I was born and raised in Central and East Austin and graduated from LBJ High School. Aside from my time at the University of Chicago earning my degree in Environmental Studies and Macroeconomics, I have spent my entire life in this city. For nearly 20 years I have worked to make our city a better place for all Austinites. 

My professional work as a community organizer began when I was 20 years old at the environmental justice group, People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources (PODER) in East Austin. There I learned about the public and private forces that created our city’s disparities, as well as the people’s history of grassroots efforts to improve health and quality of life East of I-35 and citywide. I later took a job at the nonprofit Marathon Kids, where I stayed for nearly a decade, creating a program called the “Wellness Team Initiative,” which engaged parents and teachers at 18 elementary schools in Austin’s Eastern Crescent to increase fitness and nutrition opportunities in their communities. This organizing work is how I got to know communities in North and South Austin, and developed an understanding of issues that were so frequently ignored in city council. 

This experience and my expertise as a land-use scholar drove me to take part in a citywide grassroots campaign in 2013 to achieve 10 single-member city council districts. I subsequently served on the inaugural Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission which took citywide testimony for a year and created our first map with single-member city council districts in 2014. I later served on and chaired the City’s Latino Quality of Life Commission, co-crafting budget recommendations for Fiscal Years 2017, 2018, and 2019. I then joined the City’s Planning Commission during the once-in-a-generation Land Development Code rewrite, often lifting the voices of those displaced by redevelopment or seeking more deeply affordable housing.

For nearly 10 years, I have served the community through grassroots organizing, collaborating with residents, advocates, and local leaders to drive positive change and address pressing community needs, Together, we have successfully leveraged tens of millions of dollars in infrastructural, retail, and programmatic improvements in the Dove Springs, South Austin, Rundberg, and St. John's areas. We’ve done this through collaboration & advocacy with thousands of residents and community leaders and dozens of organizations, governmental partners, and stakeholders. 

I am proud to have worked alongside the diverse communities in North, South, East, and West Austin for the past 18 years as a community organizer and former City Commissioner to fight for common-sense infrastructure, policy, programs, and initiatives that improved quality of life and realized a more just and inclusive city. In this time I have witnessed our city innovate, change, and grow to become a beacon of progress in our state and across the nation.  

But being a big city has come with big city issues. Rising unaffordability has made living in Austin harder and harder for communities to hold onto. Climate disaster paired with politicians who put power before people has forced Austinites to face dangerous circumstances. Our progressive values have brought on the wrath of our Governor and state lawmakers, who have worked to stifle our voices and undermine our progress. But time and time again in the face of unaffordability, natural disasters, and attacks on our local control, Austinites have banded together to defend our home. 

We're at a crossroads in Austin's history.

I am running for Mayor because Austinites deserve a Mayor who will fight alongside them. 

I am running for Mayor because I believe that our city government should work for all of us. 

I am running for Mayor because Austinites of all incomes deserve a high quality of life in the city we built. 

Together we CAN build an Austin that:

• Is climate resilient and sustainable

• Is affordable for all

• Has accountable, transparent, community-driven leadership

The hardworking people who contribute every day to our city’s culture and success deserve to thrive here. As Mayor I will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with you, my neighbors, to protect our communities from displacement, disaster, and state-overreach. 

As Mayor I will collaborate with and answer to our diverse community. I will ensure that all Austinites have a say instead of allowing special interests to continue to decide our future. Unlike the current administration, I will not sell out our communities to big businesses, and politicians in backroom deals for political gain. I will not relent in protecting our local control. My leadership will draw on the wisdom of our community members and learn from our history to ensure that Austin leverages our rich economy to carry out our promises of affordability, climate-readiness, reliable infrastructure, and environmental protection for all Austinites. 

Together, we can build a thriving future for all Austinites.

Help me bring the people of Austin into the conversation. Join our community-driven campaign by volunteering, donating, or getting a yard sign and help make our vision of a thriving future for Austinites of all incomes a reality.