Kristerfer Burnett, a lifelong Baltimorean, represents District 8 on the Baltimore City Council and lives in the Edmondson Village community where he and his wife, Vanessa, are third-generation homeowners. He was educated through both the Baltimore City and County public school systems. He holds degrees from the University of Maryland-College Park and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Kristerfer is a longtime community organizer, a journey that began at a young age as he watched as his grandmother organize her neighbors in an effort to save their neighborhood from the expansion of Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore. He has been a community organizer with SEIU 1199, founded Neighbors Without Borders of Greater Southwest Baltimore, and worked to create the Community Roots Leadership Development Academy as well as the Edmondson Village Farmers’ Market. Kristerfer truly believes that the most fulfilling aspects of his life have been giving back to those who need it and empowering the residents of Baltimore to be change makers.

Marcelia Nicholson is an award-winning activist, and the first Black woman and Latina elected as Chairwoman of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. Prior to her election as Board Chair, she served as 1st Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Economic & Community Development and Intergovernmental Relations committees. She sits on the board of directors of several community and national organizations, including Local Progress, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Milwaukee Public Museum. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Chairwoman Nicholson works to make opportunities that were given to her as a young woman growing up in 53206—one of the nation’s poorest and most incarcerated ZIP codes—available to others. Chairwoman Nicholson is a champion for working people, public education, economic development, and community empowerment. Her past work as a union activist, community organizer, and educator informs her policy and community work. She has authored and sponsored several significant pieces of legislation, including a $15 living wage ordinance, an eviction reduction program, a resolution establishing Juneteenth Day as a major holiday, and a declaration of racism as a public health crisis (Milwaukee County was the first county or municipality in the United States to do so). She has also secured funding for County parks, advocated on behalf of women of color seeking entrepreneurship, and fought for criminal justice reform. Chairwoman Nicholson is a proud product of Milwaukee Public Schools and is an honors graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to her first election to the Board of Supervisors in 2016, she taught 4th grade at Milwaukee Public Schools. As a member of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA), she worked to organize MTEA members and community groups for better teaching and classroom conditions. She earned recognition for her activism and dedication to Social Justice Unionism with a feature profile and cover story in the Fall 2016 edition of the National Education Association magazine. Chairwoman Nicholson is also the Director of Civic Engagement and Independent Political Power at the Center for Popular Democracy. In her spare time, Marcelia serves as a national trainer for the Progressive Governance Academy, where she trains progressive elected officials across the country on various skills, including transitioning to public leadership and setting an agenda. She also has a passion for baking and owns her own business baking cookies, cakes, and sweets.

Alexsandra Annello has been a member of the El Paso City Council since 2017. After graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and Communication, she worked with artists primarily focusing on border and immigration issues, which inspired her to run for local office. Since being elected, Alexsandra has shown a deep commitment to bringing community voices into the decision-making processes to fight for corporate accountability, workers’ rights, immigrant justice, infrastructure, and much more.

The Hon. Dr. Dorcey Applyrs has built a personal and professional life in the City of Albany devoted to improving the quality of life for residents. Dr. Applyrs currently serves as Albany’s Chief City Auditor. After being appointed to this position January 1, 2020, she was elected to serve in this capacity in the historic 2020 election. Prior to serving as Chief City Auditor, Applyrs served on the Albany Common Council representing the City’s First Ward. She was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. During her second term, she served as Chair of the Public Safety Committee.

Kendra Brooks is a Councilmember At-Large from North Philadelphia and the first Working Families Party member ever elected to City Council. She has a background in organizing for social movements, public school advocacy, gun violence prevention, and restorative justice, all of which inform her priorities as an elected official. Some of her recent accomplishments include championing eviction prevention and reforming the rental application and screening process; guaranteeing emergency paid sick time to frontline workers; expanding protections for survivors of domestic violence; and protecting neighborhood-led community gardens.

A Queens native and queer Latina, Tiffany spent years as a public defender fighting the brutal system of mass incarceration before running for office. In 2021, she became the City Council Member representing District 22, including Astoria, Rikers Island, and parts of Jackson Heights, Woodside, and East Elmhurst. In her time in the Council, she has introduced and passed legislation to support survivors of gender-based violence, protect abortion care in NYC, move homeless New Yorkers more efficiently from shelters to permanent homes, and much more. She is the co-Chair of the Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus and a member leader in Local Progress, serving on the Public Safety Steering Committee. She lives in Astoria, Queens with her two rescue pups Natalie and Ducky.

