Role Description: Coordinates public-facing statements from the chapter, including on our website and social media, but encompassing other media as well.

Candidate: Claire P.

Claire P. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism is the only option to create a livable world for the working class by eliminating capitalist modes of economic organization and their interrelated oppressions. To do this, we must contest and take state power by organizing and aligning the working class into a powerful coherent force.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA in June 2021. I was inspired to join because DSA was the only political force in my community that had a positive vision to transform society and address the challenges I, my loved ones, and my community encounter trying to build a life under capitalist economic organization.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

In DSA-LA, I started out as a Westside Branch Organizer and Power to the Tenants working group member. I first took on leadership as a Labor Committee coordinator and was then elected to be the Communications Director in 2023. Prior to my time in LA, I was on the Sacramento DSA Steering Committee for a year and a half, organizing on the international, mutual aid, and labor committees.

I am a labor organizer and electoral organizer. I am currently organizing non-tenure track faculty at USC with UAW and previously worked as a field organizer on the Ysabel Jurado campaign. In Sacramento, I organized against a ballot measure which introduced an ordinance much like 41.18. In that work, I coordinated media strategy and facilitated press conferences as well as organizing canvasses.

I have organized my own workplace in some capacity ever since my first job as a lifeguard when I was 16, where we marched on the boss with a petition against new dress code requirements.

Why are you running for this position?

Our democratic socialist vision is becoming less marginal as the working class coheres into a political force. Media relations are a terrain of struggle where we can articulate this vision and counter the accusations of class enemies.

I want to continue and expand on the work I’ve piloted over the last year. Under my leadership, the comms committee has recruited a team of creative members who are leveling up our communications skills and strategies. There is a huge talent pool among our membership and I want to keep expanding our comms capacity by tapping into this pool. I also want to develop a media relations 101 for our priority campaign chairs, chapter co chairs, and broader leadership. This has been a pretty good media year for the chapter and I have developed stronger ties to reporters and creators in Los Angeles and that has benefited our chapter priorities.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I’ve served as the communications director in DSA-LA for the past year. I’ve strategically cohered internal and external communications during challenging moments over the last election cycle. I’ve developed relationships with media allies, creative members, and communications directors in our broader coalition groups. This is work that needs to be expanded upon in the coming year in order for us to build our movement.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

We won at the ballot box. We organized to get Karla Griego and Ysabel Jurado into office successfully. A quarter of the city council seats in the city of Los Angeles are occupied by DSA members. Over the past year, I’ve seen a major uptick in new, highly skilled organizers taking on leadership roles. As it relates to comms, we’ve had a pretty decent press year locally. I think this is a consequence of our political program becoming popular through our electoral and priority campaigns.

Areas for improvement, I want to build out more capacity and consistency in our communications committee and do comms planning as an element of each priority campaign. I’d also like to develop more intentional comms plans for our big events like convention, chapter meetings, mass meetings etc.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Recruitment and member development. We need to develop the current influx of new members into strong organizers that can defend and broaden our project over the next year and beyond.

We need to prepare ourselves for the greater organization of LA cops, landlords, and other class enemies further coordinating as a block against us and our goals.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Good communications are an organizing tactic. I plan to develop a media training program for priority campaign chairs/spokespeople so we are ready for press inquiries. I want to build out a stronger communications committee that includes members of the priority campaign working groups. 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.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

Last year I ran the chapter’s local programming for Organizing for Power training. It went well, many of the members trained up in this organizing series went on to lead priority working groups, electoral campaign working groups, and committees. I want to replicate this in February when the series is run again. I want to use this series to build out future priority campaign organizers and communications committee organizers.

Role Description: Responsible for the chapter’s funds and financial recordkeeping. They will help ensure membership dues are paid and up to date, keep our local budget, and produce financial reports both for convention and as requested by Steering.

Candidates: Laura A. & Andre A.

Laura A. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

A democratically elected system that works for the working class.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I first became interested in the DSA in 2016, and became a member shortly after. Late stage capitalism and the deterioration of democracy pushed me to be involved in an alternative. In the past year I have become increasingly involved and am currently a member of the new events committee.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I have been hitting the streets since since the 90’s advocating for peace, gun control and climate change, and in more recent years, equal rights, and genocide.

Why are you running for this position?

I have been looking to be more active in the DSA and feel like this position would be a good fit based on my skill set.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I have about 20 years of experience in TV Production which includes coordinating, management, scheduling, budgeting and finance. I also have some experience with business taxes.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

It seems like a lot of work has been done by the current Treasurer and I would like to continue to maintain and move forward.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Local initiatives, like tenants’ rights and public transportation.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

As treasurer I would prioritize funding and fundraising for Priority Campaigns. As well as weighing the fiscal impact of the priority campaigns so that we can have the most impact with the limited resources.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

Because membership is tied to finance, as treasurer I would continue to work on growing membership, development and engagement.

Andre A. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism is a world where the working class has true democratic control over the society they live within and can affect the economic, civic, and social environments to ensure all thrive equitably.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA shortly after Bernie’s second run in 2020. Prior to DSA, I had worked with my local Democratic Party club before becoming dissatisfied with the constant focus on election and re-election cycles, where party leaders would opt to gather and spend political capital in maintaining the status quo or re-election instead of enacting policies that was for the betterment of the oppressed and working class.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Prior to DSA, I volunteered as an organizer and canvasser for various local and statewide Democratic campaigns. I’ve also been recommended to and taken on Field Organizer training through progressive democratic nonprofits which I’ve applied to the aforementioned campaigns.

Within DSA, I started work with the Communications team and into Admin Committee and eventually into Recording Secretary and Treasurer. Over the past year, I’ve worked to reduce the administrative debt that the Treasury has built up in regard to bookkeeping and the development of responsible policies. I hope to continue that in 2025. In addition to this role in Steering, I work in the SFV branch organizing committee.

Why are you running for this position?

There is still lots of work to be done. 2024 was spent learning the ropes of DSA-LA’s treasury and catching up on 3+ years of financial records and getting our formerly unregulated accounts in order. I will commit to building out the chapter’s fundraising for the chapter to support expanded chapter organizing and ensure the chapter is in a stable financial place post-separate incorporation from National.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I worked as the Treasurer in 2024 and have an attention to detail built through study as an engineer. My experience in AdCom and after serving on past Steering Committees also provides me an understanding of how the chapter functions to be able to enact change with agility.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

DSA-LA has succeeded in building out opportunities to foster political discussion and debates as well as the ability to quickly and democratically respond to external factors. The launch of our chapter’s Socialists in Office program as well as our Palestine Solidarity WG are fantastic examples of organizing in 2024 that we should aim to continue to grow our movement.

The San Fernando Valley Branch has also seen significant growth with the support of Jillian Burgos’ campaign, Power to the Tenants work, and Palestine Solidarity WG. This growth is a prime example of the mutual relationship our branches and chapter campaigns complement each other; the branches recruit and maintain a base of membership to bolster the chapter’s work and the chapter’s campaigns provide a focal point for organizing within our branches.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

In 2024, I emphasized during Treasurer Reports that membership is not only the organizing core but also the financial core of our organization. This belief still holds true as our chapter projects require funding, a majority of which comes from our membership. As such, DSA-LA ought to focus on intentional member development and recruitment. Our leadership should focus on providing political education, organizing skills training, and mentoring to consistently guide members through the motions to find their organizing home in DSA.

Externally, DSA-LA ought to strengthen relationships with unions, community organizations, and immigrant rights groups within Los Angeles to solidify the left-labor political bloc, especially given the foreboding national climate. These relationships are crucial in building coalitions that must work together to defend against an administration looking to harm immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, and the working class.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

The Treasurer’s role takes on a more indirect role to support priority campaigns, but ensuring that our chapter’s finances are balanced for the long term and that our financial base expands through effective fundraising to ensure DSA-LA can continue implementing priority campaigns. Additionally, as Treasurer I will continue working to ensure our financial and budget structures keep pace and grow with our organization and minimize the potential internal and external risk brought to our organization by bad faith actors.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I believe my position is a key player in evaluating the health of our membership’s growth, development, and engagement by working with the Recording Secretary to prepare statistics to information the leadership of the state of our membership. On the other hand, the Treasurer ought to work with the rest of Steering to provide a democratic stage whereby the chapter can affect its direction. This is especially relevant as we will not be organizing around an electoral candidate in 2025 and now it is time to turn internally to further build out the foundations of the chapter and develop our membership while we have some breathing room

I also hope to continue last year’s Steering’s policy of promoting member participation in shaping the strategies and priorities of the chapter through more facilitated breakout groups at chapter meetings, and hoping to level up those members to greater stages such as CA DSA or nationally.

Role Description: Takes minutes at all Steering meetings, disseminates them to membership, and is the official record keeper for the chapter, including maintaining our membership records in conjunction with Admin committee.

Candidate: Mark G.

Mark G. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

I see Democratic Socialism as the project of raising the consciousness of working people, engaging in deliberation to form collective plans of action, and cohering an ever increasing number of working people around a program to build power for the working class so that we can shape the conditions under which we live. We build this power by organizing in our buildings, workplaces, and state institutions.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA-LA in April of 2017, in the wake of Trump’s first election. I felt a need to do something to respond to the barbarism of the Trump administration’s border policy and the far right’s attacks on immigrants and public schools. I found a political home in DSA in virtue of my comrades’ commitment to an internationalist vision, universal public goods, labor solidarity and class struggle, and the innumerable opportunities the work we engage in provides to grow our collective capacities.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

In 2024, I have served as Recording Secretary, Power to the Tenants Co-Chair, as a member of the steering committee of CA DSA’s campaign for Props 5 and 33, and a co-author to the Local Convention resolutions of Power to the Tenants – Part II and Socialists in Office: Advancing a Program of Mass Politics. I have also been working to build the South Central/Inglewood Branch Organizing Committee. I canvassed for Ysabel Jurado, Jillian Burgos, and Karla Griego and organized and led canvasses for our Power to the Tenants’ RSO and Prop 33 campaigns.

I co-authored our 2023 Power to the Tenants priority campaign resolution, and served as Westside Branch Coordinator for 2022 and 2023.

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’ve also been working to bring the Keep LA Housed coalition into deeper coordination with labor unions around housing issues, and I chaired the outreach and turnout committee for the Raise the Wages, Lower the Rent Tenant Worker Solidarity March.

Outside of DSA, I am an active member of SEIU 721. I have been involved in organizing my workplace in higher education and helped lead an organizing drive to unionize non-tenure track faculty. We won our vote to unionize with nearly 90% support, and I am currently serving on the bargaining team.

Why are you running for this position?

I think I have carried out the duties of Recording Secretary competently, but I have room to improve, and I want to continue working to build our chapter and to cohere a left labor bloc that advances the Democratic Socialist program.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I have served as a Branch Coordinator and a priority campaign co-chair, which has provided me with a good understanding of chapter structures, our theory of change, and practical strategy. I’m a decent typist and note taker, and have taken minutes during debates at chapter meetings to disseminate to membership broadly to help inform member deliberation. I have a good working knowledge of Actionnetwork and Actionbuilder and can pull lists for targeted recruitment and facilitate tracking of member engagement.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

We’ve expanded our bloc on LA City Council and LAUSD School Board while developing newer members into leaders through our campaigns. We have also built out strong campaigns that have facilitated membership development. I think we have room to grow in bringing our Branches and priority campaigns into closer, synergistic coordination, and I think developing coordinated plans between the Branches, Growth and Development, and, and the priority campaigns can help us develop further; I will not be taking on as many roles and so will be able to dedicate more time to this.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Build out membership development practices and structures, onboard members, and work to deliberately grow our effective capacities in order to continue to expand our bloc of electeds and prepare for the labor struggles of 2026-2028.

