Former presidential candidate and public servant Julián Castro will be the next guest in their Rebuilding Democracy Lecture Series at 4 p.m. CT Oct. 29.

This event, conducted on Zoom, will feature a discussion between Castro and Dean Robert Brinkmann on a variety of topics such as the current state of democracy, the race for the White House, leveraging Latinx political power, the American dream and building an equitable society. A moderated question and answer session will follow.

The program is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required. Go to http://go.niu.edu/Rebuilding-Democracy-RSVP to request a link to the event prior to Oct. 29. Event links will be sent from the clas-communication@niu.edu mailbox one day prior to the event.

Castro has distinguished himself as a strong leader and successful public servant for nearly two decades. A former Democratic candidate for President in 2020, Castro served as the 16th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017, and as mayor of San Antonio from 2009 to 2014. He also co-chaired the United States delegation to the United Nations Habitat III conference, spearheaded efforts to reduce homelessness, and created Connect Home, a public-private partnership to deliver broadband to public housing residents.

He began his public service career in 2001, becoming, at the age of 26, San Antonio’s youngest city councilman in history at the time. Castro made history again in 2012, when he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, the first Latino to do so.

Following his service in the Obama administration, Castro served as the Dean’s Distinguished Fellow and Fellow of the Davila Chair in International Trade Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He currently serves on the board of directors of the LBJ Foundation and is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Castro serves as CEO of the Latino Community Foundation, the nation’s largest Latino-serving foundation.