Ashley Dwire is the Director of State & Local Programs at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) where she works with SEIU locals and state councils to drive progressive issue campaigns at the state and local level that empower workers and improve the quality of life for their communities. After spending nearly a decade in the labor movement in Tennessee working with the Tennessee Labor Management Center and TN AFL-CIO Labor Council, Ashley knows the importance of workers having a voice not just at their jobs but also in their communities. Ashley has also worked to lift up the voices of low income workers through supporting progressive candidates on both the state and local level in her home state of Tennessee as well as across the country- seeing the importance of having electeds who mirror the values of their communities. In addition to serving on the Local Progress Board Ashley serves on the National Conference of State Legislators Foundation Board of Directors and works closely with SiX to support state/local electeds in their efforts to expand the right to organize and collectively bargain through traditional and new forms. Outside of work Ashley enjoys spending time with her partner, Michael and their 11 year old husky, Lily camping, hiking and taking in DC city life as well as splitting time with family in Tennessee and Vermont.

Megan Ellyia Green was elected to represent the 15th ward of St. Louis in 2014. Since assuming office, Alderwoman Green has become the progressive champion of St. Louis, fighting for a $15 minimum wage, civilian oversight of our police department, reproductive rights for women, and responsible development with community benefits. She has been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement to address racial disparities that exist within the St. Louis Community, and nation. She also currently sits on the Continuum of Care to end homelessness in the St. Louis Region. After being a surrogate for Bernie Sanders’s Campaign for President, in 2016, Alderwoman Green was elected to represent Missouri as a Member of the Democratic National Committee for the next four years and also sits on the Executive Committee for the Missouri Democratic Party. In such roles, Alderwoman Green ensures that the needs of St Louis are heard at both the State and National levels.

Alderwoman Maria Hadden is the first Black, queer woman elected to Chicago City Council. A servant-leader with a background in community organizing and participatory democracy, Maria is an independent, progressive champion of the people in the City Council. She represents the 49th Ward – dubbed, “Little Chicago,” because of the racial, ethnic, and economic demographics that most reflect Chicago’s diversity. She serves as the Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus and Chairwoman of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy. She is also a member of both the Aldermanic Black Caucus and the LGBTQ Caucus – the nation’s largest. Maria lives in Rogers Park with her wife Natalia and their two dogs, Finn and Lola.

Jillian Johnson is a former Durham City Councilmember, a long-time grassroots organizer and activist, and a mother of two. Elected in 2015, she was the first openly LGBTQ person to serve on the council and was unanimously chosen to serve as Mayor Pro Tempore from 2017-2021. She championed Durham’s first participatory budgeting initiative, is a strong advocate for affordable housing and helped secure the city’s $95 million affordable housing bond, and continues to push forward work to reimagine public safety. Jillian is a co-founder of Durham for All, serves on the board of Southern Vision Alliance and is the North Carolina State Advisor for Movement Voter Project.

In November of 2020, Kelly Kent was elected to her second term on the Culver City Unified School District Governing Board and since joining the board has successfully fought to get strategic arts and equity plans adopted, an environmental sustainability coordinator funded, a commitment to fully inclusive special education instruction Kindergarten through 12th grades, and a coalition formed with the City of Culver City working on supporting Boys and Young Men of Color through My Brother’s Keeper, along with many other equity-focused initiatives. Since she completed her PhD in neuroscience and Postdoctoral work in autism at The University of Southern California, Kelly has been taking her experience and expertise garnered at higher educational institutions and applying them to the real world around her through her organizational and educational consulting company, adaptED Consultants. Dr. Kent also teaches psychotherapy graduate students at Antioch University Los Angeles

Jerry Maldonado, Vice President of Programs, oversees PolicyLink’s cross program leadership team working to advance racial equity in our democracy, economy, and built environment. With over two decades of experience working at the intersection of civic engagement, research, policy advocacy, and philanthropy, Jerry supports the development of integrated, cross-program strategies that advance the creation of thriving communities and center the voice, vision, and dignity of low-income and BIPOC communities across the country. Prior to joining PolicyLink, Jerry served as the Director of the Ford Foundation’s Cities and States program and played a leadership role in shaping the development of the Foundation’s place conscious and equitable development grantmaking. He received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and his master’s from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. An avid traveler and hiker, Jerry and his family call New York’s Hudson Valley and Santurce, Puerto Rico home.