We need to updates to the DSP in light of our advances over the past few years.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

As Recording Secretary, I have been responsible for maintaining membership lists and records of steering meetings. I have worked to facilitate communication between steering, priority campaigns, and the Branches through Branch Coordinator Meetings. I have set up member engagement tracking between Actionnetwork and Actionbuilder in order to help the Branches and priority campaigns identify and facilitate member development.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

The Recording Secretary maintains membership lists and works with other chapter bodies to create and maintain structures for membership engagement, including the website, Actionnetwork and Actionbuilder. I have provided regular updates regarding membership numbers to Steering and the Branches and have worked with Growth and Development in membership recommitment, retention, and growth. For 2025, I would like us to organize another cohort for Organizing for Power’s Core Fundamentals (About O4P’s Core Fundamentals) I also have helped bottomline phonebanks, provided trainings on Actionnetwork and Actionbuilder, and provided regular membership data updates to chapter leadership.

Role Description: Coordinates the activity of committees, working groups and branches. They help make these activities transparent, accessible and participatory, and report to the Steering committee on how campaigns are progressing. They also help coordinate external relationships with other organizations.

Candidate: Noah C.

Noah C. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism to me means that in order to reach our end goal of socialism we need to build a multiracial, generational, popular working class movement that can build state power, labor power, and community power to improve workers’ lives while also limiting the power of capital.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA in 2017 and have been active in the Eastside+SGV branch since 2022. I joined the Branch Organizing Committee in 2023 and was elected Branch Coordinator for 2024. I believe DSA is the best chance we have for creating a better world and am inspired by all the work members have done over the past 8 years. The Sanders campaign showed us that there is a real desire for democratic socialist politics in the US and DSA is the main vehicle we have for continuing the movement.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Inside of DSA I have served as a branch organizer, Coordinator, DSA-CA delegate, and volunteered with many different campaigns from electoral or labor to housing work. I took part in the Organizing for Power training this year where we also learned the importance of various organizing strategies. As Branch Coordinator this year I worked on organizing our branch by having a system to engage and develop new members (rose buddies), having roles and tasks for every person on our BOC to work on, bottomlining regular 101s, political development through a series called Socialist Summer School, and having purposeful branch meetings to inform, engage, and plug members into DSA work. I think we had a great team running our branch this year and I’m proud to have been a part of it.

Outside of DSA I have mostly been involved in labor organizing. I started a campaign to organize the non profit where I worked after college, spending two years learning how to run a union organizing drive and learning skills like running a meeting, setting up a phonebank, having a 1-1 conversation, and more. I later became a teacher and have been active in my teacher’s union, currently as a member of UTLA where I serve as a vice-chair at my school. serve on our Area Steering Committee, our House of Representatives, the bargaining team for our upcoming contract, and on the UTLA Housing Task Force where we are trying to pressure LAUSD into turning vacant land into social housing.

Why are you running for this position?

I am running for Steering because I believe that I helped develop our Eastside+SGV branch over the past year and want to share some of the practices I put into place with other branches and our campaigns. I want to be part of ‘leveling up’ DSA. We have done a lot of great work over the past few years but need to work on cohering as one strong force in LA. With my experience organizing a DSA branch and organizing in various union campaigns I think I can be a part of that.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I am biased but I think teachers make great organizers. Part of teaching is ‘backwards planning’ where you choose an end goal, then list the skills or resources you’ll need to get there, then create plans to develop those skills or resources to start on the path towards your goal. I think organizing benefits from that same approach and it’s something I’ve been using in the socialist and labor movement for most of my adult life.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

DSA-LA has achieved a lot over the past few years, from getting candidates elected, building relationships with community coalitions and fighting for working class reforms, to organizing in the labor movement to build a left labor alliance. We need to do a better job of coherering around a shared vision as a movement both internally but also that we can share with allies. Often our work is ‘siloed’ and just focuses on the task or problem in front of our branch or campaign. We need to coordinate together to make sure all our campaigns and branches are working towards a shared goal.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

DSA-LA should focus on creating and cohering around a shared vision fow how we move LA forward. Our Steering Committee should be the main driver in supporting our branches and campaigns to make sure we are doing that.

We should also prioritize training our members to make sure they have the skills to organize and become future leaders.
I also think some of our main tasks will be strengthening our relationships and working more closely with the elected officials, labor unions, and coalition partners we’ve worked with over the past few years.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

As campaigns coordinator I think one of my main tasks would be supporting our priority campaigns, making sure they have the resources and materials they need. Our steering committee should also be working to help our campaigns have goals that align with our Democratic Socialist Program. We also need to have our branches and campaigns work more closely together with campaign members serving on BOCs, branch meetings having time to talk about campaign work, and planning events together.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

A main goal of all of our campaigns and branches should be recruiting new members and developing current ones. Our steering commitee should work to support campaigns and branches in creating recruitment goals and trainings/activities to develop skills and leadersip in active members.

Role Description: These 5 officers don’t have specific delegated tasks in our bylaws, but they are also part of our steering committee and share the responsibility of guiding the chapter’s work according to our priority resolutions and mission.

Candidates: Aida A, Brian E, Dana K, Marc K, Jenn M, Clayton R, Benina S

Aida A. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

It is an opportunity to make a more egalitarian society. By supporting a more horizontal economy, where resources are shared amongst the people, rather than exploited by a few, and decisions are made more directly by the people rather than a small ownership class. A democratic socialist government would allow for equity, and a sustainable society.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

April 2024. I was inspired to join because of the wins that I saw DSA achieving both in Congress and in LA City Council. I wanted to be a part of that movement, but I also wanted to reengage the political activist work that I used to perform when I was younger and make a difference in local politics.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I have experience organizing at many levels: in high school I helped organize my school, worked with an organization to build up a student group that led a walk-out of almost half the student body; in college I was involved with multiple organizations from NION to Codepink in anti-war efforts, and I was involved in on-campus organizing efforts, this also included a unionizing effort for outsourced workers on campus, fundraising, event organizing, civil disobedience, protest organizing, and related activities; since college I have been involved in the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council and conduct outreach with the councilmember through there; I have done canvassing from multiple campaigns since I was 17; within DSA I have worked with the Palestine working group; I have worked with JVP for Palestine related advocacy efforts; I have worked with international NGOs in drafting press releases and doing research for advocacy efforts related to international migrants’ rights; and other activities.

Why are you running for this position?

I want to see a more organized structure, I want to see better leadership, and I want to see more diverse voices in DSA-LA.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I have a lot of organizing experience, I have knowledge of the landscape and the law in LA, I have experience working with local city leaders on issues, I have a unique background that gives me insight.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

I think electing more DSA leaders to city council has been a great success. I think a failure is not having a more organized and structured organization and the lack of experienced organizers in leadership. I plan on providing more experience and knowledge. I feel like the Palestine messaging could have been much better, and I think in general DSA can improve on its messaging. I feel some of it comes across as alienating, elitist, and patronizing, and I would like to see messaging that is inclusive, and targeted to the working class in LA.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

It should prioritize trying to build an alternative to the Democratic Party, and working with other organizations. It should not put itself out as the ‘solution to fascism’ but rather a part of the solution where we need to learn to work together to create a better world and this is the most important thing we can do when we are faced with growing inequity and climate change.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I am a housing rights attorney, and have an understanding of housing that will be important for the tenants rights campaign; I have an extensive background advocating for Palestine and can be an asset to that campaign and am already working with multiple groups regarding the issue; I have been a multi-mobility advocate for years now, and can bring knowledge to the transit issue; I have worked on all of the DSA candidate campaigns and would bring that understanding and experience.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I believe I can give insight and leadership into improving our membership, our image, and how to better engage the public due to my experience and insight. Having this platform will help dramatically improve DSA for the better. I envision this, I need to be given the platform, trust, and support from leadership to do so.

Brian E. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism means a system practice of governance by the people (real persons, not legal fictions) – where each person has a voice and a vote to best reflect their own tangible matierial needs, as part of a whole. For the moment, where under capitalism the value of one’s labor is dictated by an owner class whose primary goal is the accumulation of wealth over the tangible needs of real persons – this means a far more equitable allocation/distribution of wealth, shared ownership, primarily by those who provide such said labor.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

Early 2021. I heard of DSA from a podcast. I took the opportunity to spend more time taking action and less time theorizing.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Inside DSA: Mutual Aid Committee co-Admin(2023) co-Chair(2024), Branch Organizing Committee(Central), Snack Pack, phone-banking, Marshal Training, Medic Training, HnH protests, Street Watch. Finance & Fundraising WG, all roles within a formal meeting (not at the same time) ex: facilitator, Child Watch co-Head, Free Store Coalition, distribution of campaign fliers at MA events.

Outside DSA: building relationships with Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network, Aetna Street Solidarity, Van Nuys Mutual Aid, Food Not Bombs LA, projects/protests for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, D2 & D13 Councilmember election canvassing (Lead) – postcarding, SELAH, Food Forward, Bernie Sanders 2020, Palestine-related art projects.

Why are you running for this position?

I think my skill set is suited for a variety of organizing issues.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I’ve already managed to navigate the complexities of a good number of organizations, policies, varying social dynamics, etc.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

We’ve managed to take a number of local elected seats. This goal is longer-term. Slowly but surely.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Labor, Palestinian support efforts, Housing, Immigration.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

To communicate with those more knowledgeable in any given area. To accept differing viewpoints.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I think the current plan is good. With an emphasis on encouraging attendance for new members at a Committee/Event they have not yet tried. To broaden the horizen of possibilities/options.

Dana K. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

At this stage, democratic socialism is the left-most pole of mainstream American political life. Our political program combines elements with broad popular support (medicare for all, strong worker protections, robust social supports) with the positions that leftists must constantly champion in the heart of the world’s failing imperial power (anti-war, civil and human rights, care and safety over punishment and state violence.) This position has kept DSA walking an uneasy line between the progressive “establishment” and an outsider militancy. It is the job of leaders in DSA to maintain this position as we develop organizers capable of moving the democratic socialist program forward, prioritizing human dignity and quality of life over the profit and rents of our exploiters.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA in the summer of 2018 when the Trump administration’s family separation policy was in full effect. I was attending lots of local rallies and marches, but struggled with feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. Around the same time, AOC won her first upset victory in New York. I began attending DSA meetings with the Anti-Racism and Socialist Feminist Working Groups in the Chicago chapter. Soon I learned that feeling powerless is a feature cultivated in American politics, and that getting organized for political power is the cure.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

As a member of the Immigrant Rights subcommittee in Chicago DSA, I helped found a campaign against a well-connected blue-city nonprofit that operates child migrant detention centers. I served on the chapter’s executive committee (and as a steering member of my local branch) for a year, and also spent a year in leadership of the chapter’s political education and policy committee. We organized night schools, organizer trainings, walking tours, and revitalized the chapter’s Labor 101 and Socialist Feminism 101 sessions. I am currently working on re-establishing the CA DSA 101. In my job I represent workers experiencing wage theft, and participate in a rank & file group in my unionized workplace.

Why are you running for this position?

