The Nomination Committee will do our best to publish these statements in Spanish as well, however the translation and proofreading will take additional time, so we’ve decided to release the statements in English for now, especially with the Candidate Forum coming up on Sunday, December 17 at 12pm!
Steering – Campaigns Coordinator
Steering – Communications Director
Steering – Recording Secretary
Eastside & San Gabriel Valley Branch Coordinator
South Central Inglewood Branch
Steering Committee Candidates
Steering – At-Large
Leslie C
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
3.5 years
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I joined DSA in March 2020, shortly before Bernie suspended his presidential campaign. Within the first few months, I became an active organizer in not only establishing but also building out the Eastside + San Gabriel Valley branch. I, alongside a group of comrades, organized current members and recruited dozens of new members to solidity a fourth branch of the Los Angeles chapter. I am also currently one of the Branch Coordinators of the Eastside + SGV branch.
Prior to becoming BC, I served for two terms as Campaigns Coordinator on our local Steering Committee, and I also was one of three chairs of our Administrative Committee. Through these roles, I’ve: supported local campaign strategy development and implementation; led political education sessions for our local Organizing Institute as well as for national Leadership Intensives; developed training materials for local branches and campaigns; conducted strike support for UTLA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and UAW; organized local cohorts for the Rosa Luxembourg Organizing 4 Power training series; led our local 100k membership recruitment drive; trained and served as marshals for mass actions; conducted jail support for mass actions; and am mentoring other local chapters.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I previously organized with Greenpeace.
Why are you running for this position?
As the largest mass socialist organization, DSA-LA is well positioned to catalyze change at the local level. We must, however, BE organized if we want to be successful AT organizing. Our organization should be structured to allow us to achieve our long-term goals of activating a broad, working-class constituency, diverse not only in terms of class and race but also ideas. This necessitates setting out a clear Theory of Change that articulates DSA-LA’s overall goals, the pathway that we need to take to actualize impact, and the stakeholders that we must involve in our work as we build the power to win.
I want to ensure that all rank and file members understand what it means to be a part of a socialist organization, have a clear sense of how the chapter operates and how we plan to achieve material wins, and can meaningfully contribute their skills and experience to further our movement. In taking on this responsibility, I hope to work closely with committees and branches to ensure that we are building centralized and collective power.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
Outside of the organizing sphere, I work on strategy and policy. I have extensive experience working with NGOs and not-for-profit organizations to brainstorm long-term goals, identify clear Theories of Change, and articulate pathways to achieving their overall vision. My work involves building out organizational capacity to better communicate both internally and externally, identifying clear metrics to evidence progress against goals, and ensuring that all stakeholders are collaborating effectively. These are all transferrable skills to build out DSA.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
What separates DSA-LA from other organizations is that we’re proud socialists. We have a unique vision for the world, one that guarantees equality of opportunity for all. As the progressive shift to the left continues to play out on the local and national spheres, we need to continue to build power over the ruling elite so that we have the power to make demands. As such, I believe the shift toward organizing at the local level is one of the most important successes we achieved over the last year, as well as the gains that we’ve made within electoral campaigns and critical workplaces. With so many members organizing at the site of struggle, we will be able to materially demonstrate that socialist ideals and politics can work for people.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I see three main, interrelated areas of improvement for our chapter. The first is building out a better process for onboarding new members to ensure that all comrades achieve political fluency in socialist ideas and praxis. I’m thankful for the comrades that helped me find my place within DSA-LA and want to ensure that all comrades have the opportunity to find their respective niches. This will ensure that our chapter is not only growing our active membership base, but also retaining comrades as well. Based on my experience working with the Admin Committee, I look forward to continuing my engagement as a member of Steering and helping guide the work that is being done on Growth and Development.
The second main area of improvement is ensuring that all areas of the chapter are clearly communicating so that there is more transparency in all of our work. This hedges against duplicating work while ensuring that learnings and best practices are shared widely, provides another opportunity to bring new members into our work, and serves as an ongoing temperature check to ensure that we’re being accountable to our constituency and goals. As a previous Campaigns Coordinator, I have experience facilitating leadership meetings for all chapter leaders to help inform stronger information flows.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
DSA-LA should prioritize implementing all resolutions that will pass at convention, growing our membership in traditionally underserved communities, clearly articulating a local strategy that is inclusive and responsive, and ensuring that we allocate resources accordingly to successfully achieve all of the above.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
As with all years, we need to inoculate members and leaders with the importance of taking on responsibility over the long term. Organizing is difficult work, and being in a membership organization is very different from being in a non-profit. We need to adequately prepare our members to understand the commitment they are making to realizing our socialist goals when they join DSA and take part in campaigns.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
All three priority resolutions will impact my position, in that I want to ensure that all three are successfully implemented across the chapter. These are ambitious resolutions that involve a multi-stakeholder approach in developing the strategy, workplan, and implementation. I want to synthesize information across the chapter and plan to work with comrades to ensure that we’re clearly identifying areas of strategic growth and taking steps to build our capacity where we don’t currently have it.
Jack S-L
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
My name is Jack Suria Linares and I have organized as DSA for nearly a decade coming up in January 2024!
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
My expertise broadens national and local projects, with most of my emphasis on international and immigration based organizing efforts. I have shaped the trajectory of DSA’s international policy to prioritize Latin American Mass Parties and become a participant in the Foro de São Paulo (an international political party congress). I have supported efforts to move Los Angeles toward becoming a sanctuary city, supported unionization of my previous workplace through DSA-LA’s nonprofit worker circle, and committed to various electoral DSA-LA candidates including being a field organizer on Hugo Soto-Martinez’s campaign. I also have published various articles outlining successful strategies for DSA:
https://www.californiadsa.org/news/path-to-sanctuary-la
https://medium.com/@jsuriali213/the-development-of-dsas-labor-debates-2015-2023-70bc9e4ad576
https://socialistforum.dsausa.org/issues/winter-2020/toward-an-internationalist-dsa/
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I have relationships with mass parties abroad, and in Los Angeles. I have relationships with many immigrant organizations, labor unions, and some small progressive churches. My strongest relationships are with Central American Resource Center (CARECEN-LA), Committee in Solidarity with the people of El Salvador (CISPES), Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN), Frente Amplio (FA-Costa Rica), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Liberation Road, LeftRoots, and Convergence.
Why are you running for this position?
During 2023 I took a sort of semi-sabbatical focused only on 3 major projects: supporting DSA-LA on amplifying city council advocacy for a Sanctuary City Ordinance, supporting DSA-LA identify and elect the most diverse delegation to the 2023 National Convention, and working in the International Committee to absorb all Palestinian solidarity work so that it operates in a democratic method in DSA. I have also phonebanked and canvassed for DSA’s no money for massacres campaign and for democratic socialist Nithya Raman.
During 2024, I am ready to re-engage at full capacity to DSA-LA, and I believe that the year presents critical moments for shifting the organization’s capacity with quick turnaround. First and foremost we must prioritize capacity to re-elect socialist Nithya Raman who has committed to permanent ceasefire in Gaza. This campaign ends on March 5th. Second, we must amplify our DSA Labor Survey to assess our current industries with membership density and expand our labor circles to match the organization’s current trajectory. Third, we must return to scheduling in advance chapter meetings, May Day and the Annual Convention, and explicitly outreach to our membership for turnout rather than rely passively on self-selected engagement.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I have strong interpersonal skills in recruiting angelenos to DSA, phonebanking operations to outreach our membership, and strategic assessment of the Los Angeles terrain to contextualize DSA’s organizational efforts. As steering member, I would work to support phonebanking efforts to our membership to attend our meetings, campaigns as well as support branch organizing committees to cohere and move this work as a chapter rather than autonomous uneven bodies.
I try to engage others actively in the work. I seek out delegation and empowerment.
