koay | |
|---|---|
| 24th United States Secretary of Energy | |
|
Assumed office March 23, 2021 | |
| President | Christian Bo |
| Preceded by | Bob2Boy |
| 1st Puerto Rico Secretary of Energy | |
|
Assumed office January 9, 2021 | |
| Governor |
Draven Prince Joash Trudeau (acting) Layla Canmore |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Workers' Party National Committee | |
|
Assumed office March 22, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Constituency | 4th District |
| Personal Details | |
| Born |
September 9, 1989 Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| Political party |
Workers' Party 2021-present Global Labor 2020-2021 |
| Education | University of Puerto Rico (Bachelor's in Public Policy) |
Early Life
Ethan Koay was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, on the 9th of September, 1989. Both of his parents were immigrants from Singapore who'd moved in the 1980s in search of better opportunity in the then-flourishing Puerto Rico with an expanding labor market and ease of doing business. Due to his heritage, as well as his childhood on the island, Ethan was multilingual, fluent in Chinese and Malay, in addition to English, as well as Spanish, commensurate with the education in Puerto Rican public schools. His father had a career in clinical trials and development, helping start a small nonprofit to develop and produce medical equipment to local clinics and hospitals which did not have as easy access to the American pharmaceutical market due to Puerto Rico's divestment economy and domination by larger corporate players in the healthcare industry. His mother worked as a nurse for a local practice. In 2007, he graduated from Maria E. Rodriguez High School with Honors, moving on to the University of Puerto Rico, where he would be introduced into left-wing circles and active in local politics, volunteering for Senator Mike Gravel's 2008 presidential campaign.
Union Work
In 2011, he graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelors' Degree in Public Policy and a minor in Environmental Studies. While his studies led him to develop a passion for policymaking, he opted to lean on the things he'd learned in his energy-related courses, joining PREPA first as an intern and then as a representative for UTIER, one of Puerto Rico's largest energy sector unions, going on to work as a liaison between UTIER and PREPA for nearly a decade, in which time he developed strong connections with many local union activists and community leaders, becoming an important voice for the pro-statehood movement and a well-known advocate for strong environmental reform. After Hurricane Maria, he helped with recovery efforts, taking a more central role in PREPA's management in line with the organization's attempted reconstruction.