Prior to that he served as president and general counsel of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

[2] After three terms, he left the legislature to become the president and general counsel of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (now "LatinoJustice PRLDEF"), a national civil rights group based in New York City.

[8] Following his bid for the Democratic Party nomination for governor of Connecticut in 2010, he returned to Universal Health Care Foundation to lead a succession plan.

He later served as Chief of Staff for Mayor Pedro Segarra (2013-2015) and later took the helm as president and CEO of the Jefferson Foundation in Festus, Mo.

Figueroa has appeared on national news programs, including The Today Show, Crossfire, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox and Telemundo.

[8] On May 7, Figueroa dropped out of the governor's race, citing the difficulty of raising money in a potential battle against millionaires.