I’ve tried to keep everyone as comrades so they can come and talk to me, though the last year has laid bare that I’ve had shortcomings–just simply materially, with how things went down.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
DSA-LA succeeded in supporting national positions on permanent ceasefire in Gaza, working closely with our electeds to understand the changing international crises. DSA-LA also sent the largest diverse delegation to the national convention and provided a clear alternative vision for DSA at a time when national conditions and the rising far right attacks all democratic institutions.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
Membership buy-in so that members participate in its political activities have to be amplified. We need to open up political dialogue on what the outcomes of our democratically mandated positions mean for members and then make commitments for participating in them. At the moment members either feel they do not have ownership of their own organization, or see chapter and conventions as a place to vote on the work that others will do rather than see how they can participate in the collective decision making AND implementation of campaigns.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
The chapter needs to prioritize recruitment during a presidential election where no socialist candidates exist, but where we have several local DSA candidates moving the DSP forward. We must amplify and cohere our organization around the DSP so that we can provide public discussion about our vision for the Los Angeles region.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
The biggest challenge will remain the pull between electoral cycles and the long term commitment to organizing our membership in our workplaces.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
These campaigns fit well within the DSP program and have to hold a central position in our electeds campaign efforts, and on our internal mobilization plans. We must see the campaigns as developing the timelines, outreach efforts for members to participate and move the DSP forward.
Abril D
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
5 years – I first started attending meetings in 2018.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I led the neighborhood council project in 2020, which got 120 members elected to 40 neighborhood councils across the city. Since then, I have knocked doors for DSA-endorsed candidates, researched and written parts of the voter guide, phonebanked in solidarity with Palestine, and attended national convention.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so which and in what capacity?
I work for a healthcare union that represents 30,000 members nationally. I started as an organizer and increased membership at my shop of 1400 by 6% in one year. I am now the political coordinator executing our members’ political and legislative priorities across all of CA (and WA and NM). It is my job to build our PAC with voluntary contributions from members, manage relationships with elected officials to leverage during contract fights, lead campaigns to pressure electeds to support our priority legislation, and turnout members to engage in actions and lobby visits.
Why are you running for this position?
I’m running for Steering At-Large because I want to be a part of building our chapter and a sustaining, multiracial, working-class movement in LA. DSA-LA has had major wins the last few years, like providing critical support for strikes that are reviving the labor movement and getting socialists elected into office who are shifting power from landlords to renters. But there is still room for growth–more internal structures are needed to develop new members and give them opportunities to meaningfully engage in chapter work. As a union organizer, I know that the fight is strongest when we consistently ID new leaders and systematically empower them to carry on the work. I’m ready to do this work for the chapter.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I am a teacher turned organizer, so I’ve been trained to create systems that help others work together toward a common goal. I’m skilled in project management and can develop and execute time-bound campaigns involving large numbers of people. I know how to motivate individuals and groups, to build consensus between differing viewpoints, and to have critical conversations that encourage others to focus on strategy and the bigger picture.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
The work we’ve done to uplift labor actions and the relationships we’ve built with unions are going to have long-lasting impacts on the material conditions of working class folks. We are cementing ourselves as valuable partners to labor organizations, and we should be proud of that.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I see that the same members step into leadership year after year. We need to create mechanisms and opportunities for newer members to develop their leadership skills and political analysis so they feel prepared to step up. It took me 5 years to get to a place where I felt comfortable running for something, but that’s too long. It’s also an issue of sustainability. If the same people are in leadership every year, they can burn out. With more leaders stepping up, and seasoned leaders mentoring, the chapter will be better positioned to build capacity and power.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
We have figured out how to win local campaigns–including electoral, legislative, and organizing at large–but we need to focus on our internal structures so we can develop the ownership, agency, and skillset of members, so they feel empowered to provide input and fill leadership positions.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
The biggest challenge our membership faces is the constant ebb and flow of engagement, mostly centered around socio-political events. In order to identify and train new leaders, we need to maintain consistent engagement from our membership, not just when an agitating event takes place.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
These are membership mandates and it’s steering’s responsibility to carry them out. I have experience doing this with my union members’ resolutions–it’s my job to build campaigns around member priorities and execute them. I have no doubt that I can do that as a steering committee member.
jennifer m
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I have been a DSA-LA member since July 2020.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
My initial involvement with DSA-LA began when a member reached out to me and invited me to join the Immigration Justice Committee. I helped organize a political education event focused on immigration policy updates in 2021.
In 2022, I was elected as the Immigration Justice Committee’s co-chair. I also canvassed for the electoral campaigns of Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto Martinez who have committed to DSA-LA’s immigration policy positions on sanctuary. Since then, I’ve continued my dedication to various DSA-LA campaigns that touch on the DSP.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I was driven to fight for immigrant rights as the daughter of immigrants and now have over 15 years of organizing within the immigrant rights movement.
Why are you running for this position?
Several members have asked me to run due to my commitment to DSA over the last three years. I want to step up and dedicate myself to supporting leadership development in our members and helping members engage and participate in our chapter and national priorities. I want to identify new leaders and encourage them to participate in our campaigns, branch meetings, and rapid response efforts to ongoing local and national crises.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I have over 15 years of experience as an immigrant rights activist and 9 years as an immigrant rights attorney. I’ve learned to work well in teams and collaborate effectively with stakeholders. One of my key strengths includes my resilience, which has been crucial in facing challenges in advocating for immigrant rights. I am able to stay committed and bounce back from setbacks, showing my dedication to the cause. My even-keeled nature allows me to approach situations with a level head, maintaining composure in high-pressure environments. I believe these skills are critical for a steering committee member.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Three of the most important successes of the chapter over the last year have been:
– Strike support for the numerous industries striking across Los Angeles and southern California
– Sending a diverse delegation to National Convention in Chicago
– Supporting national positions for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza
I consider these to be the most important because it shows our dedication to our Democratic Socialist vision and our ability to mobilize and make that possible.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
Building capacity with existing members and recruiting new members is an important area of improvement for our Chapter. Our capacity expanding efforts can involve providing training opportunities and workshops to equip our members with the tools they need to be an effective organizer. As for membership recruitment, we can continue to proactively engage with local and national events and issues, ensuring our Chapter remains responsive to the current social and political landscape. By staying informed and connected, we position ourselves to effectively meet the moment and convey the urgency of our shared vision of a better Los Angeles for everyone. This will encourage more individuals to join us in our collective struggle, and I am committed to dedicating my time and energy to do outreach and support efforts for the creation of trainings and workshops.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Membership recruitment and capacity building should be a priority for the Chapter next year. They are key to the sustainability of our efforts and our overall impact in Los Angeles.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
I believe that one of the most significant challenges for the Chapter in the next year will be sustaining and deepening member engagement. Actively involved and committed members are crucial for our growth, as well as the impact and success of our priority campaigns.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
We must be committed to these priority campaigns because they’re vital for the DSP and the collective decisions of our chapter. As a steering committee member, I’ll work to cultivate a shared understanding of our Chapter’s campaigns and encourage members to get involved.
Clayton R
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
8 months
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I have been organizing in some capacity with DSA-LA since 2018. I first organized with DSA doing abolish ICE canvassing with the westside branch. Since then I have also participated in voters guide research, and most recently labor work with DSA. As a lead coordinator with UAW for the GM and Stellantis picket lines this past summer, I helped to foster an increasingly strong relationship between the auto-workers and DSA by helping coordinate DSA’s strike support for UAW.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I have founded, directed, worked with, and volunteered with multiple organizations. Notably I co-founded Movement Los Angeles, which hosted a one-off event raising thousands of small dollars for the Bernie campaign and connecting local coalitional partners such as DSA, LA Tenants Union, then-candidate Nithya Raman, and Sunrise movement to figure out how we can use Our Movement to push for affordable housing. I am currently working as a union organizer for UAW. My job is primarily in new organizing: helping workers who want to form unions at their workplace with strategy and teaching organizing techniques so that they can win increased workplace democracy. I also help with UAW’s political work and politcal organizing.
Why are you running for this position?
As a black socialist, I can say that DSA-LA’s influence on local politics has demonstrably helped the multi-racial working class from which I identify. The tenant protections that were pushed by the DSA endorsed candidates helped save my mom from evictions earlier this year. As such, I deeply believe in the work that we’re doing and feel it is my mission to continue this work. I am running to help bring DSA-LA closer to the multi-racial working class in make up as well as in advocacy, which means organizing people into DSA from workplaces and neighborhoods all around the city, which means substantially bolstering our labor work and developing ever closer ties to local unions. The NLC is now planning to build a salting program, and as someone who is on the commission to help develop that program I hope to put DSA-LA at the forefront of this work nationally.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I feel my skills as an organizer: having persuasive conversations with workers, developing strategic escalating campaigns, working democratically to reach consensus around priorities and strategy, and rallying community and coalitional partners to exercise collective power are all applicable and valuable to the role of steering committee.
