Roberto Gomez

Roberto Gomez died on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at the age of 39. The Cornerstone Craftsman Board of Directors announced his sudden death in a Facebook post at 6:06 p.m. that evening: "It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that the Cornerstone Craftsman Board of Directors shares the heartbreaking news of the passing of Roberto Gomez." The cause and place of death have not been made public, and funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of the first reports by The Alexandria Brief and ALXnow.

Roberto Gomez was born in Concord, Massachusetts. His exact date of birth has not been made public; news reports gave his age as 38 in January 2026 and 39 at his death in November 2026, which places his birth in 1987.

He moved to the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, Virginia, at 15. He later described a then stepfather who was abusive and said he did not feel safe at home, ran away often and made poor decisions as a teenager. He said that in school he only heard about two routes, college or the military, and knew neither was for him. Looking back, he said the people who tried to mentor him did not share his background: "The message may have been good, but the messenger didn't connect."

Gomez attended Mount Vernon High School in Fairfax County but was expelled for fighting. He earned his GED at 16. He learned his trades on the job over the following 15 years rather than in college. As a nonprofit leader he later completed the Nonprofit Executive Leadership program at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

After leaving school Gomez spent years in odd jobs before he discovered electrical work, which he called the turning point that led to a successful business. He spent about 15 years learning trades and working construction, then founded Even Scale LLC, a home remodeling company based in the West End of Alexandria, which he ran as chief executive. He said he did not really turn his life around until he was about 27.

His Cornerstone Craftsman biography also describes him as the owner of 0sirus Technologies, a workforce development company focused on digital curriculums for the skilled trades. In interviews he spoke often about artificial intelligence and the future of the workforce, arguing that skilled trades would stay essential.

Gomez founded Cornerstone Craftsman in 2021, self funding an informal pre apprentice program on summers and weekends. He said the idea came while he sat in bed writing a project agreement: "I said, I'm gonna time travel and save myself. I'm gonna go back in time and be the messenger for kids like I was." He started with five boys and took them to paint rooms in clients' homes.

In 2022 the Alexandria Police Department gave the program a satellite office, and in 2025 Simpson Development donated a two story building at 2111 Eisenhower Avenue. The program trained 12 to 17 year olds in carpentry, drywall, framing, plumbing and electrical theory, along with OSHA certification, CPR, first aid, math and science tutoring and interview skills. Pre apprentices worked Thursdays and Saturdays and received small stipends and donated groceries. Many entered court involved, and the nonprofit spoke up for them in court.

By early 2026 Cornerstone had served 44 young people, with 28 year round pre apprentices and a waitlist of more than two dozen, including girls. Gomez said graduates could earn $27.50 an hour at 18 through apprenticeships, and alumni such as Gabe Espinoza joined IBEW Local 26. The nonprofit partnered with Alexandria City Public Schools, IBEW Local 26, AT&T and others. Board chair Kate Comfort called it "a program that is unlike any others that I have ever seen."

In late January 2026, after City Councilman R. Kirk McPike announced his resignation to run for the Virginia House of Delegates, Gomez announced he would run in the Democratic firehouse primary for the open at large seat on Alexandria City Council. He was the third candidate to enter, joining Sandy Marks and Tim Laderach, and later Charles Sumpter and Cesar Madison Tapia.

His platform was summed up as "Affordability. Accountability. Advancement." He called for workforce housing for first responders, teachers and city staff, expanded trade and technical training, real community policing, the Duke Street Transitway and flood resilience projects. Mayor Alyia Gaskins endorsed him at his February 8, 2026 kickoff at The Garden on Eisenhower Avenue, saying there was "no one else who is more ready."

On February 21, 2026, Sandy Marks won the nomination. Gomez finished third with 876 votes (22.0 percent), behind Marks and Laderach.

Gomez believed young people from low income backgrounds needed pathways beyond college or the military, and that the skilled trades could break cycles of generational poverty. He argued that mentors with lived experience matter, that a program should be deliberately time intensive rather than large, and that union apprenticeships were the best route to life changing wages. He tied his youth work to public safety, saying that when people move from just getting by to truly living, crime and violence fall. He also argued that solutions fail when they are designed without input from the communities they aim to serve.

Gomez was a longtime resident of Alexandria's West End. Details about a spouse, partner or children have not been made public in the sources reviewed for this page. Friends and colleagues described him as deeply invested in his students; IBEW Local 26's Don Slaiman said, "He always puts them first."

In May 2024 Gomez was named an Alexandria Chamber of Commerce (Chamber ALX) 40 Under 40 honoree. In October 2025 Cornerstone Craftsman received the Rising Star award at Chamber ALX's Best in Business awards. In December 2025 AT&T donated laptops and a $10,000 check to the organization, presented with Mayor Gaskins. On November 10, 2026, the Washington Capitals and Burke and Herbert Bank named Cornerstone Craftsman the season's Goals for Good recipient, donating $100 per Capitals goal.

Gomez appeared on the Lets Talk Trades series and The Morning Huddle Construction Show with Jonte Hawkins, on the We're Good Podcast sponsored by Clark Construction, in a WBC DE+I Speaker Series talk, and in an Alexandria City Public Schools video about the Cornerstone partnership. He was profiled by ALXnow, The Alexandria Brief, The Zebra and the IBEW's Electrical Worker. In October 2025 he joined a Latino Heritage Month nonprofit panel at Alexandria City Hall moderated by Councilman Canek Aguirre.

Gomez's legacy is the young people who went through Cornerstone Craftsman and into the trades. "Roberto didn't just change lives. He helped shape futures," the nonprofit's board wrote. "His legacy lives on in the countless young people he mentored, the relationships he built, and the community he brought together." His model, which paired trade training with mentorship, court advocacy and wraparound support, drew attention from the city's police, schools, building trades unions and the Governor of Virginia, who toured the center in September 2026.