Iran Mercado, Sr. was born and raised in the Centerville section of Camden, NJ. He is a proud product of Camden City Public Schools and a 2010 graduate from Creative Arts HS. After graduating from high school, Iran furthered his education at Howard University in Washington, D.C, where he studied English. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Howard, Iran became an educator in the D.C area at Ballou High School.

Yearning to give back to his community, Iran moved back to Camden in 2015, where he continued his career as a Literacy teacher. Eventually, Iran became an ELA educator at Hatch Middle School, now known as Camden Big Picture Learning Academy. Iran has taught at Whittier Middle School where he also served as Grade Level Chair for 3 years and 9th grade English at his alma mater Creative Arts HS.

Iran’s passion for education and contributing back to his community is like no other. He is a founding member of and currently sits on the board of BOSS Mentoring, Inc and earned his MEd is Educational Leadership from William Paterson University. He is married to Sharee Mercado and together they have two children Iran, Jr. (6) Nari (3). His ultimate goal is to change the face of education for the youth in Camden by providing an educational experience that is equivalent to or surpasses that of their counterparts from more affluent areas, one class and one student at a time.