What are the most important successes the Chapter has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I believe the most important successes have been our work resulting in a limiting of rent increases for rent controlled properties as well as our excellent strike support campaigns for extremely successful strikes (such as WGA and UAW). These are extremely important because they both demonstrate our values to the public and our multi-racial working class base as well as demonstrating that we are an organization that is oriented towards victory. Because of this work, our membership has the potential to grow tremendously in the coming months, which will in turn grow the power of our movement.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I think the most important areas of improvement will be increasing new member recruitment and helping to improve how we organize within campaign working groups. We can do this by encouraging active members to periodically bring in potential new members to our orientations, and making sure we take data about which campaigns potential members are most interested in working on. Then we can organize people to focus their energy on specific areas and develop their leadership, expertise, and sense of responsibility there instead of encouraging everyone to come to every event. Doing this will allow us to not only recruit many new members more efficiently, it will dramatically increase the effectiveness of our existing members.
What should the Chapter prioritize over the next year?
I believe that the Chapter should prioritize the LA School Board Races, EWOC/Strike support, Housing Justice, and Climate Justice/Free Mass Transit. LA School Board Races are a great place for us to continue to build power and push for one of the largest local governing bodies in the country to develop policy benefiting children and working class families. Our labor work is another way for us to continue to build working class power and increase our membership. Our housing justice and climate justice campaigns are critical as these are two problems central to Angelenos where we can focus on exercising our power. In order to grow, we need to give these efforts our all and carefully analyze the results so that we know exactly where and how we need to improve to become more effective.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
2 big challenges that I forsee are making sure that the organization is adminstratively and financially sound as we separately incorporate ourselves from national, as well as making sure we maintain our status as the leftist hub of Los Angeles
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
As a member of the steering committee, I would be charged with helping to create Branch agendas that sufficiently prioritizes the priority resolutions, as well as ensuring that all related campaigns are adequately administratively and financially resourced. I would also be charged with coordinating with local subgroups and making sure their operations are in keeping with the branches priority resolutions.
Steering – Campaigns Coordinator
Marc K
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I have been a DSA member for 4 years.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I have served in organizing and leadership roles in DSA-LA and DSA nationally. In Los Angeles, I have co-chaired DSA-LA’s Yes on Prop 15 – Tax the Rich campaign, Labor Committee, Dr. Rocío Rivas for LA Unified School Board campaign, and Green New Deal for Public Schools LA campaign. Nationally, I was part of the 2021 Ecosocialists Working Group Steering Committee and co-chaired DSA’s Green New Deal Campaign Commission from 2021 to 2023. I am currently organizing and supporting DSA-LA’s Mass Transit for All campaign, Palestine Solidarity Working Group, and Kahllid Al-Alim and Karla Griego for LA Unified School Board campaigns.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I am a rank-and-file member of SEIU Local 1000. I have spent 5 years organizing within my union to address workplace issues and fight for strong collective bargaining agreements. From 2018 to 2019, I was an elected representative on my union’s bargaining team, where I worked to undo contract concessions and advance significant wage, benefits, and working condition gains. A major lesson I learned from organizing in a unionized workplace is the importance of building structures and processes that welcome and increase participation in collective projects like contract fights.
Why are you running for this position?
I am running for Campaigns Coordinator because I believe DSA campaigns are vital to demonstrating to the broader public the growing power of the socialist movement. I believe campaigns ground our organizing in mass politics, strengthen our organization to meet the challenges of today, and bring the working class into our movement. I think our chapter has a good practice of prioritizing campaigns but can do better in terms of focusing our resources and capacity to build robust priority campaigns. Additionally, if elected to Campaigns Coordinator, I would like to focus on new member recruitment through our campaigns and organizer and leadership training for members involved in priority campaigns so we are expanding the layer of trained and active organizers and leaders in our chapter.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I have been leading campaigns in DSA since I joined in 2019 and have learned many important lessons that I feel will serve me well if elected to Campaigns Coordinator. I have experience building campaign teams with specific areas of work and structure for members to get involved in and lead on. I’ve ensured that when we got members involved with our campaigns, we were doing leadership development and setting up members to step into leadership roles in the chapter and future campaigns. I am also skilled in fielding strategic feedback, adjusting strategies based on changing circumstances, and fostering collaborative discussion in developing campaign strategies to ensure members are bought in and clear on what we are doing.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I believe our chapter’s biggest successes are related to our labor organizing, electoral victories, and the policy interventions we’ve been able to make due to our wins. 2023 was a major year for militant worker action, with new organizing drives by Starbucks workers and strikes by education workers, autoworkers, entertainment industry workers, and hospitality workers. Through all these labor struggles, DSA-LA members were present on the shopfloor organizing work stoppages, out on picket lines, and at rallies in solidarity with the LA Labor Movement. Electorally, DSA-LA expanded the left bloc on the LA City Council by electing Eunisses Hernandez (CD1) and Hugo Soto-Martinez (CD13) to join Nithya Raman (CD4) in advancing and winning policies that empower tenants, immigrants, and workers across our city. Our work to elect Dr. Rocío Rivas to the LAUSD School Board was decisive in defeating the charter school industry’s electoral machine that has long held power in LAUSD Board District 2. We not only defeated the charter industry by electing Dr. Rivas but also advanced our Green New Deal for Public School campaign, with Dr. Rivas now chairing LAUSD’s Climate and Greening Committee, where DSA-LA has an organizational committee seat to advise and set climate initiatives for the second largest school district in the country. I believe these are the most important successes our chapter has achieved over the last year because they are external facing, they demonstrate the growing power of the socialist movement to the broader public, and it proves that deep organizing is how we win.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
Our chapter must improve in new member recruitment, member engagement, and leadership development. In terms of new member recruitment, we must move beyond passive recruitment through emails and begin a process of intentional recruitment where our members are trained and become experienced in making direct asks through our campaigns, workplace organizing, and tenant organizing to join DSA. I would like to work with our DSA regional organizer and the Political Education Committee to have regular trainings on 1:1 recruitment organizing conversations. Regarding member engagement, our chapter has experimented with various methods and tools for having regular contact with our members about how to get involved in the chapter. While we now have some good data about member engagement tracked through Action Builder, and a core of comrades who know how to use Scale 2 Win to mass call the members, we still need to build up a strong layer of branch organizers that have consistent contact with a manageable set of members across the chapter. I would like to review the data we have in Action Builder and Action Network and come up with a strategy for ensuring branch organizers have a consistent set of members they are organizing and taking time to review and refine that strategy so we can move our chapter to do deep organizing to get members to take action and get involved with our campaigns. This type of deep organizing should be learned by our branch organizers and comrades leading our priority campaigns because it creates a level of organizational responsibility to build the chapter and level-up our members to do more than just show up to a meeting or canvass. Deep organizing develops leaders because we are entrusting comrades to use their skills and learn new ones to build organizing relationships, recruit capacity, and deepen the bench of active members in DSA-LA. In my experience, you will be surprised how people can blossom as organizers if given the chance to lead with some support from experienced comrades. I hope to foster that approach to deep organizing and leadership development in our chapter.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
For the first quarter of 2024, our Mass Transit for All campaign and Power to the Tenants campaign should be at the top of our priorities, followed by our campaigns to elect our endorsed city council and school board candidates. We shall see at our 2024 chapter convention what the members decide to be our next set of priority campaigns, but I imagine housing will likely remain a key area for our chapter to continue prioritizing. Additionally, our chapter should prioritize a pivot back to mapping, organizing, and training our members on the nuts and bolts of workplace organizing.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
The biggest challenge our chapter will face over the next year is developing our Socialist in Office program to move our political priorities, manage moments of political crisis, and expand member engagement and understanding with the process our chapter has built to organize and work alongside our electeds.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
The Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance campaigns will be front and center for me as Campaigns Coordinator. I want to ensure these campaigns are developing leaders, have a clear strategy for what they are trying to win or accomplish, are connecting with the Branches in bringing people into the campaigns, and are getting the resources and focus they are granted as priority campaigns. I am currently participating and advising comrades leading the Mass Transit for All campaign and look forward to offering similar support to the Power to the Tenants campaign. I am also active in building our chapter’s co-governance work through our Socialist in Office program and am eager to explore ways to increase rank-and-file engagement with that critical work. I believe our priority campaigns have great potential for building DSA-LA and reaching the working class Angelenos we want to bring into our movement, and I will work to ensure our campaigns have the resources, training, and capacity to make them successful.