I was recruited by comrades for a unity slate. I am politically independent and do not caucus with any group. My intention is to work in good faith with anyone who is interested in consolidating political power for the working class through all channels available to us, my primary focus being the labor movement.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I spent about a decade as a project manager in corporate jobs before moving to the public sector – my time management, collaborative problem-solving and spreadsheet skills are always helpful in organizing contexts. I also have insights into state labor policy and politics through my job in California’s labor department.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

Successes include DSA-LA’s continuing electoral ground game excellence – the DSA Difference() of committing real resources to an endorsement. Areas to improve include, as always in a member organization, offering people meaningful, sustainable ways to contribute to the shared project. My strengths and interests are primarily outside the electoral sphere and I want to help people engage in these ways.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

1. Consistent and systematic absorption and activation of members seeking a political home with a simple message: we will actively fight the billionaires and bosses who think they own our bodies, our labor, our world and our futures
2. Strengthen DSA’s position in the labor movement with an eye to widespread action in 2028
3. Develop the SIO program at a time when the Democratic coalition is in flux and fascists are at the door

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Engagement with priority campaigns involves diffusing decision-making power and providing stable, supportive forums for this decision-making to happen. Steering is then responsible for providing the resources campaigns need to make meaningful progress.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

We grow by showing up in the fights that matter, winning real gains for working people, and giving people back the agency that capital steals from our lives. Plus, every steering member has got to be ok with doing plenty of old fashioned list work

Marc K. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism means to me a world where the working class is highly organized and politized and holds democratic control of the economic, political, and social institutions that shape societies across the globe.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA in 2019 after seeing the Los Angeles chapter actively supporting labor struggles like the UTLA Strike and immigration struggles like the ICE Out of LA campaign. Seeing the work of DSA-LA members active in these struggles inspired me to become a member.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Over the last 6 years, I have developed a well-rounded skillset organizing in the areas of labor, electoral, climate, and issue-based campaigns inside and outside of DSA.

Inside DSA I have organized and held leadership roles locally and 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, Green New Deal for Public Schools LA campaign, and Karla Griego for LA Unified School Board 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 DSA-LA’s Campaigns Coordinator supporting our priority campaigns, and I also provide support to the chapter’s Palestine Solidarity Working Group.

Outside of DSA, I organize within my union (SEIU 1000) 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 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 the Steering Committee At-Large position because I believe I can make important contributions at the leadership level to 1) help grow and sustain membership; 2) support new chapter leaders with their organizing and learning how to effectively navigate our organization; and 3) provide political leadership that orients and prepares the chapter for the political struggles we will face over the next year.

Further, if elected to the Steering Committee, I will run for the role of chapter Co-Chair because I believe my experience in leadership, my involvement in rigorous campaign work that engages working-class communities, the organizational relationships I have helped the chapter build with unions and community organizations, and my ability to organize with a diversity of comrades make me a strong candidate for the role.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I have skills and experience in utilizing external facing campaigns to engage with working class communities and organizations. Through campaign work I have been able to organize with people who are not yet DSA members, familiarize them with DSA’s work, bring them closer to our organization, and ask them to become members.

I also have an eye for identifying easy on-ramps to onboard new DSA members into the chapter and get them organizing. This past year, I worked with our Political Education Committee and Branches to roll out DSA101s across all the Branches. Helping coordinate Branch-based DSA101s was an important step to increase opportunities and capacity to bring in new members and center the Branches as a place for regular political engagement and building camaraderie between members living in the same area.

I have a good understanding, fine-tuned from 5 years of organizing in major DSA campaigns and projects, of how to navigate the organization and can be a resource for new leaders learning their way through the chapter. It can sometimes be overwhelming to be new organizers trying to figure out how to navigate the structures of DSA-LA, DSA national, and communicate and organize effectively with other leaders and comrades. I can share what I know to make the learning process easier.

Finally, I have put in the work to advance the idea that to build a working class movement that can overcome capitalism we must form a left-labor political force that merges the power, resources, and energy of the labor and socialist movements. I believe DSA-LA must pursue a left-labor strategy to continue winning locally and lay the groundwork for achieving socialism in our lifetime. I have spent my time in DSA working with unions ranging from rank-and-file members to leadership and staff to align their goals and strategies with DSA-LA’s goals and strategies. Because of this work, I have developed skills that make me an effective messenger and representative of our chapter, and as a result, I believe we are increasingly recognized as a reliable partner in struggle by the labor movement.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

An important improvement in DSA-LA this year was every Branch being able to host a DSA101 by mid-year. I was happy to play a role in bringing that together, and if elected to Steering Committee I will continue to work with our Branches and Political Education Committee to expand the number of members who are trained and experienced in running DSA101s so we have a steady stream of onboarding opportunities to familiarize and bring new members into DSA.

Compared to 2023, DSA-LA made advancements in creating more opportunities for political discussion and debates at chapter meetings, and it is an area that the chapter can continue to improve upon in 2025. Personally, it has been encouraging to see breakout group discussions and debates at our chapter meetings this year, where members have discussed our priority campaigns, debated our candidate endorsements, debated the orientation of our issue-based committees, and discussed how DSA should organize and respond to a Trump presidency and a growing fascist movement. I would like to do more to integrate facilitated breakout group discussions at our chapter meetings focusing on our priority campaign strategies, organizing goals we want to achieve as a chapter, and the role of Los Angeles in relation to national DSA as we head toward DSA’s national convention in the Summer of 2025.

This year, I was glad to see reforms to the Socialist in Office (SIO) program pass at our chapter convention. I helped early on in getting Branch Liaisons brought into the SIO Committee after the resolution passed. While there are more touchpoints from Branches, Priority Campaigns, and Steering Committee involved in SIO, I do think the committee and the liaisons need more support in ensuring that communication is happening across the chapter with regard to the work of the SIO Committee and that member input is making its way back to the committee. In addition to SIO being a regular component of Branch Meetings and Chapter Meeting discussions, I think if elected to Steering Committee I would like to work with the SIO Committee to have regular reports that can be sent out to members about what SIO is working on and plan more SIO Committee meetings that are open to members to give comment and feedback.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

We are seeing an upsurge in people joining DSA and chapter leadership must prioritize efforts to continue the new member recruitment more intentionally, and we must get better at member retention and getting people in motion by facilitating easy on-ramps to get involved with our campaigns and chapter work. We must avoid repeating the errors of the past where new members join and there is not a consistent way to be brought in and guided on how to get more involved.

Additionally, leadership should prioritize organizing and leadership development through political education, organizing skills development, and mentoring. These are things I wish I could have done more of as the Campaigns Coordinator this past year and would like to spend more time focusing on in 2025 if elected to the Steering Committee.

Finally, chapter leadership must strengthen our relationships with unions, immigrant rights groups, community organizations, and other base-building organizations to grow the left-labor political bloc in Los Angeles and protect and advance the electoral, policy, and organizing wins we have achieved. I believe strengthening these organization-to-organization relationships and being bold with DSA-LA’s priorities and political vision will be crucial to moving past the sometimes risk-averse nature of traditional labor-community coalition dynamics, especially as we face down a Trump-led federal government and fascist political forces that are determined to inflict harm on immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, communities of color, and the working class.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

My role on Steering Committee to implement our priority campaigns is working to ensure they are actively discussed with our members, especially newer members, and it is clear how they can get more involved. While some members join the campaign working groups, we need to improve our internal member activation and engagement in campaign tactics like calling elected representatives, signing digital action letters, and attending actions regardless of whether members are part of the campaign working group. Additionally, I previously stated the importance of organizer and leadership development in our chapter, and I know there is a need for that in our priority campaigns. I have seen over the last few years that members are learning how to organize through our campaigns. Still, leaders in these campaigns have flagged that more dedicated organizer and leadership training would help boost confidence when members are learning-by-doing through our priority campaigns. I can be much more active in making that happen this coming year.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

2025 is a significant year for DSA in terms of membership growth, development, and engagement. In 2025, we will not be in an electoral candidate campaign organizing mode which opens up the chapter to focus on strengthening our foundations and leveling up our membership. I see myself on Steering Committee spending significant time helping shape and implement efforts for intentional new member recruitment through relational organizing strategies, onboarding through continuing my work working with the Branches and Political Education Committee for rolling out a consistent schedule of DSA101s, organizer and leadership skills trainings with an eye for integrating political education in trainings, and facilitating more spaces for members to weigh in on and have easy access points to get involved with our chapter’s organizing. Specifically, when it comes to the member engagement piece, I also see that as increasing member participation in shaping the strategies and priorities of the chapter through more facilitated breakout groups at chapter meetings, boosting engagement in the upcoming revisions to our Democratic Socialist Program, and creating more lead up time for members to discuss our upcoming chapter and national conventions and what members are eager to see come out of these major political events in our organization.

Jenn M. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

To me, Democratic Socialism means putting people first. It’s about making sure that the resources and systems we all rely on are controlled by the people, not in the hands of the few. Everyone should have a say in the decisions that affect their lives—at work, in their community, and in society.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I’ve been a DSA-LA member since July 2020. I decided to join DSA-LA driven by the challenging material conditions I faced at the time. Having recently lost three immediate family members in less than a year, I found myself grappling not only with the emotional weight of grief but also with the significant financial burden associated with death, all during a global pandemic. Over my 15 years of work as an immigrant rights activist and 9 years as an immigrant rights attorney, I’ve seen firsthand how deeply entrenched and corrupt systems of inequality and oppression are. This personal hardship fueled a growing anger that pushed me to demand more not only for myself but my community. I joined DSA-LA because I saw it as an organization that shares that same vision and actively works to harness collective power to make positive change for the working class.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I’ve been a member of DSA-LA since 2020, starting by organizing a political education event with the Immigration Justice Committee. In 2022, I was elected co-chair of the committee and helped with canvassing efforts for candidates like Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez, who aligned with our immigration policy priorities. I’ve also focused on building coalitions with immigrant rights organizations, especially around events like May Day, and continue to contribute to May Day efforts.

As co-chair of the Chapter in 2024, I had a clear vision of the work ahead and worked well with other Steering members to keep us on track. I helped facilitate chapter meetings, our Annual Convention, and supported coordination between standing committees and leadership. I helped maintain structure and thoughtfully plan chapter meetings. I also helped create an anti-harassment module that is now used at all meetings to ensure our DSA-LA spaces are safe for everyone. I also continued assisting the chapter in its path toward separate incorporation. Additionally, I supported the SCI branch in staying active despite not having branch coordinators this year and helped plan and facilitate branch meetings to ensure members had a space to connect with other DSA-LA members and engage with our chapter priorities.

Outside of DSA, I bring over 15 years of experience in the immigrant rights movement. My experiences have reinforced my belief in the power of collective action and shaped how I approach organizing.

Why are you running for this position?

I’m running for steering at-large because I’m deeply committed to the work we’ve been doing in DSA-LA and want to help guide us through what I believe will be a defining year for Los Angeles in 2025. The challenges and opportunities we’ll face require a steering committee that is both unified and ready to rise to the occasion. I’ve seen firsthand how vital strong leadership is in ensuring our priorities are impactful, and I want to continue the progress we’ve made together in 2024.

I want to help shape our collective path forward, strengthen our leadership, continue to build our chapter, and ensure DSA-LA remains a powerful political force in 2025 and beyond. We need leadership that not only tackles challenges head-on but also keeps us grounded in our shared values. I’m committed to helping ensure that our steering committee can rise to meet those challenges and keep DSA-LA focused on the long-term work ahead.

In 2025, I envision a chapter that is stronger, more unified, and better equipped to tackle both local and national crises. With my experience in navigating conflict and maintaining a strong sense of direction for our priorities, I’m ready to contribute to the leadership that will make that vision a reality.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I bring over 15 years of experience as an immigrant rights activist and 10 years as an immigrant rights attorney during which I’ve honed my skills in coalition-building, planning, community education, and facilitation. As the current Steering Committee co-chair, I’ve strengthened my organizational abilities, ensuring chapter meetings and events are consistently well-planned and aligned with our priorities.