Eddy is the founder and principal at Morales Public Relations, where he cultivates long-term and trusted relationships with industry leaders, elected officials, funders, media sources, and influential decision makers. He has held key positions at the United States Student Association, Center for Community Change, VotoLatino, Crossroad Campaigns, and the Democracy Alliance. He currently serves as Council President for the city of Gresham, Oregon’s fourth largest city; the Treasurer for the Democratic Party of Oregon; and plays a pivotal role as a board member of the Community Catalyst, Midwest Academy, National LGBTQ Task Force, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, Local Progress, Participatory Budgeting Oregon, Oregon Recovers, Battleground Texas, East Country Rising, and the University of Oregon Alumni Association. He studied Planning, Public Policy, and Management and Spanish at the University of Oregon and currently resides in Gresham with his husband Hugh and their rescue dog Besitos.

Stephanie Morales was the first woman to be elected Commonwealth’s Attorney in her city in 2015. A month after taking office, she created sustainable programming aimed at reforming the criminal justice system. She has engaged over 150 youth which she calls “Junior Commonwealth’s Attorneys” under her “Future Leaders Initiative” program and has formed the “Social Media by the Statutes” program where her team enters the public schools to keep students on the right track. Under her “Ctrl+Alt+Del Program” she has held dialogue and taught effective re-entry strategies in seminars held in the community and inside state prisons and has helped reduce recidivism by working with formerly incarcerated citizens to restore their voting rights and help them become productive community members. Three months into Morales’ first term an officer in her city killed an unarmed teen. Morales secured an indictment and led the prosecution at jury trial, leading to a voluntary manslaughter conviction of the officer, and resulting in police accountability in her city. She is a fierce advocate for justice and a wife and mother of four children.

Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda was elected in November 2017 and reelected in 2021 as a Labor Democrat to serve the over 725,000 residents in Seattle as the citywide Councilmember in Position 8 for a four-year term. Mosqueda’s top priority on City Council is promoting healthy communities, lifting up working families, and creating more affordable housing for all residents through the city. Mosqueda works every day to build an economy that works for all, and has dedicated her career to amplifying the voices of the most vulnerable in our communities. She chairs the Finance and Housing committee – shepherding the entire Council through budgets and was named one of Seattle’s Most Influential People in 2018 for her work on critical legislation in her first year in office, followed up by receiving the same award for being one of Seattle’s Most Influential People in 2021. Teresa was awarded the Local Progress 2019 Ady Barkan Progressive Champion Award. She is also the first first-time candidate in the Nation to win using publicly financed campaign vouchers committed to only taking small dollar contributions and engaging new voters with Democracy Vouchers. Mosqueda is a Board Member of the National League of Cities, appointed to their National Housing Affordability Taskforce, and is on the Human Development Committee.

A’Dorian is a proud champion of children and strong public education systems. In 2019, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the Newark School Board, the state’s largest public school district. Last year she made history again as the youngest person ever elected to the Essex County Commission, where she now works to ensure young people see themselves as having a seat at the table. She has been a member leader in Local Progress, playing a critical role on the network’s inaugural School Board Steering Committee.

Gabriela Santiago-Romero (sher/her) is an immigrant from Mexico and a Southwest Detroit native. She’s the former Policy and Research Director at We The People MI based in Detroit. She earned her master of social work studying Social Policy and Evaluation with a focus on Community and Social Systems from the University of Michigan. She has made history by becoming the first out female LGBTQ Detroit councilmember and the first queer Latina legislator in the state of Michigan. She’s a community activist and organizer who has extensive experience working for Detroit nonprofits and local government. Love and food fuel her work.

Thomas Walker is the Assistant to the Vice-President for Communications Workers of America’s Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Sector. He got involved in politics through the anti-war movements of the early 2000s and living wage solidarity organizing, and he went on to be an early member of United Campus Workers, organizing Southern public workers denied collective bargaining rights. He spent nearly a decade as a rank-and-file activist and leader in UCW, before joining CWA staff to develop political and campaign programs–especially in a statewide fight to defeat mass privatization in Tennessee. He has managed numerous local and state legislative campaigns for progressive, pro-labor women of color. His work is focused on building up the independent political power of the working class, and organizing public sector workers especially in the South and Southwest. Thomas is an avid reader, hiker, dancer, and reluctant resident of Washington DC.