Steering – Communications Director
Claire P
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
April 2023 – Present
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I have been a Westside Branch Organizer, Labor Committee Coordinator, and organized on the Power to the Tenants campaign.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I was a member of Sacramento DSA June 2021 – Dec 2022. I served 1 1/2 terms as a Lead Organizer on the Sacramento DSA Steering Committee, until I moved to Los Angeles last December. In that capacity, I led a panel interview with a Palestinian political activist and Israeli anti-occupation leftist journalist discussing decolonization and the history of Palestine and zionism. I also organized on a political education and pressure campaign to get Ami Bera to sign onto the Phillipine Human Rights Act.
Beyond DSA, I volunteered on a campaign opposing a ballot measure to make homelessness effectively illegal in the city of Sacramento. In that work, I coordinated media strategy and facilitated press conferences as well as organizing canvasses.
Why are you running for this position?
I think comms and organizational strategy are closely linked. I think about comms as how the chapter relates to different audiences in order to most effectively build power. In this role I want to maximize the amount of credit DSA-LA gets for the constant organizing work this chapter engages in. I also want to build strong relationships with media allies that we can flex to benefit the chapter’s political and organizing aims.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I backfilled a lot of comms work on the Sacramento DSA Steering Committee and have the hard skills necessary to run a communications plan. Beyond that, I have experience managing media appearances, forming relationships with journalists, facilitating press conferences, creating promo materials and managing social media prescence.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
In no particular order:
The SIO program. Supporting the chapter’s endorsed elected makes a tangible difference in DSA-LA’s ability to exercise power. If elected officials feel that they are alone or that their politics are marginal, they will be significantly less likely to advance a socialist program. The SIO program has made progress on this front.
Palestine solidarity and rapid response. We stood unwavering in solidarity with Palestinian comrades and mobilized our members to make thousands of calls to elected representatives.
Strike support. DSA-LA showed up consistently at picket lines for UNITE HERE, SAG-AFTRA, WGA, and UAW. The Snackpack raised tens of thousands of dollars that supported strikers and build worker andd community relationships, as well as positive impressions of DSA within the industry.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
There is not enough retrospective analysis of organizational culture and chapter shortcomings, and how those things impact member retention and ability to promote the chapter. In Sacramento DSA, I built an organizational strategy and promotion plan as an extension of my undergraduate research. This plan evaluates lays out membership recruitment, retention, and activation strategies based on the chapters strengths and weaknesses. I’d like to apply this method in DSA-LA in order to develop active membership beyond the existing core members.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Electoral candidates and development of candidate working groups, Branch development, and individual member development. Also connecting next year’s priority campaigns with these priorities harmoniously.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
We need to prepare for national and international events that drive membership influxes. Also preparing for a new kind of coordinated political opposition now that DSA-LA is winning.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
I will continue the excellent work Lori has developed to message these campaigns. As we approach the next local convention, I will coordinate with campaign leaders about the future of these efforts and discuss how to message the closure/continuation of these campaigns, highlighting chapter wins.
Steering – Recording Secretary
Mark G
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I have been a member of DSA-LA since April 2017.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I have served as Westside Branch Coordinator for 2022 and 2023, and I am a co-chair of our Power to the Tenants campaign working group. I have organized and facilitated meetings, canvasses, phonebanks, labor solidarity actions, DSA 101s, and onboarded new members, connected them to chapter work, and facilitated development of new leadership. I also was a delegate to the 2023 national convention this year.
Before serving as branch coordinator, I was a South Bay neighborhood captain in the Neighborhood Solidarity Network and a financial coordinator for Street Watch LA. I have helped organize tenant canvassing, and have canvassed and phone-banked for Measures H and ULA, Prop 15, Prop 10, AB1400, and SB562, as well as for several candidates DSA-LA has endorsed, and I helped organize DSA-LA’s labor solidarity actions with SAG-AFTRA, SEIU 99, SBWU, UAW 2865, Unite HERE Local 11, UTLA, and WGA.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I am currently involved in efforts to organize non-tenure track faculty members as part of the organizing committee to unionize my workplace with SEIU 721. As part of our housing campaign work, I have helped coordinate coalition actions with ACCE, CES, LATU, KLAH, and SAJE. I helped organize and lead canvasses with Bernie 2020, and after the primary, helped form South Bay Organizing in order to canalize the energy of Bernie supporters into something more sustained. We dedicated our efforts to mutual aid work (distributing PPE, outreach to unhoused folks, and food distribution with Long Beach Community Table), local electoral efforts (Fatima Iqbal-Zubair for Assembly 2020 and Jason Boxer for MBUSD School Board), anti-racist efforts, and became a small hub for interaction and coordination between local groups and organizers (Torrance for Justice, Street Watch, and DSA-LA’s Mutual Aid Committee, among others) and many of our members joined DSA-LA. I have also organized with National Nurses United on various campaigns for universal healthcare and labor protections for nurses. I am a member of LATU.
Why are you running for this position?
I have moved out of Westside Branch, and have two branch organizers who are stepping up to take on the role of Westside Branch coordinator, and I want to add capacity to steering and free Andre A up to take on the role of treasurer. I also think that my experience and perspective as a branch coordinator can help facilitate more coordinated functioning of steering and the branches.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I am good at note taking, list work, power mapping, research, and working collaboratively. I’m also familiar with most of our organizing tools and have a good working knowledge of chapter structure and have worked with most of our committees and working groups during my tenure as branch coordinator. I understand the time and labor commitments that the role takes and am committed to doing what I can to build power for DSA.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
We’ve done some incredible labor solidarity work, developed a promising foundation for our socialists in office program, built out the branches, secured tenant protections, and advanced protections for immigrants through the Sanctuary City legislation advanced by our electeds. I think these things situate us well to build stronger connections with labor, refine and popularize our political program, and continue developing our members as knowledgeable political agents and organizers as a means of beginning to realize a socialist future in Los Angeles.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I think we could do better maintaining frequent two-way communications between steering and the rest of leadership, and am happy to take on responsibilities to facilitate this. I think we also need to build out more robust leadership development processes, support the development of branch organizing committees, and effectively onboard newer members and plug them into chapter work to build out our organizational capacity.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
We have an ambitious set of electoral and policy goals for 2024 that will require significant dedication to realize, and we will need to effectively build capacity to ensure that we can protect and expand our bench of socialist electeds and remain capable of responding to opportunities to build working class power animated by a spirit of international solidarity.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
Many of our core organizers are spread thin across a broad range of projects that provide the opportunity to advance socialist demands and build our base, and we are facing increasingly strong opposition to our program from capitalists (e.g., through the anti-DSA PAC), so we will need to dedicate significant effort to building our organizational capacity.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
I think we have a solid set of priority campaigns and I’m happy to do what I can to support our efforts to advance socialist visions of housing and transit as we build stronger coordination with our electeds to move towards decommodified housing and free public transit. I think the recording secretary is well situated to making sure that we are effectively disseminating the asks and successes of our priority campaigns to our membership.
Steering – Treasurer
Andre A
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I am Andre Arguelles and have been organizing with DSA for four 4 years!
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
Over the past two years, I’ve been the chapter’s Recording Secretary focusing on internal system and structure health for the chapter through supporting or assisting in turnout for the various chapter initiatives and priorities. I’ve also worked regionally through CA-DSA and recently began working with national chapters post-National Convention.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
Prior to DSA, I organized with the former Santa Clarita Democratic Club organizing canvasses in the valley but left for DSA.
Why are you running for this position?