I’ve also developed a thoughtful, people-centered approach to organizing, fostering environments where members feel supported and able to contribute. My calm, even-keeled demeanor helps me navigate high-pressure situations and build trust, while my resilience and adaptability keep me focused on long-term goals, even in the face of setbacks. These skills enable me to lead effectively and uphold our shared values.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

Over the past year, DSA-LA has seen several successes, including electoral victories with Ysabel Jurado, Karla Griego, and Konstanine Anthony. We successfully developed and began implementing a plan to create an effective program fully integrated with campaign priorities, the steering committee, and branch members. The upcoming Socialists Must Lead event on December 7th, which will include a leadership candidate forum, is a clear example of this success. Additionally, the buy-in from our SIOs highlights the collaboration and commitment we are fostering. Amendments to our platforms at the November Chapter Meeting also demonstrate our progress. (RSVP here for December 7 here btw: https://dsa-la.org/event/socialists-must-lead-2025/)

However, there are areas where we can improve, such as fostering more spaces for deliberative discussions and building overall capacity and resilience. In my role, I plan to support continued leadership development, encourage deeper member participation in campaigns, and strengthen our collective capacity while ensuring more opportunities for deliberative conversations.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

In 2025, DSA-LA leadership should prioritize:
-Onboarding new members to ensure they are fully integrated into our chapter.
-Focus on member retention to maintain engagement and strengthen our collective capacity.
-Continue identifying and developing leaders, empowering them to take on greater responsibilities within the chapter.
-Dedicate time to leadership meetings for skill-sharing and building, enhancing our leadership pipeline and overall effectiveness.

By prioritizing these areas, we can build a stronger, more resilient chapter capable of sustaining long-term growth and impact.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

We need to stay committed to our priority campaigns because they’re critical to the DSP and the collective decisions we make as a chapter. As a Steering Committee member, I’ll continue working to ensure everyone has a shared understanding of our campaigns and encourage members to get involved in our efforts to build capacity.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

Membership growth, development, and engagement are key to DSA-LA’s success. In the At-Large role, I would support GND and branches to onboard new members through DSA 101s. I would also like to work on creating more opportunities for community members to learn about DSA-LA and get involved.

Clayton R. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism to me means an economic-political system where the masses, particularly workers, have the power in society through democratic systems. This can be implemented in many different ways, but the key is having an electoral system controlled by the public democratically as well as workplaces that are controlled by all of the people who do the labor rather than just a select few at the top. The result of democratic socialism is a government that is in touch with and responsive to the needs of its people and businesses that are designed for the betterment and enrichment of the workers and their community.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I first got involved with DSA during the Abolish ICE campaign. I was new to leftism and I heard AOC talking about the need to abolish ICE as an institution and I was sold. DSA was the only organization that I knew of with that campaign so I went to meetings to do that work.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I am currently serving as a member of DSA-LA steering, and the WOW (Workers Organizing Workers) subcommittee on DSA’s NLC. I am a union organizer by trade, working different organizing campaigns including the union for postdoctoral scholars at USC, which won in June. I have also been doing political organizing for several years, volunteering for the Bernie 2016, 2020, Ocasio-Cortez 2018, Hugo 2022, Ysabel 2024, and many other campaigns.

Why are you running for this position?

We are at a pretty critical juncture for the future of Los Angeles. The defeat of Harris in my mind represents the death of neo-liberalism, and Trump no doubt represents the rise of fascism. The only way fascism can fail and a more positive socialist vision of the future replace it is we organize, rebuild the community that neo-liberalism destroyed, and fight back from a united front. I am running to continue to help organize that rebuilding of community in a strategic way that gives average people more power and allows us to hopefully successfully counter fascism.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

My time as a union organizer has helped prepare me to work with a large number of people with varying tendencies and bring folks together and work collaboratively on making a shared strategic plan on how to achieve our goals. I also have learned specific techniques to bring in new members: from folks who are enthusiastic about the project, to folks who are deeply skeptical. As a member of steering I believe these skills would allow me in assisting with bringing in as many new members as possible as well as getting as many current members as we can involved in the fight.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

The Ysabel and Griego campaigns, working with our electeds on moving a ceasefire resolution in the council, and defeating the privatization of the metro bike share system were all huge successes for our chapter! We have proven that we have the best ground game in Los Angeles. We unfortunately were also net losing members before the election. I believe that we can continue to build on our organizational strength by tightening our relationship with electeds, continuing to recruit new members and train them in organizing skills to increase our effectiveness, and organizing collective action to move politicians closer to our positions.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

I think we should prioritize new member recruitment, tightening our relationships with electeds and with labor unions, developing bold and transformative policies with our movement partners, and organizing collective action to move those policies in government bodies.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I see the steering position’s role as working with chapter bodies and leaderships to develop the infrastructure such that members are aware of the work that is happening on priority campaigns and is participating in that work. Having large amounts of the chapter work together on priority resolutions is the only way we can make a big difference in a small amount of time on those issues.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I see the steering role is working with growth and development to build a plan for how to best recruit and train new leaders, and working with leaders in different committees to troubleshoot the implementation of the plan, find what works and what doesn’t, and continually adjust to more and more success. I believe strong ties, where leaders get to know members who come to events and meetings that they do work in and build strong working relationships, is the best way to maintain members and have the organic opportunities to improve their organizing skills and become leaders themselves. Working with leaders on fostering an environment where we can develop more strong ties with members is a big priority for me.

Benina S. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism is when the working class has a voice and control over their societal conditions–political institutions, workplaces, social spheres. This comes from being organized and through strong social connections. Not just with folks that agree with us, but with folks who we may share differences with–our co-workers, our neighbors, etc. Those are folks who are also working class and deserve a democratic say in their material conditions that impact their ability to thrive.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA shortly after AOC’s 2018 primary win. I was looking for a way to be involved on the local level, without feeling I was merely a body that was being funneled to an undemocratic org for their uninspiring campaigns or candidates. As someone born and raised in LA, it mattered to me to join an org that responded to the local conditions of our neighborhoods, trained others in how to organize, and where everyone’s voices were able to be democratically heard.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

During my time in DSA-LA, I’ve headed up both internal and external organizing projects. My first foray into any sort of organizing was being appointed Westside Branch coordinator shortly after I joined DSA. From there, I spent time writing and facilitating organizer trainings.

After a pandemic break, I was elected to our Electoral Politics standing committee, where I’ve carried out DSA’s electoral strategy in the endorsements of successful campaigns in 2022 and 2024, leading to the growth of a now 4-seat bloc on Los Angeles City Council and 2-seat bloc on LAUSD school board. Our electoral campaigns engage hundreds of members every cycle, providing an entry into an organization and a new layer of leadership ready to lead campaigns, both electorally and non-electorally. From these wins, I’ve organized our chapter’s burgeoning Socialists in Office program as voted on at the 2024 local convention.

Why are you running for this position?

The 2024 election cycle brought local wins on city council and school board while Trump and fascism won nationally. With this, we have many new members joining DSA or others becoming reactivated. From my experience in the chapter, I believe that I can make an important contribution as an At-Large member of steering in engaging new members to make DSA-LA their political home and meaningfully provide clear political leadership that can take the chapter through the many challenges that we will face in this changing political environment. Our wins and our strength in LA makes us a bigger target: from the right, from the landlords, the cops, the capitalist class.

My time on Electoral Politics Committee has connected me with many internal aspects of the chapter structure as well as rank and file membership, as well as externally with labor and other organizational partners we are often in coalition with. I see my ability to foster relationships across the chapter and organizationally across LA as a strength I have for being on Steering committee.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

From organizing within the chapter for six years and spending time bringing members into external campaigns, developing organizer relationships both internally in the chapter and externally across Los Angeles. I have learned a lot of important nuts-and-bolts organizer skills from being in this organization for six years, but I do not purport to know all the answers to solving political questions: this is where I recognize our strength in being in a mass organization and the power of collective decision making. There is power in leading with listening and understanding the various nuances of a situation before jumping into a decision.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

I think our chapter took some really great steps in fostering space in political discussion and debates during chapter meetings. The 2024 term started with a member debate about the relationships we have with our endorsed electeds and a democratic vote and outcomes which led to a very robust campaign around passing a ceasefire resolution on the city council level. The work scaled up by the Palestine Solidarity WG, in conjunction with many other areas of the chapter, led to increased member engagement and vital coalition building. We’ve had other great opportunities for member deliberation over this year–the committee platform amendment process, Electoral Politics open meetings that built in political education and discussion, the breakouts from November’s chapter meeting about how we move post-election.

I’d also like to recognize the Westside Branch’s successes this year–there is a branch organizing committee that is growing and active. The branch has been assessing its membership and has built the capacity to spearhead organizing direct actions. The protest against Traci Park was a resounding success–while the Westside does not have any SIO’s (yet), the action carried forth our priority resolutions in coalescing a pro-tenant group to show the force of renters on the westside and make it disadvantageous for other city councilmembers to take pro-landlord positions in the future.

I spend a lot of this questionnaire talking about how we should get back to basics in terms of political education of being in a socialist organization as well as organizer trainings on how to run successful campaigns, but I think that’s a huge area for improvement. Besides that, we’ve built a great foundation in 2024 and the room for improvement is how we can have more of this communication and deliberative culture outside of formal meetings. I think it’s a big challenge of an organizing project to make sure all members feel like they have a stake in this organization while moving cohesively and strategically as a chapter and there are many parts of this chapter that are integral to ensuring that is the case: branches, working groups, committees, ensuring we have streamlined communication between various bodies of the organization.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

With the upsurge in membership from the aftermath of the 2024 elections, DSA-LA should prioritize new member retention and development. A surge in membership provides the opportunity to train a new wave of members on DSA strategy, organizing skills, and political education. I would like to work to solidify membership development pipelines, so new members have a clear direction and follow up of how to get involved in the chapter, instead of fending for themselves amongst the multitude of campaigns and working groups.

A new wave of members means we have the opportunity to drill down into organizing basics and make sure we are all understanding each other and have a shared language when we have chapterwise discussions about strategy or political debate. This takes a concerted effort of political education and organizer trainings.

In the wake of the Trump win, I would like to see DSA-LA grow in its ability to do coalitional work. In order to throw down against the fascists and right wing, we need a mass bloc that includes labor unions, immigrant rights groups, community organizations. Our electoral wins have been a part of this broad fabric and we’ll need to expand this left-labor bloc and fight for bigger wins and protect our communities.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Priority campaigns are selected by the highest democratic body of the chapter at our local convention. On steering, there is a democratic mandate to ensure the success of these priority campaigns. I see success as making sure they have functioning working groups that meet regularly, engage membership, and train up and onboard new members. A high percentage of our membership should be involved in these campaigns in some form–from devoting volunteer hours to lead or canvass on a priority to getting those who may not have time to devote hours in a week to sign a petition, write letters, or make a phone call.

So often our chapter launches into campaigns and are full steam ahead without getting foundational training or tools. As steering, I would like to help implement organizer trainings (how to have an organizing conversation, doing listwork and leadership identification, what is mass organizing) to ensure there is some grounding before campaigns intensify.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

To me, 2025 is a year for the chapter to devote a lot of resources to membership growth, development, and engagement, as we will not have active electoral campaigns and we need to build a strong foundation for our chapter to 1) fight the right in LA and 2) build strong organizer bases to protect our incumbents up for election in 2026 and expand our blocs of governing power. Steering’s role is vital to ensuring our membership is steadily growing, that we are supporting systems of ensuring memberships do not lapse, as well as clear and consistent onboarding systems of new members and strengthening our branches. I would like to support the branches in hosting monthly DSA 101’s and new member onboarding pipelines and ensure they have robust Branch Organizing Committees.

2025 is also an opportune time to develop our members, both leaders and rank and file, on a shared strategy and direction of our chapter and supporting our chapter spaces in having open political discussion. We did this with our platform amendment process, chapter meetings where we had facilitated breakout groups (notably the branch and chapter meetings leading up to the local convention), and are currently doing it through our DSP amendment process. I would like to explore ways to expand how members are engaging politically with our branches and working groups.

Role Description: Responsible for maintaining a network of coordinators and representatives from YDSA Locals across Los Angeles, as well as extending that network to include nearby regional DSA and YDSA Locals. They help to coordinate between our chapter and YDSA chapters as well and request resources and support from the chapter for YDSA locals.

