By: Trennesia Jackson

As I walk into the government building on Second Avenue, I am greeted by three security guards.

“Where you going?” asks one of them. “The 29th Floor” I reply. “OK. I need you to take out any electronics and put it separately through the scanner.”

Past three security guards, up 29 floors, past a help-desk window with a coded door, and behind a big brown wooden styled desk flooded with paper sits Frank Cifuentes, a field examiner for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency that specializes in investigating allegations of unfair practices in companies.

Normally the public’s first contact with the NLRB is through a field examiner. According to the National Labor Relations Board a “field examiner must contact parties involved in allegations of unfair practice, investigate matters underlying the allegations, conduct hearings when unions have filed petitions to represent employees.”

Examiners play an important role in the working world, and with each case they’re given the opportunity to make a difference, to make sure all organizations follow the laws and treat their employees fairly, and that issues are resolved. It’s an important job and Cifuentes is humble about it.

“Nahhh. I’m not that important. Just doing my job,” said Cifuentes, who has been a field examiner for a few years. The road to where he is now wasn’t necessarily an easy one.

“I’ve been independent since I was 13. Got my first official job when I was 16. Paid for my parents bills every other month,” he said. “It nice to see that someone who came from a low-income family was able to make it.”

After getting his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree in labor and employment relations at Rutgers University, Cifuentes moved across the country to the Pacific Northwest in 2013. Jan. 3, marks two years since he left the Big Apple and even though Seattle isn’t New York, Cifuentes made a home for himself here.

“I actually love it here. There’s so much diversity,” he said.

According to Cifuentes there wasn’t too much diversity in his field. He says you’ll see a lot of union organizers or representatives who are Latino advocating for employee rights. But Latinos are still underrepresented in the federal government.

Cifuentes’ motivation for getting into labor and employment relations had more to do with something close to his heart.

“I grew up learning that my mother was in a sweatshop working for several years when we were in New York. And I just kept that in my mind when I went to college. I found something I cared about.”

Cifuentes makes it his job is to ensure all employees are being treated fairly, unlike in his mother’s situation. Cifuentes holds onto the lessons he learned from his mom’s unacceptable working conditions.

While he’s examining cases and helping in the fight for more diversity and equality, Frank is also pursuing another passion that is just as demanding as his full time job and that is helping him “mature emotionally,” as he put it.

Cifuentes is also an actor.

“After watching like two weeks’ worth of Netflix movies, TV shows, and such. I was like, “Oh, hey, maybe I can give it a try. I have a good looking face.”

After doing a commercial, a couple short films, and some photo shoots, Cifuentes recently landed one of the biggest gigs in his acting career: A spot in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A New Musical,” presented by Full House Productions and Page2Stage Entertainment in Kirkland.

“I have no singing parts, but I’ve never done a musical before. It’s a good intro, it’s legit,” Cifuentes said.

The show debuted Oct. 31 and ran through Nov. 23.

Rory Ross, a fellow cast member, was surprised to find out Cifuentes worked for the federal government and acted. “I was really surprised. He learns fast and takes direction well.”

As Cifuentes got more involved with the play and more into his character, he opened up and began to make some friends.

“We finally bloomed from what we planted. He’s got passion, and dreams, and he’s just an awesome guy.”

When Cifuentes isn’t working to help resolve employee-rights issues he’s pursuing another dream of his. One that started on his couch watching Netflix that with just the right audition, can land him on the other side. Cifuentes says he aspires to move to the Los Angeles area to work at the NLRB bureau and pursue acting.

“I love my job because it’s so flexible,” says Cifuentes.“If I got the gig of my dreams and I had to take off like three months I could. I just want to try something different.”