I’m running to Treasurer to continue building on the foundation created by prior treasurers. Our chapter has established general guidance for finance policies but as our chapter’s capacity has increased, such as with the Hot Labor Summer in 2023, its lack of financial structures and fundraising building has created clear need that I would like to build towards if elected in 2024.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
Two years as Recording Secretary have given me an understanding of the chapter workings to help identify its structural gaps and confidence to continue building DSA-LA’s internal structure towards better serving its organizers.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I believe the chapter’s demonstrated successful growth in 3 areas:
1. Creation on a burgeoning LA Socialists in Office program that has the potential to lead in DSA/Elected relations on the West Coast
2. Relationship building with LA Labor through consistent and wholehearted strike support
3. Ability to meet the moment with the inflamed Palestine conflict through WG and national cohesion.
All three are important pillars to a strong left movement in LA by meeting workers where they are at and claiming power to push ever closer towards a socialist future.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I believe our chapter has the potential to further develop the groundwork laid in 2023 by building up the leadership core of our chapter through Branch Organizing Committee within our branches and labor circles within our workplaces. Having a proper financial and fiscal structure to support both and more in 2024 can ensure our organizers can focus on their organizing.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
I believe the chapter should continue democratically deciding and advancing strategic campaigns but with a common throughline from national DSA, CA-DSA, down to the chapter level. Steering in particular should commit to transparency and public presence to promote cohesion.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
DSA-LA can no longer enjoy its relative isolation over the past few years. Growth and power brings increased scrutiny and the forces of capitalism and the far-right. These existential threats will look to tear down the steady gains we’ve strived towards. Thus we must continue building a robust membership and chapter that can collectively resist and continue burgeoning towards socialism in our lifetime.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
All three identify key areas of work for the chapter and have begun the process of laying the foundation by which DSA-LA’s work in housing, transit, and development. The work of the 2023 priority campaigns should set the stage for the chapter’s work and help define DSA-LA’s approach in these key areas for the next few years. Thus we must continue the work started by these time-bound working groups and transition them into pillars of work for the chapter.
Branch Coordinator Candidates
Central Branch
Juan L
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
Four years
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
Since moving to LA I’ve been especially focused on DSA’s locally oriented work: I was one of the Echo Park-Silverlake “captains” during the Neighborhood Solidarity Program and a member of the Central Branch Organizing Committee, and became Co-Coordinator of the Central Branch in 2022. In these roles I’ve participated in numerous electoral, labor, pol ed, and membership development campaigns, and have worked to increase coordination and communication across DSA’s various projects.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I’m an active member and chapter leader of my union, the California Faculty Association, representing 29,000 workers across 23 CSU campuses.
Why are you running for this position?
After one year as branch coordinator I’d like to build on what we’ve started: I want to continue to turn the branches into a space for meaningful political discussion, training, and action. Currently the branches function as a space for DSA’s campaigns to come together and coordinate, a space for new members to onboard, and a space for comrades to get to know one another, but there is room to grow on this and to improve.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
In one year as branch coordinator I began to better understand the role and the potential future for the branches in our organization. In my year as co-coordinator we have built a new branch organizing committee, implemented regular monthly branch meetings on the second-Saturday of each month, and greatly increased involvement and coordination from priority campaigns.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Regular branch meetings the second Saturday of each month; a new branch organizing committee that meets monthly; designated branch liaisons with priority campaigns and other committees in DSA.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
Improving new member onboarding; steering transparency and chapter-wide communication; more opportunities for socializing.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Building institutional channels of communication; internal calendaring; more transparency and engagement in and through SIO
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
Building organizing capacity; increasing member engagement; avoiding burnout of experienced leaders.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
My goal as branch coordinator is to continue to turn the branches into a primary space of priority campaign work. The branch meetings are great opportunities for campaigns to reach and develop new and existing members.
Michael L
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
6 years
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I was in labor committee leadership between 2019 and 2021. In that role I brought members together to support picket lines in LA county, educated members on the centrality of labor to the socialist project, and organized opportunities for union members to network. I am currently a CA DSA delegate, recently represented DSA-LA at DSA’s national convention, and have participated in several DSA-LA campaigns (e.g. Yes on 15, DSA for Bernie, No Money for Massacres, etc).
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I am currently a labor organizer with Teamsters for a Democratic Union, formerly an international organizer with the Teamsters. I have organized with the UK Labour Party and a as a trade unionist in several roles in the UK and US.
Why are you running for this position?
I want to support members in the central branch get connected with important organizing work. The central branch covers an area of the city dense with the chapter’s membership. We need more leaders that can grow our organization; I am excited to get to work on building an organizing committee that can continue the chapter’s work.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I am an experienced labor organizer and look forward to bringing those techniques to DSA in this role. I plan to assess branch membership and start to cohere a committee of local leaders that can map the terrain of struggle and make a plan to strengthen worker power in the branch’s turf.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Our chapter is building a real alternative in the city. We have a lot of work to do to transform city politics and to create a voter base that votes as a class for itself, but after years of punching under our weight, the chapter is primed to continue to build on the successes of the Hugo, Eunisses, Nithya, and Rocio campaigns.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
We need to work as a team and focus on member development. Bernie won California, but we have not built the kind of cadre that we see emerging in other regions of the country capable of deepening and developing democratic socialist program in LA County. Our project will falter if we fail to organize and educate our membership. I aim to contribute to overcoming this obstacle by working closely with steering to create accessible, inclusive organizing opportunities for our membership and the community.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Capitalism creates economic inequality. A popular socialist project should build support and organization around demands that ameliorate and liberate working people from this indignity. Our chapter should champion the causes of: raising wages, lowering prices, and taxing the rich. To do this we need to build power in coalition with progressive organizations in the city. Labor is an important partner in this work. We should prioritize building relationships with labor, especially unions whose leadership really seeks to challenge the supremacy of the employer class.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
Develop membership, build coalition with anti-apartheid groups, support contract actions by IATSE and Teamsters Local 399 groups, defend Nithya.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
Our chapter should organize around issues that are widely and deeply felt. Equally, campaigns to address these should be winnable. I’m excited to work with chapter leadership on these campaigns and to make a plan to win free, reliable public transportation and bolster and enforce tenant rights. Members in the central branch should be empowered to participate in these campaigns.
Eastside & San Gabriel Valley Branch Coordinator
Noah C
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
Joined 2017, active since 2022
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I’ve served on our Branch Organizing Committee for the Eastside SGV Branch for the past year where we helped plan our branch meetings. Also volunteered with our Power to the Tenants Campaign, our Growth and Development Committee, and our campaigns for Ysabel Jurado and Kahllid Al-Alim.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I’m a teacher and have been active in my teacher unions, including now in UTLA. I’ve been a union steward and served on the organizing committee of a union drive. From these campaings I’ve learned about how to have 1-1 conversations, keep members engaged, delegate work, and build a team that I think could all help with serving as a Branch Coordinator in DSA.
Why are you running for this position?
I believe in DSA and am constantly inspired by all the work we are doing across the country. For the first time in my life I see a path towards building a socialist world and I want to do anything I can to help make that possible. I’ve also really enjoyed working with the team of organizers in the Eastside/SGV branch and want to continue that work of building a strong organization on the Eastside and in the San Gabriel Valley where I live.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
From my time in union and socialist organizing I’ve been responsible for planning and running meetings that have goals and clear next steps for organizers to tackle, I’ve developed campaigns to pressure bosses and build rank and file power, and been in leadership in socialist organizing, developing members and building capacity.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I think our Eastside/SGV branch has done a lot of good work over the past year. The branch restarted in-person meetings after the pandemic which helped create a sense of community for our organizing. We’ve also plugged in a lot of members into our campaign work and developed new leaders who are now running campaigns. I’d like to be a part of continuing and expanding that work in 2024.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I think there are a lot of things our chapter should be proud of doing over the past few years but also some areas to improve on. One is communication. There’s a lot of good work being done between our steering committee, branches, and working groups but it seems they are not always communicating it to members. Second, onboarding and developing new members could be strengthened. Right now when some people join it feels like it’s on them to figure things out and get involved. I think we could do a better job supporting new members in getting engaged and understanding how our chapter works. Last, I think DSA-LA could benefit from a ‘less is more’ approach to certain tasks. We take on a lot as a group and could target fewer campaigns but do a better job actually leading them.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Our chapter should continue to focus on important ‘external’ organizing like our Housing and Transit groups and our Electoral campaigns. We should also focus on ‘internal’ organzing, developing our branches, building new leaders, and creating more cohesion between all of our groups.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
I think the biggest challenge DSA faces is that we are now a serious threat to the capitalist order and they are starting to put pressure on us. We need to be proud of the work we’ve done and who we are in order to put forward a serious alternative to the problems facing our city. We have a vision of a city that cares about the majority of people instead of the profits of a few and we need to continue to push to make that a reality by being proud socialists ready to fight for our goals.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
I’m proud to have worked on our Power to the Tenants campaign over the past year and look forward to continuing that work. I want to help bring our campaigns and branches closer together so form a cohesive group instead of, what it can sometimes feel like, different but allied organizations. I want all of our campaigns and branches to connect to make sure our branches are supporting our campaigns but also that our campaigns are getting feedback and input from all of our branches.