Candidate: Roxy

Roxy Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic socialism means building a world where needs are met, where workers control their own future, and where the government works for the people. It means a democratization of the economy and government, and a first step toward building a world without inequalities. A democratic socialist world looks like a world beyond Sweden and Denmark – where colonialism is a thing of the past and where we can better work toward liberating everyone. It’s not the end – once we get there, we’ve gotta figure out how to build towards liberation – but it is a start on the long road of building a better world.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

Honestly, I was inspired to join DSA because of Hasan Piker. I was an immigrant queer kid who retreated to the internet for community and Hasan steered me toward socialist politics after 2020 exploded. I had done some local activism, but socialism and DSA’s political perspective gave me an understanding of the world that gave me hope for the future, beyond the problems of my family and the world. As a young kid, I had experienced a lot of bullshit – being bullied for being queer, growing up in a different country with a parent that didn’t speak the language, and a working class family that had a lot of problems. I’ve always had a basic understanding that this world is messed up because I’ve directly experienced it. Socialism and organizing with DSA gave me a way out, a way to make sense of the world, and tools to fight. I have DSA to thank for igniting my fire, giving me the tools to build community, and building up my confidence as an organizer and as a regular person.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I have been organizing for almost four years now. My first campaign was organizing against my local police department that was going to cut a program that helped keep kids out of juvenile hall. Through social media, I joined DSA-LA in the summer of 2021 and worked on the campaign for a Green New Deal for Public Schools, and to elect Hugo Soto-Martinez to the LA City Council. After high school, I went to Macalester College in Minnesota for two years and co-founded a YDSA chapter there before dropping out last year. My chapter organized solidarity pickets with our local Starbucks union, co-founded the wall-to-wall undergrad union (MUWU), helped organize full-time dining hall workers, and organized a solidarity campaign that ultimately helped force the dining hall employer to bargain with the workers and win a contract. Our 1,300-worker wall-to-wall union has been going strong for two years now and is about to file for an election! I’ve been building rank-and-file power within our union and mentoring our organizing committee as we move into our third year on campus. After two years at Macalester, I became co-chair of YDSA’s national labor committee (YLC) and have spent much of the last year mentoring YDSA members and have been building a network of Midwestern undergraduate union organizers. After dropping out of college, I moved back to Burbank and am in the middle of finding a job at Starbucks where I’ll be working and organizing.

Why are you running for this position?

I am running for this position because I want to build a more powerful YDSA-LA. The previous coordinator Gerica has done a fantastic job creating some norms of what the YDSA-LA coordinator should do and I’d like to continue what she’s been doing and build upon it. This role should have the bread and butter tools to fight for socialism on college campuses and beyond. Currently we have consistent meetings and chapter check-ins but YDSA-LA doesn’t have a list of the membership, coordination between chapters, or tools that each YDSA coordinator can use for building relationships with DSA committees, campaigns, and YDSA chapters. I want to establish some norms and build YDSA into a force that fights for socialism on campuses all across Greater LA. I also want to build into this role a sense of care for one another as YDSAers and as socialists so we can be better prepared for the fight and so that we sustain through highs and lows. When I dropped out of college and came back home, I wasn’t sure how to continue organizing in YDSA but this role would continue what I was doing in college while building socialism in a place where I grew up.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

Until now, I’ve mostly organized by pushing from the back and lighting fires. Over the past four years, I have spent a lot of time learning the bread and butter skills of organizing – 1-1s, relationship building, running campaigns, etc – and trying to learn from mentors and more experienced organizers. I’d like to continue that organizing strategy – to learn from folks who have come before me and help build a strong chapter that can scale up. I approach organizing by centering love, care, and solidarity as the foundations and I believe in membership-run unions – an approach that applies to YDSA as well. I also think that my being uncaucused will help build bridges between people of multiple political tendencies so that we don’t become siloed and unhealthy conflict doesn’t become worse.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

I think DSA-LA has done a fantastic job in building an electoral base in the city to support socialist candidates and to run their campaigns. Hugo, Eunisses, Nithya, and now Ysabel’s elections show that there is a hunger for socialist politics in the city. I also think the tenant work that DSA-LA has been doing is really cool and has the potential for building more working class power in and out of DSA. The one issue with a lot of these developments is that most of it has been in Central Los Angeles. I think there is a need to start developing local organizers in working class parts of the city – the east side of the San Fernando Valley, South LA, and East LA – in a way that will have ripple effects. Central LA has plenty of working class neighborhoods, but a lot of DSA-LA campaigns haven’t been centered around them. I also think there needs to be a bigger focus on building rank and file union organizers in the chapter. What DSA’s labor committee does is amazing. But I’d love to expand on that and see how we can pipeline YDSA members into rank and file jobs that build a fighting labor movement, not just one that goes along with the leadership of business unions.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

DSA-LA should prioritize building rank and file labor power within LA unions and focus on building up the membership in working class marginalized communities. We should continue to build out our strength in the electoral arena and start prioritizing labor work more – in particular building rank and file union activists and pipelining folks into rank and file jobs. We also need to have an orientation toward building power with marginalized communities and a culture that sees solidarity as a verb, not a noun. For the next four years in particular trans people, undocumented people, communities of color, poor and working class communities are going to be on the front lines. That means actively organizing alongside those communities and changing our campaign structure so that we can build long term power in marginalized working class communities. I’d love to see a priority campaign that’s not just one year long that prioritizes building long term power in a working class area where DSA is currently weak. As somebody embedded in working class trans community, I want to see more of my friends, cousins, and high school classmates in DSA over the next four years.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I see my role as building a fighting YDSA and being a link to DSA at the same time. I’d like to connect YDSA and DSA committees together where there is a developing relationship – namely the Palestine and Labor committee – and start building up DSA members’ knowledge and awareness for YDSA organizers and their campaigns A lot of Palestine work is being done on college campuses right now and I’d like to facilitate building those connections with the Palestine solidarity campaign where it makes sense. Most of my work will be focused on building up YDSA on college campuses but where there are links, I’d like to connect YDSA members with DSA campaigns.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I see my role as building YDSA-LA into a collective of strong organizers who are ready and willing to fight. Building a stronger YDSA-LA will require doing consistent chapter visits, developing core groups of organizers who can maintain and develop their chapters over a long period of time, and adding five new YDSA chapters by the end of my term. I would love to have Gerica as a deputy coordinator and start building out more roles for other leaders in YDSA-LA. I’d also like to create a space in YDSA for young people who aren’t in college to be a part of the organization too. It’s critical when organizing in poor and working class communities to have spaces for young people embedded in those communities to build solidarity and strategize together. There already are some organizations that have this orientation – Anakbayan in the Valley for example – and I’d like to bring that to YDSA as well. Having a co-coordinator so that it’s not just one person to be in charge of organizing all colleges would help. Building three or four YDSA-LA socials, running a membership recruitment drive, and at the end of the year running a YDSA troublemaker’s school would be great as well to give young socialists an entrance into the labor movement.

Role Description: Each of our 5 branches will elect 2 branch coordinators. They’ll be working to build relationships between branch members, hold branch meetings, and work with branch members to build power locally.

Candidates: Jack S-L & Noah S-S

Jack S-L Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism is the ability for the working class to take control of our own workplaces, neighborhoods, and the state in order to move economic, cultural, and civic institutions to shape society for the public good.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I got involved with DSA in January 2014 out of a desire to build an organization similar to the ones in Latin America (FMLN, PSUV, PT, MAS). I had studied these organizations and peasant movements since I was 14, and had just returned from Argentina in December 2013, where I immersed myself in the student struggles to maintain free public universities. There the clarity to participate in organization provided a jolt to expand from my focus in anti-imperialism to a broader socialist program.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

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:

DSA-LA Immigration work 2017-2023, https://www.californiadsa.org/news/path-to-sanctuary-la
DSA Labor Debates 2015-2023, https://medium.com/@jsuriali213/the-development-of-dsas-labor-debates-2015-2023-70bc9e4ad576
DSA Ideological Pluralism and Programmatic Unity, https://convergencemag.com/articles/big-tent-and-programmatic-unity-can-coexist-in-dsa/
https://socialistforum.dsausa.org/issues/winter-2020/toward-an-internationalist-dsa/

I don’t necessarily believe in an inside and outside of DSA. The work we do outside wherever we work or enjoy our lives is also part of expanding our democratic socialist politics. In the murals I painted, in the readings I enjoy at a cafe, in my salsa classes, I am learning about people and gently pushing interest in organization.

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, North Star Socialist Organization, and Convergence.

Why are you running for this position?

Several members have asked me to run for Central Branch Coordinator. Throughout 2024, I have attempted my best to support our Palestine Solidarity Working Group, ignite political development discussions at chapterwide leadership meetings, and provide advice on electoral program when necessary. I haven’t done a great job, but i think that i made significant interventions throughout the year that led to serious positive collective outcomes.

In 2025 I am committing to the following:

Follow the direction of the incoming 2025 Steering Committee and move other BCs to do the same. This is because according to DSA-LA Bylaws Article IX Steering Committee, Section 1 Composition and Purpose :
The Steering Committee is the highest elected body. It shall administer the affairs and oversee the implementation of the decisions of the DSA-LA membership, ensuring that the Local’s work is done in alignment with the Local Mission, Organizational Priorities, the Local Bylaws, and the Local Articles of Incorporation. It may propose policies and activities to the membership; receives reports from local subgroups and Branches; advises local subgroups and Branches on policy issues; calls special meetings of the membership; and acts on any matter requiring immediate attention by DSA-LA. When relevant, and except where prohibited by these bylaws or governing law, actions of the Steering Committee shall be guided or superseded by resolutions passed or decisions made by the membership, which shall always be the supreme political body of the Local, at member meetings or Annual Conventions.
Connect Priority Campaign strategy with Branch implementation.
Expand the Branch Organizing Committee to reach out consistently to half of the current branch membership, with an intent to have a supermajority BOC be people of color.
Lead Meetings between Branch Coordinators to move Branch programming collectively.
Begin a political development component for all BOC meetings across the branches.
Supporting members to develop collective ownership of their respective branches.

These 6 points will be able to cohere Branches to expand its capacity and reach out to at least half of the membership in a few years. The Branch structure will be needed to strengthen the social relations between the membership at a time of potential repression and reforms that disorient the working class.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I will provide accountability and redirection to the BOC through work plans influenced by the current and new priority resolutions. I am a go-getter and plan accordingly to receive feedback from the main organizing body. I continue to improve on my communication skills. I’m a solid facilitator, planning the structure of meetings, and focus on central objectives needed to advance our work forward.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

This year the Steering Committee, Electoral Committee, the Priority Campaign WGs, and the Endorsed Electoral races have done an incredible job to amplify our work together and be able to handle multiple fronts at once. However, we need to expand capacity with a third layer of leadership: Strong members who aren’t in leadership roles (chairs/coordinators), but onboard and support members to participate in priority campaigns and Branch development.
We did not pay enough attention to the development of Branches and I see that as a collective mistake. I want to improve on this mistake, by first taking on the work responsibilities of a branch coordinator to be able share the experience with other members interested in regional organizing.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

While the conditions in Los Angeles have led to larger potential for explicit class struggle in the realms of housing and public safety, the national dynamics create larger risks and dangers for the working class. Explicit repression at home and threats of more wars abroad create almost no path to win for the U.S. Left. Developing a strategy that can win at both local and national levels seems ever at odds.