Shiu-Ming C
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
Since 2019
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I have had several leadership roles within DSA – I was the Immigration Justice Committee Co-Chair in 2021 and in 2022 I was the Co-Chair for the Working Group to elect Eunisses Hernandez to LA City Council. In those roles, I organized canvasses, events, protests, and educational events. Currently, I’m part of the Socialists in Office work as a liaison to Council District 1.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I’ve worked for immigrant justice organizations for over 20 years. That includes national, state, and local organizations with legal, policy, and grassroots approaches. In that time, I have led coalitions that have won major policy victories and worked with organizations across a range of social sectors (faith, labor, economic justice, etc.). In addition, I’ve been a leader and organizer with volunteer groups such as Chinatown Community for Equitable Development and Chinese Progressive Association – San Gabriel Valley. I’ve been part of other multi-tendency socialist organizations such as LeftRoots and LA COiL.
Why are you running for this position?
As an immigrant who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and has lived for the past 15 years in the Eastside, I believe we can and must continue to build working class power in the area. DSA is uniquely positioned to develop the leadership of BIPOC communities in the Eastside.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I have strong organizational and coalition building skills, as well as the ability to navigate DSA’s structures. Through my membership in socialist groups, I have built an understanding of Marxist approaches/dialectical materialism and ability to develop liberatory strategy.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Electing three socialists to City Council in the past few years has shifted the balance of power on Council and made it more possible to advance a left agenda. The Chapter has also been able to bring in new members and plug them into existing structures, therefore continuing to build DSA–LA and the next generation of revolutionaries.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
The Chapter can deepen its training of people who are new to socialism and this is something I can contribute to as a Branch Coordinator.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Advancing tenants’ and workers’ rights and ensuring that more socialists are elected into office.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
Sustaining our focus on key issues in light of multiple ongoing crises (climate, housing, war in Gaza, threats to democracy, etc.). And preparing for the possibility of Trump winning re-election.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
If I’m elected as a Branch Coordinator, I will work to plug Branch members into DSA’s ongoing priorities and help to train members to participate in those areas.
David A
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
3+ years (involved since 2016, member since 2020)
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I was on Steering Committee in 2022 and East Side Branch Coordinator in 2023.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I am the campaigns director at the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) in the grocery and retail division. Previously, I did transnational immigration work with Pueblo Sin Fronteras and was involved in DSA’s immigration committee since 2016 while I worked at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON).
Why are you running for this position?
I believe that the East Side Branch needs diverse leadership that is able to build a branch organizing committee and provide a vision for branches in general. The strength of the organization depends on the strength of the branches. I also believe that Branch Coordinators need a couple years to develop a program and be successful in organizing branches.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
My experience, background, and organizing skills. I was born and raised in Mexico and speak Spanish fluently, have relationships with international movements in Central America and Mexico and am able to connect with the part of our membership that has not been engaged. My organizing experience has been helpful in developing a branch program, although I recognize that we have significant challenges and the Branch needs greater focus to cultivate and identify strong leadership. Also, a continuity of leadership is significant. Our branch work has been somewhat disregarded and we need to focus strong leadership into the branches if we want to the organization to survive and thrive.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I think some of the work we have done on the East Side, from the town hall with CD1 to the support of a candidate for CD13, regular branch meetings, and the leadership of a stronger Branch Coordinators Committee accross all 5 branches have been extremely successful programs that need continuity and support to become permanent.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
We need to have a stronger emphasis on organizing (identifying, recruiting, and developing leaders), and to strengthen our branches. We need to talk to each other more in the organization, we cannot be an chapter that mostly organizes over zoom, text, or phone banking, but have to engage people on the ground and in person. Our ability to develop a program that actually talks to new members and brings them in and trains them will dictate whether the Chapter will be successful.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
We need to prioritize building our branches and coordinating more work through our branches. We need to develop a structure that is able to maintain our membership, which means we need to quantify how many leaders we must develop and have structures that are able to maintain that leadership and train them. We need to continue to be a voice for the interests of working people. We will have to prioritize our electoral campaigns, coordinate our electeds, and develop our membership in this coming year.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
The biggest challenge for DSA LA is to maintain and grow our membership, and to develop internal structures to sustain coordinated efforts that drive forward a progressive agenda across multiple fronts.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
The Branches will have to support in the coordination of all of these campaigns and demand that they support and focus their work regionally and symbiotically.
San Fernando Valley Branch
Rich R
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
Since May 2017.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I organized the North Hollywood Hangout for a while. I’ve been a chair of two different committees and am one of the current Chairs of the Mutual Aid Committee.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I’ve been involved in organizing around the city since 2013.
Why are you running for this position?
Happy to do my part to grow the branch. I also explicitly plan to develop our membership out further out in the Valley, up past Santa Clarita and into the Antelope Valley.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I’ve got a lot of experience planning and organizing meetings and events for the chapter. I also plan on tying in mutual aid work to growing the branch structure in the SFV, and have a lot of practical experience in doing so.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Strike support and solidarity turnout was easily the most important success our Local has had this year. The enormous success and growth of Hollywood Labor has been a testament to that. Pursuing further strike support is a slam-dunk way of growing our Local and earning us more goodwill in the labor movement.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
The chapter doesn’t really have a robust internal democracy. We don’t really talk about political issues with each other very much and there’s very obvious disagreement on some very relevant political topics that are sort of swept under the rug.
People who don’t agree with what’s going on tend to vote with their feet and leave if they don’t feel heard, so making those spaces to articulate their disagreements constructively not only strengthens our commitments to our goals, but also develops peoples’ individual capacity as political actors.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
More frequent meetings, more active political discussions, more community-oriented actions. People should be able to develop and articulate their own positions on our work and be able to relate them to other people to convince them to join our organization. People join political organizations to talk about their politics, and people develop their politics by putting what they believe into action and seeing if it holds up to material reality.
Developing ways for people to discuss their politics and then put them into practical effect will help develop our internal democracy.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
Burnout of leadership and retaining our current membership, which has been a serious problem for the last few years. We’re also looking at an election year, where a lot of organizing energy is sucked up into elections for Democratic candidates. With the election this year, and especially if Trump wins reelection, people will probably join DSA en masse again, and it’d be nice to have a structure that engages those people and keeps them around.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
Branch Organizers are expected to engage people in those priority resolutions, which I have no problem doing.
Geyker S
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I’ve been a DSA member for four years.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
Currently working with the Nithya Raman campaign. Have in the past worked with Hugo campaign and volunteered in canvassing for Eunisses Hernandez and Dr. Roccio Rivas.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
Have gotten involved in striking with the strippers at Star Garden which later became the only unionized strip club in the country.
Why are you running for this position?
I’m running for re-election because even though the SFV branch has gotten more active during my first term, I still believe more need to done to get even more members active and to train them to become future leaders for DSA-LA.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
Since I’ve been branch coordinator for the past year, I’ve already have the experience of learn the ins and outs of what’s need to be branch coordinator.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I think the most important success would be the Power to the Tenants work with Hugo’s office. It shows the benefits of getting DSA-LA members elected to public office and helps DSA-LA advocate the policies that we believe in.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
Getting more members involved would be important areas of improvement. Many of members are specialized on certain topics and I want to help guide them to a working group/campaign that best suits them.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Getting our DSA-LA endorsed candidates to win their races and show the power of a DSA-LA endorsement.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
The biggest challenge our chapter faces is being overwhelmed with the amount of work the organization does and trying to remind members to renew their dues.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
During my time as SFV branch coordinator, I’ve been involved in each of the chapter priority resolution. I’ve helped the Mass Transit Campaign in terms of providing support for their canvas at the Noho metro station. For the power to the Tenants, I’ve have been supportive of the Burbank Tenants Union. Also on DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance, I’ve been involved in discussions with our DSA-LA endorsed candidates to discuss on how we can work together on getting our goals achieved.
Robert K
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
3-4 years
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I joined the Immigration Justice Committee, Queer Socialist working Group, and briefly Street Watch.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
No.
Why are you running for this position?