Yet, DSA-LA leadership in 2025 should prioritize:

Membership Retention – Begin to launch DSA 102 for members to understand what it means to be in a mass organization – Or hold content like this at Branch meetings when necessary.
Political Analysis of the Days – reading news or political material at BOC/ Branch Meetings to understand what we are living in. That the Los Angeles Times just wrote a piece about Upton Sinclair signals that Los Angeles will have to hold the line on being publicly identified as a Socialist.
Amplification of Labor Circles – With 25% of DSA-LA in unions, we have to assert how the labor movement is critical to working class wins and run unionization drives where new density of members joining is currently at. Branches will need to work closely with Labor Committee to support them in strengthening the labor circles.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

We need to identify ways members to step up in small ways to move campaigns forward. We need to shift toward collective responsibility for participating in at least one campaign. Similarly, we need to begin being comfortable asking members to shape or at least recommend changes to organizational strategies when needed. This can be through holding down tabling events, doorknocking events, teach-in logistics, or holding 101s that direct members to campaign efforts. This role is also crucial to shape the political analysis that is shaping out of campaigns toward the general membership, and in turn for membership to provide input or raise questions if there is a potential gap and avoid external political mistakes.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

It’s the nuts and bolts of being a Branch Coordinator. The BOC will prioritize calling members for attending Branch meetings and I will lead the effort in reaching out to new members each month to guide them toward a specific event they can participate in.

Noah S-S Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

To me, Democratic Socialism means a society that has ended the exploitation and repression of the working class–a society where workers have taken back control of their lives and jobs from the capitalists, and are able to have a democratic say in their workplaces; a society where everyone has necessities like food, housing, healthcare, and education; a society where the masses of the proletarian class are finally able to direct their own political destiny. Democratic socialism also means building a world where the colonized and oppressed people of the world–from oppressed racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, to the people of Palestine, to my family in Puerto Rico–have those same universal human rights and the right to self-determination. HOWEVER, these are all long-term goals–right now, the thing that DSA represents to me is our best shot at building a broad, big-tent, democratic left-wing movement in this country, as well as our best shot at uniting to fight the ascendant fascists of the far-right. Unlike the decrepit consultants of the Democratic Party, more interested in serving Mark Cuban and Liz Cheney than serving the people, we have the opportunity to build an inspiring program that directly benefits the working class, and fights back against the predatory rich.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined in 2020, after several years of interest in socialism and drifting to the left. I had been inspired by the Bernie campaign, and the idea that–maybe for the first time in my life–we could make a fundamental political change in this country to benefit the people. Of course, about two weeks later the pandemic shut everything down, and a few months later the George Floyd protests erupted across the country. I joined because I thought things could change, but I stayed because I found not only a community of people who also felt the urgent need for change, but also the only organization positioned to grow and win the power necessary to make that change happen.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Within DSA-LA, I’ve been a Steering Committee member, Co-Chair of our Hollywood Labor Circle, Mutual Aid Coordinator, and worked on a variety of campaigns; I have knocked doors for Hugo, Eunisses, Ysabel, Karla, etc. and was one of the lead organizers (as HL co-chair) on the Snacklist strike support campaign, which raised over $90,000 to bring food and water to the WGA/SAG-AFTRA picket lines–making over 500 drops of supplies at 13 different sites across the city. Nationally, I am also the co-chair of the Americas subcommittee of our International Committee, and was part of our diplomatic delegation to the Republic of Cuba.

In my work capacity, I am an organizer for a housing coalition working on fighting corporate short-term rentals throughout California, working with labor unions, non-profits, and community groups to protect long-term housing throughout the city. I’ve run electoral campaigns, organized community leaders, and worked with a variety of governmental agencies and council offices.

Why are you running for this position?

The re-election of Donald Trump put a lot of things into perspective, but it very much impressed upon me the imminent threat of fascism and the end of democracy. I realized that, even though we have won some victories recently both locally and nationally, we are in a greatly diminished position relative to where we need to be in order to effectively defeat fascism. I was at the time re-reading the book “Set the Night on Fire: LA in the Sixties” by Mike Davis and Jon Weiner, and was inspired by the relentless struggle that LA’s left wing–from CORE to the CP to the Panthers–were able to muster in the face of remarkably Trumpian fascist Sam Yorty and the racist ghoul police chief William H Parker. I figured that the way I could help build the organization was in a position like Branch Coordinator, where I could help build the sense of community necessary to survive the next four years of open fascism, as well as growing the ranks of DSA-LA members and building the infrastructure and people power necessary to carry out a political program benefitting the people of Los Angeles.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I’ve been able to build a strong organizing engine before in Hollywood Labor–which even received the positive attention of the usually-conservative trade press–by building and training a strong team. I also have a wealth of organizing knowledge from both my job and the past four years of DSA-LA work–ActionNetwork, ScaleToWin, PDI, and various other campaign tools I’m proficient with, as well as canvassing skills–and the institutional knowledge to be able to effectively build the branch. I have a broad rolodex of organizing connections both locally and nationally, and am acquainted with the organizational landscape of LA. I’m also a native Spanish speaker (as it’s my first language).

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

I think that DSA has been effective at running electoral campaigns–given that we now control nearly a third of the LA City Council–as well as on a series of strike support campaigns. For instance, the Snacklist built a lot of goodwill and membership in the WGA and SAG. We’ve also been able to expand our reach through the Transit and Power to the Tenants campaigns, which have been able to mobilize members and help push real change in City Hall. As a result we’ve been able to establish a degree of influence and recognition for DSA-LA.

At the same time, however, we have been failing to integrate new members, build a strong layer of new trained activists, and engage them in the inner workings of the chapter. Currently, DSA-LA’s internal workings can be very opaque to people who are new to DSA and to organizing. We’ve also been placing an increasing organizing burden onto a smaller and smaller cadre, rather than broadly investing in membership development and engagement. Philosophically, I think that the general membership should be involved and engaged in conversations about strategy, and that they should have a democratic say in the direction of the chapter. We’ve also significantly narrowed the type of work that we do, meaning that while if we want to run an electoral campaign we’re fairly well served, if we want to do other types of actions or participate in different arenas–for example, tenant organizing–we have to rebuild capacity to do that kind of work from scratch. If DSA is to be the center of the socialist movement and of the American left wing–and I think it can be–we have to be able to onboard, train, and empower new members to engage in a wide variety of work that still furthers a general political program, and we also have to ensure that those members can have an informed, democratic say in what that program is.

Fortunately, I think this is a great niche for the branch to fill–I’d like to continue and expand on some previous initiatives that branch has done in the past to have strategy conversations featuring our priority campaigns, as well as to canvass and involve our own members. I’d also like to involve ongoing committee work and create easy ways for members to plug into that work where it intersects with the branch, as well as creating opportunities for committees to present on their work and programs in low-stakes, easily-accessible events like socials. Finally, I’d like to build a thriving branch culture with community-serving programs, in order to bring in and politically educate potential members.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Fundamentally, everything we hold dear is going to be under attack under a Trump administration, and we will have to triage a little bit. I think one of our first priorities should be to organize in defense of immigrant communities in LA–the Trumpian threat of mass deportations facilitated by red-state national guardsmen or the Army should be a threat we take extremely seriously. We will need to very quickly build up our capacity to engage in mass protest organizing again, as well as our immigration justice committee. I also think that we’ll need to organize similar mass responses to protect organized labor, as the NLRB is now on the chopping block–and even union lawyers don’t entirely know what it’ll mean when it’s gone. However, prior to the NLRB, violent attempts by management to break strikes were commonplace, and we should expect that this kind of strike-breaking may become prevalent again.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Since their creation, the branches have been seen as the mobilization engine of the chapter, providing turnout for actions and campaigns. In order to do this more effectively, I believe we need to activate more of our members, identify when they’re available, and keep track of of when we activate members to prevent burnout. Additionally, we should be keeping detailed metrics to be able to better inform our turnout efforts, and be able to establish detailed turnout plans.

This answer also depends a bit on what the campaign is–for example, Transit has very different needs to Power to the Tenants, which has different needs from older campaigns like Green New Deal for Public Schools and Childcare for All. Mobilization, however, is constant, so while specific needs will change, being able to mobilize organizers will be key to any campaign we engage in.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

It’s probably the central facet of what the branches should be able to do–this is the place that members come in, and being able to grow, develop, and engage members in work is paramount. It’s also important to RETAIN members as well, which is something that DSA-LA as a whole has struggled with over the past four years. The current bump we are experiencing will be temporary, and we need to rapidly develop our membership in order to properly respond to a hostile state. Like I said above, I’d like to expand existing programs of membership engagement and development, as well as ease members’ entrance into the chapter, and provide them with the ability to get involved in not just chapter work, but the direction of that work.

Role Description: Each of our 5 branches will elect 2 branch coordinators. They’ll be working to build relationships between branch members, hold branch meetings, and work with branch members to build power locally.

Candidates: Paula A. & Lorena M.K.

Paula A. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

That everyone gets a say in how decisions are made, everyone gets the opportunity to share their insights and experiences and together we work to break down the racist, oppressive structures of Capitalism and build up socialist structures that support our most vulnerable.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I believe it was in 2019 after the 2018 mid-terms. I joined because I was tired of feeling alone in my powerlessness to change what was going on in the world.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I’ve been organizing with DSA-LA consistently for this past year with Power to the Tenants, the Jillian Burgos working group and as one of the SFV Branch Organizers. Outside of DSA-LA, I’ve worked on 2 City Council campaigns as a canvasser – Jillian Burgos and Bryant Odega. Prior to this, I was on Steering with Hermanas Unidas de CSUN and created “Sponsor an Hermana” where Hermanas who had more to give financially could help another who was struggling to pay their membership Dues.

Why are you running for this position?

I’m running with Lorena M. because we are committed to building socialist power in the SFV. I see so much potential in the Valley and so does Lorena and what was created in the Jillian working group really fortified these feelings.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

Administrative skills, time management, project management, one to one relationship building, workshop creation and facilitation.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

Electing 4 DSA LA endorsed candidates to various elected offices. Areas of improvement: Structured on boarding and these processes documented so others are trained.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Creating a safe, accountable organizing environment for WOC, femmes, NB folks.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Connecting new members and re-engaging lapsed members to see which priority campaign they’d like to get involved with. Also supporting Branch Organizers doing the same.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

Providing feedback and solutions on how we can continue to grow and support members and truly build a socialist community in the SFV.

Lorena M.K. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

To me personally, Democratic Socialism provides an alternative to our current socio-political economic establishment that fails to put people first and continuously puts profits over all else in a race to the bottom. It provides an alternative structure where working-class people can fight capitalism for control of their lives in every way, including housing, labor, food security, health care, freedom of movement, etc. Capitalism has poisoned every aspect of our world, and socialism offers a vision of a society run by and for the worker.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA in January of this year after attending the reading group for The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. I had been following DSA on social media for a few years and used the voter guide but finally became activated due to the onslaught of the genocide in Gaza. I attended a 101 and made it official within the month.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I am new to organizing and had no experience before joining DSA. However, that changed once joining the organization. Once I joined the SFV branch, I realized I wanted to help the branch grow and become a more significant force in the valley. I want the SFV branch to be a feasible alternative for people looking for socialist community in the area so I became more involved. I completed the Organizing for Power training and have been working on practicing those skills via Jillian Burgos’ campaign for City Council as part of DSA’s working group, helping at the branch level as an organizer, and organizing my building.

Why are you running for this position?

I am ready to keep working to grow DSA in the valley and can be of service to the branch. I have been helping with branch organizing over the past year, hosting branch meetings and socials, and attending BOC meetings regularly, and I am ready for the next level of responsibility.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I think my organizing skills in a management capacity and reliability would be beneficial to the branch. I am an organized individual in life and work and would love to bring that to the branch to help maintain structure and streamline onboarding of new members and maintain engagement.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

I think the chapter has done a good job in developing new and existing leadership, providing ample opportunity for continued education, and choosing priority campaigns offering a diverse membership the ability to find a working group that fits their skills and interests. However, the chapter needs to find new ways of maintaining a membership base at all levels of involvement, which will, in turn, help all subsequent campaigns succeed. I would like to grow the base of organizers we have in the valley to create a tier of individuals who can help retain engagement in the branch.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Housing in Los Angeles is an ever-worsening crisis; therefore, housing and tenants’ rights should continue to be a priority for the chapter, particularly in the context of expiring affordability covenants and the impending 2028 Olympics. DSA should begin ramping up efforts to highlight the importance of organizing around housing and wages, establish coalition relationships, continue education around housing, and manage new and existing members towards this campaign. There is an overwhelming amount of work to be done, particularly in the wake of the past election, but the campaign would encompass many of these issues at once, including housing, labor, policing, immigration, etc.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I would like to be a knowledgeable point of contact for new and existing members to help direct their interests and skill set towards priority campaigns. I would like to streamline the process to help direct new members to priority campaigns.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I think these aspects would be my main priorities as Branch Coordinator. I would like to set up a system where new and soon-to-expire members are contacted on a monthly to semi-monthly basis in an effort to more effectively onboard new members, and expiring members are contacted before the membership expires to prevent a backlog in expired membership. I would like to find a more effective way to use Action Builder and data entry to facilitate tracking outreach efforts.