Because we need leadership.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I’ve worked with a variety of people that have different backgrounds and beliefs, and I get a long well with most people.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Getting elected officials into LA city council, as well as Hollywood Labors support of striking writers and actors. Getting DSA members, or DSA supporters into office is ofcourse incredibly important to legitimize our organization and bring us closer to a socialist future. One of the other ways of doing that is through mutual aid and support of the working class, like Hollywood Labors impressive and massively successful fundraising and strike support for the writers and actors on the picket line.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
While I myself am not sure how to answer this, I think it is important that as someone to possibly be elected to this position, that we should be asking our branch members this same question and coming together as current or future leaders to address and implement said improvements.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
I think the chapter should prioritize both the campaigning for candidates to put in office and mutual aid programs for the working class and people in need.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
I believe that the current Israel/Palestine war and genocide, the continued rise of the far right, and the current capitalist establishment and how we respond to them will be the most challenging issues ahead of us.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
I believe there will be a lot more canvassing and organizing involved.
South Central Inglewood Branch
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Westside Branch
Daniel C
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I have been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America since 2017, I joined in the wake of the first Bernie campaign.
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
Within DSA-LA I have served as a branch organizer in the westside since I first arrived in Los Angeles. I was active in the campaign to pass measure ULA, made snackpack deliveries regularly to the Sony strikers in Culver City, and served as a delegate to the 2023 DSA national convention. I am currently working as a cadre staff member and canvasser with the (DSA endorsed) Nithya Ramen campaign.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
Yes, I also have extensive experience with yDSA. I founded the first chartered yDSA chapter in the state of Kentucky while I was getting my undergraduate degree at western Kentucky university. I have served as a co-chair, treasurer, political education lead, and project lead with Western Kentucky University yDSA, and U-Chicago yDSA.
Why are you running for this position?
I am running for this position because I have the capacity to do it well. I know chapter leadership and membership well, and I believe that the westside needs experienced stewardship now that our longtime fearless leader Mark G. Is stepping down. There’s a lot of work to be done building the westside branch into a well oiled political machine, but I believe that Jenna and I are the right pair for the job.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I have more than five years of experience as a DSA leader. Both in my time in yDSA, and during my time as an active participant in chapter life and campaigns. I’ve attended many trainings over those years, covering everything from organizing conversations, to list work and canvassing. During my time leading yDSA chapters I’ve also become well acquainted with leading meetings, diffusing tensions, and assuring productive respectful conversations. Frankly, I’m also very used to the grunt work of reserving space, haranguing people into showing up to meetings, and delegating tasks.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
While the fight continues for many workers around Los Angeles in the wake of the hot labor summer. I cannot help but celebrate the victorious SAG-AFRA, WGA, and UTLA workers who have successfully given rapacious administrations and capitalists a bloody nose. DSA cadre were coordinating with and supporting these unions, serving in leadership positions within them, and advancing class struggle demands like the green new deal for public schools campaign. GND for public schools, and the revenue-positive snackpack campaign both serve as role models for what a successful chapter project can look like. This campaigns, combined with recent successes by SIO in assuring cohesion among our electeds, point towards growing political maturity within DSA-LA and give me reason to be hopeful about the chapter’s future.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I believe that the chapter needs to work on several things to continue our recent successes. There is an absence of middle-level leadership and cadre mediating between core leadership and regular membership. This is a result of long term problems with the growth and development of new membership. This has several morbid symptoms, a separation in chapter life between core leadership and average membership, difficultly communicating the reasoning behind decisions from leadership to membership, and difficulty directing effective conversations on controversial or divisive topics in the chapter. Additionally, we just don’t have enough people who are confident enough in their abilities as organizers to fill all the leadership roles we need to fill, to serve as cadre in campaigns, and to direct committee and priority campaign work. These leads to burnout, miscommunication, and individuals taking on too much work by themselves. However, there is a solution to this problem. I believe that branch coordinators should work closely with our new growth and development committee and adcom to assure that members who want to become more involved in the chapter have a clear way of doing so. I intend during my time as a branch coordinator to be in close communication with growth and development, the committees, and the priority campaigns to steer new members to work their passionate about and to level them up.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Let’s expand our city council delegation! Until March it should be all hands on deck for Nithya and Isabel. Once campaign season is over we need to follow through with our priority campaigns, and make sure that the flow of volunteers and information from the branches to Powers to the Tenants and Fair Free Transit remains strong.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
I predict that our two major challenges in the coming year will be both internal and external. Internally, we will need to deal with the growing pains of becoming a successful mass organization on the local level. It is good and productive that there are internal disputes over which union campaigns to prioritize, and over how to productively work through disagreements with our electeds. However, these disputes could easily escalate into outright factionalism and endanger the programmatic unity we’ve been able to build. I hope that the chapter and it’s leadership can keep in mind what we share in common and not what divides us. Our external challenge is that we’ve been successful enough that the capitalists are coming for us. From the redbaiting after our stand for Palestinian dignity, to the birth of entire super-PACs to defeat us an our electeds, we’ve gained the attention of some shady characters, and we need to stay sharp, get our people re-elected, and fight back.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
Mass transit for all: I take public transportation every day, and there are consistently Mass Transit for all canvasses down the street from me at Expo Palms station. I’ve noticed that mass transit is something that motivates westsiders especially, and organizing for it often serves as a good entry point for new members. I intend to do everything I can to support Mass transit for all with the resources of the westside branch, to stay in communication with its leadership, to actively provide bodies for its canvasses, and to mobilize for any escalating pressure tactics that it will embrace.
Power to the Tenants: Mark G, the previous branch coordinator, was one of the authors of the Power to the Tenants resolution and the leader of the working group. I will remain in consistent communication with him as the work develops, and make sure that the westside is represented in tenant organizer trainings, as well as in the push to prevent exorbitant rent increases in RSO buildings
Mass Working Class Co-Governance: While the westside branch doesn’t yet have any DSA city council people (key word yet), we have endorsed school board candidates who are in the west side. I will support their campaigns to the best of my ability and coordinate with them as best I can, once they are elected, I will explore with SIO what co-governance looks like in terms of the schoolboard.
Jenna C
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
2 years
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I have engaged in a variety of organizing activities, specifically canvassing work, knocking on doors and engaging in meaningful conversation for a variety of campaigns. My canvassing experience includes electoral campaigns for Hugo and Eunisses, talking to Barrington Plaza-adjacent residents as part of Power to the Tenants, and speaking to metro riders as part of Mass Transit for All.
I also have led the organization of the Westside Branch’s social meet-ups, researching and contacting venue spaces, and assisted on the DSA-LA chapter-wide holiday party planning committee. This work has been driven by my belief that social events are essential to building trusting relationships, which can be the catalyst for effecting change.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I am the creator of an event called “BiLa” which is a recurring event series for people who identify as bisexual to come together as a community and bond over our shared experiences and identities. Creating a queer event series like BiLa relates back to DSA-LA, which seeks to uplift voices of people with a variety of backgrounds and life experiences.
Why are you running for this position?
I am running for Westside Branch Coordinator because I want to be a leader in fostering other members’ passion for getting involved in DSA. I’d love to be an effective bridge between leaders in DSA and new members who are trying to get involved but don’t know where to start. I plan on putting my interpersonal and organizational skills to work to help Westside members find their niche and have our engagement flourish.
One of my goals for the 2024 year is to have at least 4 socials throughout the year for the Westside branch. I’d like each of those socials to have a corresponding community action taking place close in the calendar, so we can keep the momentum going and use the social as a catalyst for turn-out to the groundwork events. I’d also like to arrange more personalized coffee meet-ups with the new members that show up to the socials, to help them determine where their specific interests lie and what groundwork campaigns they’d like to get plugged into.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I am an extrovert and get really excited about making connections with other people and finding our commonalities. I am a very strong communicator and make sure to make others feel heard, whether that be DSA members or external organizations we need to collaborate with. I was once informed by a coworker at my day job that he always felt like I really cared to understand his perspective even when we had conflicting team interests. I think that openness will serve me very well as a Westside Branch Coordinator.