Role Description: Each of our 5 branches will elect 2 branch coordinators. They’ll be working to build relationships between branch members, hold branch meetings, and work with branch members to build power locally.

Candidates: Jesse-James A & Brady B

Jesse-James A Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic socialism to me means an economy and government that works for all of us, no matter our background! It’s a means of hope and a compassionate tool against oppression

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

Palestine is a big issue for me, so I was inspired through the Uncommitted and Listen to Michigan campaigns. I saw how supportive DSA was of the movement so I joined in March

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I’m gaining most of my organizing experience through DSA – I’m a member of the Westside Branch Organizing Committee and helping coordinate the CD11 Direct Action on 11/14

Why are you running for this position?

I’m running because I would like to help push this organization forward and connect my branch with more black folks amongst the working class!

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I work as an executive assistant for my day job so I’m extremely organizational and do well with administrative duties. On top of that, it’s been a pleasure meeting so many wonderful members in my Westside branch and I want to be help further facilitate that connectivity

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

Honestly I don’t feel like I’ve spent enough time within the organization yet to constructively critique it, I’m eager to get more involved and believe that’ll allow me to have a deeper understanding of what DSA-LA needs. In terms of success? 2 words – YSABEL JURADO!!

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

I think the priority campaigns we have for 2024-25 are the right issues to focus on. Black engagement, immigration, and the Israel-Palestine conflict are personally important to me

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I would like to help expand Mass Transit for All on the Westside, our branch consists of several cities with their own public systems and varying levels of accessibility…

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I think Branch Coordinators are on the frontlines of engagement for members and are key to helping develop DSA for the better. We can be a direct liaison for members in our branch to get more involved with the org, as well as helping grow their own interests in helping others

Brady B Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

It means struggling for the right of us, as a people to determine our path on the basis of social need (as opposed to the demands of private profit, the current determinant of our path as a people).

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I first got involved in 2020 after researching the relationship of police to American history in the wake of the Floyd rebellion. Through the research, it became clear that only socialists were fighting to liberate people from the police.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I organized with PSL from 2022 to early 2024.

Why are you running for this position?

I simply want to become more involved in this struggle, and a position that puts me

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I have a willingness to listen and read and a deep interest in figuring out how to take up the struggle, as well as bring more people into the struggle.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

DSA-LA just helped get a 4th fellow traveller elected to LA’s city council. I would see that we can build off that momentum, learn the lessons we have to learn about organizing and commitment, and continue to develop the West LA branch using those lessons.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Leadership should prioritize positioning DSA as an actual political opposition to fascism, and an antidote to political isolation and disinvestment felt by people who are disillusioned with our 2 major political parties.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I see my role as identifying other people who are interested and driven to take up the struggle, bringing them together, encouraging them, and providing what they need to make the struggle succeed.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

As branch coordinator, I would be the key driver of membership growth, development, and engagement. Taking on these responsibilities would demand a huge level of commitment, both to the organization and to the people around me in the branch. I welcome the opportunity.

Role Description: Each of our 5 branches will elect 2 branch coordinators. They’ll be working to build relationships between branch members, hold branch meetings, and work with branch members to build power locally.

Candidates: Tracey B., Alfredo G. & Adam M.

Tracey B. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism means collectively deciding on a strategy to dismantle capitalism and uplift marginalized communities. It involves using our power to hold elected officials accountable to their constituents and advocate for more people-centered policies.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I initially became involved in 2020, but I only became an active member a couple of months ago. I decided to engage more deeply because I was seeking a way to organize and connect with the community. DSA provides an opportunity for us to collectively determine strategies and tactics for advancing our campaigns. Additionally, it’s vital to show solidarity with poor working-class individuals and movements that align with the DSA platform.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

I have experience in community and union organizing.

Why are you running for this position?

I am running for this position to help sustain and grow the SC/I branch membership, building local power to hold our elected officials accountable and support socialists running in the SC/I area.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

In my previous roles, I have developed and implemented annual and quarterly plans, facilitated team collaboration, and created outreach strategies. Additionally, I have worked with community members to help them build their organizing skills to increase membership and get others involved.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

I believe that the electoral program has been a major success, and establishing the Socialist in Office committee to hold our elected officials accountable is a significant step in maintaining relationships while also ensuring that DSA campaigns and initiatives remain visible to those officials. However, an area for improvement is engaging with the broader membership, particularly those who may not be as active. In response to this, I would promote increased outreach efforts to members in the SC/I branch.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

They must take proactive measures regarding the potential threats a Trump presidency could pose at the local, state, and national levels. They should elevate primary campaign messaging as a clear alternative to the alt-right by supporting members active in campaign spaces. Additionally, we should collaborate with branches to create and maintain opportunities for new or potential members.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

I see my primary responsibility as a communicator and sharing campaign updates with branch members. This involves collaborating with various committees to ensure everyone is informed about our campaign goals and messaging. I focus on identifying members’ strengths and motivating them to participate in committees and engage more actively within the DSA.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I may have already addressed this in other questions, but I view this position as a means to encourage members to contribute to outreach in the SC/I area. I believe it’s essential to set branch goals collaboratively regarding how we want to see the branch grow by 2025 and to create plans to achieve this growth.

Alfredo G. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Being an empathetic human who is committed to everyone’s social, economic, and spiritual well being.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

In 2018. I was inspired to be part of the solution.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Neighborhood council, political campaigns

Why are you running for this position?

I am running to give South Central LA in the political process.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

I am a teacher, an organizer, and am bilingual in Spanish and English

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

DSA won cd 14 race. DSA can improve by organizing the youth

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

Organize the youth

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Educating the masses

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

Teaching, building and implementing curriculum

Adam M. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

To me, Democratic Socialism is democratizing the economy, democratizing everything in our daily lives in order to actually give people the right to housing, healthcare, and a life with dignity. In the workplace, this includes democratizing our jobs by joining unions or making worker co-ops. In our education system, it means bringing free public education and college to the masses and protecting it from charter school tycoons and establishment bureaucrats. Democratic Socialism is the path to bringing people the right to have thriving communities and a real functioning democracy. I’m glad to be a part of a movement that is seeing these things realized, and I want to be in a more active role to further make sure that we get there.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I was first exposed to DSA by the Bernie Sanders Campaigns. I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley area and I always felt like I was an outlier for being more of a radical thinker than any of my classmates in High School or College. From 2016 to 2021, I was still in college and working in grocery, so I wasn’t able to get involved in DSA, the grocery and retail industry required me to be available every day of the week, so I feel like that’s something we also need to look into, how will we continue to reach people that feel they are too busy with work or school to get involved?

My lived experiences of working in grocery during COVID and working as an exploited intern in the non-profit sector have helped to radicalize me. One thing led to another and now I’m working as a union organizer for the multi-industry union SEIU. At my current job, I’m trying to organize people against capital by expanding the labor movement and trying to build a militant labor movement. I use my past experiences and learn from them to better help me in these goals. All of these things are my motivators as to why I am working in this movement and trying my best to grow our movement.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Most recently I have been working inside of DSA on our “Power To The Tenants” campaign. I have been a constant presence at our meetings to plan out our work. I have helped out with phone banking to get our members to attend our tenants/workers march onto the graffiti towers that we planned with other organizations a couple of months ago on September 28th. I have worked on re-commitment phone drives and have learned a lot from trying to get past members to recommit to DSA both over the phone and from in-person organizing conversations. I have also helped plan and execute branch meetings and DSA 101s for the South Central/Inglewood Branch along with steering committee members that have been helping out in this area. I am currently catching up with members involved with other campaigns and I am planning on helping out with those campaigns as much as I’m able to. I plan to be more involved with all our campaigns going on at DSA-LA.

I also have experience in organizing from my job as a union organizer at a large multi-industry union. Over the past year and a half I have helped energize workers to come together and form their union and bargain their first union contract with their employers. I have also volunteered to canvas for numerous candidates, including DSA endorsed candidates. I have also volunteered to canvass for candidates in other areas, such as the progressive candidate Bubba Fish in Culver City, and I have volunteered many hours for Erin Darling for his candidacy in 2022 that was defeated by Traci Park. I have met some great community organizers while volunteering and I plan to continue to work with them going forward. Knocking on doors is always a great way to sharpen your conversational skills, and I plan on continuing to use those skills in 2025 even though it’s not an election year.

Why are you running for this position?

I am running for this position because I believe South-Central Los Angeles & Inglewood deserve better. In the time that I’ve been here at DSA, I’ve noticed that there aren’t a lot of members in my branch. My last branch meeting in October was pretty much just me in attendance along with one member from the steering committee. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a sign that this branch still needs some dedicated organizers to build it up. Our socialist platform for Los Angeles greatly needs more members and active members to help with our tenants working group, our transit working group, and all of our work at this chapter. I think we can expand the turnout that we are currently getting at our working group meetings. I don’t want anyone to write off the South-Central/Inglewood Branch as a branch with just a few active members.

To be more specific about goals, I want to help organize this branch, and I am trying to learn as much as possible about how that can be done. I’m not an expert, and I am not yet familiarized with socialist theory, but I am trying to draw from my lived experiences and experience as an organizer. I believe that a branch coordinator in the coming year should focus on developing more socialist organizers in every neighborhood. I also believe the National DSA platform is something we can look to organize around too, and we should try to draw local versions of the goals set out in “Workers Deserve More”. People here deserve thriving communities and democratized housing, they deserve livable jobs and abundant transit. People also deserve a working class democracy which includes fair representation in local and state government, and that’s just scratching the surface. I also believe that a branch coordinator for SC/I Branch needs to understand the unique challenges that are faced in the SC/I area and that there is a broad diversity of people in South Central/Inglewood that should be better represented in DSA. I want to welcome more perspectives and beliefs into our organization, and I believe that we need to build more relationships with organizers doing work around abolition, gentrification, Palestinian liberation, and other issues to show that we care deeply about issues that the working class cares about and we want to work together. To take on all of these tasks, I am telling my fellow comrades now that I plan on being focused on these goals. I am trying my hardest to be somebody you can trust with building the branch. I am not planning on suddenly leaving DSA, I am not planning on starting a big personal commitment this coming year, and I do not want to run for public office. These are my commitments I’m making personally to assure you that I am doing this to build our base and build our community in DSA.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

If you haven’t had the chance to meet me in person yet, I’ll tell you that I have a lot of patience, I have experience working in a school setting for two years so I know how to facilitate meetings, work with busy crowds and facilitate DSA 101’s. I have experience canvassing people at home, phone banking, and having the organizing conversation for organizing a union as well as having our own organizing conversation around getting involved with DSA. I also have a lot of free time on the weekends and don’t really plan on taking on any big tasks in my personal life so you can expect me to be a constant presence at least for the next year.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

So some successes I would point out over the past year would be the election victories that we had recently since it was an election year. We are now closer to passing stronger rent control, we are increasing our presence on the LA City Council and LAUSD School Board and people are taking notice. We are getting better at recruiting people for mass actions like Mayday and the Tenants/Workers March we had on September 28th. We have also had a couple of small pickets/actions with ACCE to combat greedy landlord groups and council members opposing our rent control fight. Our local labor committee is doing great work too. I want to expand on these successes and continue all the momentum this next year so that we are a fighting group of organizers both on and off election years. As I’ve said in the previous question, I want to focus on building relationships with organizations focused on local issues, and build relationships with organizers doing work around issues affecting South-Central Los Angeles and Inglewood. We can also host training sessions for members who want to be more involved. Training around 1 on 1 conversations, and training about building members and keeping them. We recently had a lot of people sign up for DSA because of the election aftermath, and I think it would be disappointing if we let our membership base just flow back down.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

To continue off of the previous question, hosting more in depth training on conversation and recruiting skills is important. I also believe that we should be attentive to the coming labor fights that may come up in 2025. For example, on March 9th of 2025, two union contracts will expire regarding thousands of UFCW members across Ralph’s owned by Kroger, and Vons/Pavilions owned by Albertsons in Southern California. There is also an important FTC court case going on right now because Kroger is attempting to buy all grocery chains owned by Albertsons. Even if the FTC is able to block this from happening, who knows what could happen to that decision during a new Trump administration.

There are a lot of union members in LA County in UFCW, but trailing right behind them is UTLA who have their contract with the school district expiring at the end of June 2025. So I’m sure that our comrades in these unions will need our support and encouragement. So I believe we should be preparing for that, and I look forward to collaboration with our comrades. Outside of labor, I look forward to continuing the work with our socialists in office. I like how we have set up a foundation with our SIO program. I think this helps us with our relationships with our socialists in office, and it’s something that is unique to us. Eventually, I would like to see us continue stepping in the direction of building our base in politics and eventually making us a very distinct political entity, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get there. I may not be the most savvy in theory and readings, so I will continue in gaining more knowledge about that, but I believe that I know enough to be a branch coordinator for the South-Central/Inglewood Branch and continue and expand my work that I’m doing with this branch. I won’t be doing this alone, I have had great support from members in my branch and members on the steering committee, and I hope that members in the South-Central/Inglewood Branch will consider me to be their branch coordinator.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Through continuing my work hosting DSA 101s, plugging members into our work, being a constant presence at many of our meetings, I want to make sure that there are members continuing to work on our priority campaigns. This is how many of you have probably already met me. I know what it’s like working on a priority campaign for the past year, they are being chaired by some really hard working members, and I want to continue to help them out wherever I can. I also want to keep recruiting members from the labor movement and continue helping out our local labor committee wherever I can as well. I know they are involved with setting up labor circles as well, I want to keep the momentum of that going.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

I want to be a constant presence in my branch and chapter, and help out with implementing organizing trainings for members and developing members into socialist organizers. I want to do this through continuing to develop repertoire with the members, and they know that there is a branch coordinator who will be there continuously working on building up this branch and building up our membership. I have begun this process somewhat this past year, but now I want to really sit down and coordinate this with the rest of the branch coordinators and steering committee.

Role Description: Each of our 5 branches will elect 2 branch coordinators. They’ll be working to build relationships between branch members, hold branch meetings, and work with branch members to build power locally.

Candidates: Leslie C. & Paul Z.

Leslie C. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

Democratic Socialism is a political philosophy and economic system that emphasizes the democratic redistribution of resources to all to create a more just society, one that emphasizes the collective public good rather than exploitation of the masses for private gain. To acheive Democratic Socialism, we must develop a liberatory strategy that appeals to working class people. This includes continuing to engage in mass politics and running socialist candidates in key arenas of power, popularizing socialist demands through local campaigns to cohere a mass line, and building inroads with multiracial communities and organizations to build a united front.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I was inspired to join DSA in 2020 because of Bernie’s campaign.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Since joining DSA-LA, I have been primarily involved with establishing and building out the Eastside + San Gabriel Valley branch. I served on the Administrative Committee in 2020 before being elected to the Steering Committee for three years between 2021 and 2024. In 2023, I also served as one of the E+SGV Branch Coordinators. I am on the National DSA For Our Rights Committee and Democracy Commission, both of which were formed after the 2023 National Convention, and mentor other chapters in DSA. Through DSA and with other progressive organizations, I have gained experience supporting direct actions as a marshal, police liaison, and jail support, and have trained organizers on how to do all of the above.

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 are empowered with the tools and skills necessary to build winnable campaigns in their neighborhoods and workplaces. This includes ensuring that all members who join DSA-LA 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.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

Outside of the organizing sphere, I’ve worked with non-profit organizations and social impact enterprises to brainstorm long-term goals, identify clear Theories of Change, and articulate a pathway to achieving their overall vision. My work involved helping organizations build out organizational capacity to better communicate their goals both internally and externally, identifying clear metrics to evidence progress against goals, and ensuring that all stakeholders are collaborating effectively. These efforts are similar to the kind of institutional capacity DSA needs to build to ensure we have an effective membership development pipeline.

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

Building a mass movement organization means ensuring our spaces are welcoming and accessible to to working class people. This past year, more often than not, chapter meetings consisted of a series of report-backs on work that was being done outside of the meeting, rather than providing concrete opportunities for new members to engage with a campaign right then and there. Rather than leveraging strength in numbers, members were asked to join separate meetings to learn how to get involved. Or, new members were introduced to lengthly parliamentary procedures and debates that require deeper understanding of internal DSA politics to follow along. We need to change the way members interact with DSA so that we’re agitating and inoculating in our meetings, building up a sense of urgency and commitment around our shared goals.

Branch meetings and chapter meetings alternated every other month in 2024, but I plan to hold monthly branch events in the coming year to provide members with consistency. I intend to work with the Branch Organizing Committee at the beginning of the year to build out a 2025 calendar for the branch, not only identifying when and where to meet, but also laying out the purpose and agenda for each meeting so members have an overview of what their growth and development will look like across the year.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

DSA-LA should be structured in a way that allows us to continue building our inside-outside strategy across the state and organized labor, and developing mass movement campaigns that engages working class people while fighting the right. We need to be clear-eyed about where resource allocation happens, and how we can position ourselves to take power where it matters. This means engaging in deep strategic discussion about what the terrain across LA county looks like, and where we’re best positioned to intervene. Chapter leaders should encourage broad participation in developing priority campaigns to ensure buy-in around an organizing strategy, and re-shape chapter meetings as places where strategic discussions actually happen.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

Branches are the primary area where members engage with DSA. As such, Branch Coordinators are responsible for working closely with Campaign Working Groups to ensure that there are concrete strategies for achieving winnable demands within a Branch’s jurisdiction, along with a variety of engagement opportunities so that our members can plug in based on their experience and capacity. By engaging with members about how the campaign affects local communities within the branch, Branch Organizing Committees can also provide strategic direction for Campaign Working Groups, including opportunities to build coalition.

In addition, related to campaign implementation is making sure DSA is building up member capacity through a concrete onboarding scheme so that we have strong organizational infrastructure and processes to maintain growth without contributing to member burnout. The success of our campaigns depends on having a strong base of members who understand what our strategic objectives are, feel a sense of community with their fellow comrades in DSA, have the tools to organize in their workplaces and communities, have a clear direction for growth, and with whom we continue to engage in decision-making to ensure democratic participation and buy-in. This work must happen in parallel with campaign implementation, which makes branches important areas of engagement within the chapter.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

See second paragraph in answer above

Paul Z. Questionnaire

What does Democratic Socialism mean to you?

To me, democratic socialism is the understanding that our current economic system is built to serve the few at the great expense of the many. It is the realization that the working class creates the wealth our world sees and the belief that all people, unconditionally, deserve to live freely, with dignity, and security. It is the belief that elections should not be bought and sold, and that democracy must extend to all parts of our life. It is also the belief that, in order to achieve these things, we must elect socialists to public office to wield a government that is by and for the working class, and we must build a coalition that is rooted in but extends beyond organized labor to our community-based allies in Los Angeles and in the US.

When did you first get involved with DSA? What inspired you to join?

I joined DSA in 2020 after volunteering for Bernie Sanders in 2020. I was inspired to campaign for Bernie because of his unapologetic commitment to and program for working class people in the US. Once his campaign folded, I decided I wanted to join the long term project of bringing that vision to reality, and believed that becoming a part of DSA would be the best first step on that journey.

What experience do you have with organizing (both inside and outside of DSA)?

Outside of DSA, I was a very involved field volunteer for the Bernie 2020 campaign and participated in comms work for some campaigns previous to that.

Within DSA, I have worked on many electoral campaigns (Yes on Prop 15, Pasadena for Rent Control, Ysabel Jurado, Karla Griego, Yes on Props 5 and 33) doing communications and field work. I served on our National Electoral Committee in 2023. I was active in and lead the Starbucks Solidarity Working Group in 2022, organizing with DSA members and members of SBWU. Statewide I’ve helped organize labor solidarity (UAW 4811) and had minor roles in help coordinating statewide actions for the No Money for Massacres campaign. I have also done my fair share of designing all kinds of materials for the chapter.

Why are you running for this position?

I’m running for this position because I believe that, with a looming Trump presidency, it is now more important than ever to have a strong branch that is ready to mobilize and protect our most vulnerable Angelenos while keeping in mind a longer term vision that builds our chapter and a democratic majority in Los Angeles with the labor movement and allied community organizations. I also firmly believe the importance of working efficiently and effectively with California DSA to ensure our chapters across the state are coordinated in their response to Trump’s presidency and our plan ahead.

What skills do you feel you have that contribute to the position for which you are applying?

1. Experience with and knowledge of how our chapter functions
2. Relationship building and organizing with DSA leaders, members, and our allies
3. Expertise in communications internally and externally
4. Canvassing
5. Design/creative skills
6. Understanding of technical tools our chapter uses
7. Willingness to learn, take feedback, and pivot where necessary

What are some successes and areas of improvement in DSA-LA over the past year? How do you plan to respond to those in your role?

DSA-LA has had great success in electing members to local office, as well as being committed to developing responsive connection to our elected officials, ensuring our priorities and program are aligned. We’ve also effectively coordinated labor solidarity and strengthened connections with unions like UTLA and UAW, to name a few.

From my perspective, what we’ve tended to struggle with, both due to us learning as we go and by the condition of us being a volunteer-driven local organization, is sustainable retention of members who join in large membership growth periods as well as systematizing onboarding. We also have to make sure that, whether in a committee, campaign, or branch, we are a welcoming space that has room for new and curious members to plug into our work.

What should DSA-LA leadership prioritize in 2025?

I believe we must prioritize those who are at most risk of a Trump presidency. This includes working in coalition with unions and community organizations to protect our undocumented Angelenos, members of the trans community, and women. We must also keep our eyes on a medium and longer term vision that requires us to build our chapter effectively, so that we will be well positioned to run an effective electoral cycle in 2026, building to the potential general strike of 2028.

That being said, I believe it very important that our general membership should democratically decide on what our priorities should be, and our leadership must be committed to enacting those priorities. During another Trump term, our organization will be tested, and I firmly believe that we must also prioritize solidarity with each other. The right is more likely to continue its chokehold on our politics if we are fighting amongst ourselves.

What do you see as your position’s role in implementing priority campaigns?

The Branch Coordinator’s role should be to ensure members of that branch are being connected to these campaigns and given ways to get involved. This also involves making sure there is effective communication between branches and our priority campaign working groups. New members should be made aware of and get connected to these campaigns in the onboarding process. I also believe our onboarding should include instruction about priority campaigns themselves and why it’s important that we think about them strategically, and act together as a chapter to implement them.

What do you see as your position’s role in membership growth, development & engagement?

The Branch Coordinator should be ensuring that new member onboarding is taking place, while working in concert with the other branches and steering committee to ensure our membership growth is systematized and sustainable. The coordinators of the branches, however, can’t do this work alone. As coordinators, we have to make sure our branch organizing committees are growing and can help us get all this work done. We must also be engaging and coordinating with different bodies of our chapter as necessary.