I am a problem solver by nature and highly organized – I am often the first person to make a tracker when the distribution of information starts getting too jumbled. I have a great strength in strategic and analytical thinking, which I think is necessary for the role.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
I consider our solidarity action with the writers’ and actors’ strikes to be one of the most transformative and important successes of the chapter this year. It was an amazing example of working class power winning over capitalist greed. It demonstrated that we have strength in numbers on our side, compared to the small amount of people in the ruling class elite. It restored hope that we have the power to enact change. DSA’s assistance with food and water donation throughout the strikes really gave us a great reputation in a circle of people who had perhaps only heard of us peripherally. Showing up in support of these strike actions helped to bolster the credibility of our organization, the volume of the working class voices, and likely new interest in DSA membership.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I think we can sometimes fall into the trap of having our different ideas for how to achieve a particular goal divide us, instead of uniting over our shared beliefs and vision. This can also trap us in lengthy theory discussions, where that time could be better used towards taking concrete action. I would like to improve this by nurturing trusting relationships with fellow westside members. Clear agendas for meetings created as a team, with timestamps, sent out ahead of meetings, will help to ensure these goals. I’d also ensure that after each westside branch meeting there are actionable steps for members to engage with, as well as highlighted events in the community we can turn out for. Getting members involved in a consistent way and empowered to take on more responsibility, instead of one-and-done turnouts, would be a priority of mine.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
As Branch Coordinator I will help to support all chapter Priority Resolutions, and work to activate westside members to discover which resolution they are particularly passionate about, and foster their initiation into that campaign. My particular passion is for the Power to the Tenants campaign. I live paycheck-to-paycheck and am grimly aware of how if my landlord tried to raise rent too much or evict me over illegitimate reasons, I would be out on the street. I know this is the reality for most of my friends, and we’re all working professionals. I have a vision for the future where we don’t have to live in such desperation, and the Power to the Tenants campaign gives me hope. I’m excited about a lot of action steps in the works for the upcoming 2024 year, such as disruption to AAGLA and adding a permanent resolution to the RSO.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
I think in our Power to the Tenants work, we will be challenged by going up against 12 city council-members who are not fully aligned with DSA beliefs, or in some cases are adamantly opposed. I think another challenge we will run into is in electoral politics, unseating Kevin de Leon and electing Ysabel Jurado in CD14. It will be an uphill battle but the success of the Hugo and Eunisses campaigns can serve as the blueprint, giving us the tools and experience to succeed again.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
I’m excited for the opportunities these 3 Priority Resolutions will create for our Westside Branch. I believe this will give our westside members many avenues to get passionately involved in the chapter. I think there are a lot of westside-specific actions we will be able to take, whether that is supporting westside workers who are trying to unionize, informing westside renters of their tenant rights against evictions, or building support for more metro accessibility across the westside terrain.
Ed K
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
Joined shortly after Bernie campaign ended
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
DSA 4 Fatima 2022, Nominations Committee 2023, Westside Branch Organizer
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I have been doing a variety of organizing work since I was radicalized during the occupy movement.
Why are you running for this position?
Because Mark G moved out of the branch 🙁
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I have extensive experience as a branch organizer on the westside.
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
The socialists in office program is incredibly important and will virtually guarantee success for our chapter in the future if implemented. Our elected officials are under immense pressure and guidance from DSA-LA has helped and will continue to help them to make better voting decisions and more disciplined public statements. This not only will increase our clout w the various political left adjacent political factions around LA.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I think we need to call every single member who is expiring so they get the chance to renew.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
Building the branches and Socialists in Office
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
Holdong our city council seats.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
I support all of these and agree w the chapter’s vote to prioritize these issues.
YDSA Coordinator
Gerica N
How long have you been a member of DSA-LA?
I have been a member of DSA-LA since the fall of 2021 (2 years).
What experience do you have organizing within DSA-LA? (e.g. What projects and in what capacity have you participated in DSA-LA?)
I am the founder and leader at the YDSA chapter at my college, where we support the LA chapter’s actions in addition to our own on-campus projects. Over the course of 2023, I participated in DSA-LA’s Unite Here Local 11 civil disobedience action, assisted in organizing a No Money for Massacres action at Rep. Jimmy Gomez’s office, and joined the picket line in support of WGA, SAG-AFTRA, UAW, and UTLA. In addition I represented the Los Angeles chapter in Chicago, IL at the 2023 National Convention.
Do you have any experience organizing with other organizations? If so, which and in what capacity?
I helped organize a protest in early December at the Game Awards, a large-scale awards show for the video game industry, with my YDSA chapter in collaboration with SAG-AFTRA members and Game Workers of Southern California. Its demands were for an end to a wave of game worker layoffs and the right to a union. I also organize with the UCLA chapter of Anakbayan, an international, anti-imperialist, socialist youth organization of Filipino and non-Filipino youth. I frequently participate in Unite Here actions including supporting picket lines, flyering, and helping create materials for labor actions outside of DSA-LA.
Why are you running for this position?
As a young person myself, I recognize how radical my generation is and how much of an opportunity we have to bring them into the movement. I am so proud of what my comrades in YDSA are doing as well as what my comrades in DSA-LA are doing, and being active in both myself, I am deeply familiar with how the two organizations – who have long been isolated from each other – can work in tandem for a stronger socialist movement.
What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?
I am Chair of the YDSA chapter at Gnomon School of VFX, Games & Animation. As part of this work, I regularly organize alongside YDSA chapters across the county, including at Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly Pomona, UCLA, Occidental, Cal State LA, and Cal State Fullerton. This has meant developing the same organizing skills that DSA-LA members develop: agendizing, scheduling, facilitating meetings, and building relationships with labor unions (including the California Faculty Association and the CSU Employees Union).
What are the most important successes the Local has achieved over the last year? Why do you consider these to be the most important?
Hollywood Labor’s Snack List raised more than $95,000 and the Snack Pack made a total of 500 deliveries of food and supplies to striking SAG-AFTRA and WGA members. This – in addition to the consistent picket line presence that all five DSA-LA branches organized for – was a show of strength for the chapter that improved our perception among organized labor in Los Angeles.
What are some of the most important areas of improvement for the Local? How can these improvements be made? How will you contribute to this improvement?
I think DSA-LA should aim to provide more support to LA County YDSA chapters. I aim to continue the previous Coordinator’s efforts to create a network between member-leaders at various LA campuses, and directly support their on-campus events. I also intend to encourage more coordination between their leaders and DSA-LA leaders. If I am elected to this role, I plan to appoint my comrade Jason B. as a Deputy Coordinator to interface with the DSA-LA branches, electoral campaigns, priority campaigns, committees, and Steering Committee.
What should the Local prioritize over the next year?
I think the chapter should prioritize recruitment and member development, and that YDSA can play a big role in this. YDSA chapters struggle with the time constraints of whatever academic calendar their school uses, and this can result in high member turnover. Every semester, LA-area YDSA develops a diverse, capable cadre of new working class organizers, and the LA chapter should invest resources into bringing them into our work after they graduate.
What will be the biggest challenges for the Local over the next year?
I think over the next year we will be taking on a lot: we have our chapter priority resolutions, organizing against genocide in Palestine, multiple electoral campaigns including Nithya Raman for CD4, Karla Griego and Kahlid Al-Alim for LAUSD School Board, and Ysabel Jurado for CD14, as well as whatever else the year throws at us. It will be very easy for us to be spread too thin and for members to burn out. Thus, developing more members into leaders, bringing more YDSA organizers into the fold, and expanding our capacity will be vital.
What implications will each of the Local’s Priority Resolutions have on the position you may hold? (Mass Transit for All, Power to the Tenants, and DSA-LA for Mass Working Class Co-governance)
Power to the Tenants – a large population of the students at my school rent off-campus, and struggle alongside all DSA-LA members to keep up with steadily rising costs of living. Many of us live with 4+ under a single apartment. I think students have a particularly strong case to make for decommodifying housing – we need a dignified place to live so we can focus on learning. I think YDSA members should get involved in tenant organizing, support the Socialists in Office program as it holds our electeds to high standards, and build more relationships with LA Tenants Union locals.
Power Mass Transit – colleges, high schools, and universities are major hubs for buses, trains, rideshare apps, and cyclists. The needs of many Angelenos who have no direct connection to education can be addressed by interwoven into our campaign work through transit. Many students struggle with affording the costs associated with owning and maintaining a car, and this jeopardizes our ability to succeed academically given our county’s car-dependency.
Socialists in Office – College and high school campuses provide a point of contact for elected officials and Angelenos. By having a connection to the leaders of working class movements on these campuses, DSA-LA electeds can leverage the resources and considerable platform that our schools provide to win a socialist Los Angeles.