EMILYs List Congratulates Lateefah Simon on Advancing to the General Election for California’s 12th Congressional District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, congratulates Lateefah Simon on advancing to the general election for California’s 12th Congressional District. EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler released the following statement:
“EMILYs List congratulates Lateefah Simon on advancing to the general election in California’s 12th Congressional District. Simon has dedicated her life to advocating for civil rights, and we know that she will fight for all fundamental freedoms for her constituents. Reproductive rights are on the ballot in 2024, and Simon’s victory is vital to taking back the House and protecting choice. EMILYs List is proud to support a fierce pro-choice champion and is excited to see her victory in November.”
Lateefah Simon is a civil rights advocate, veteran organizer, and nonprofit professional who currently serves as a member of the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors and the president of MeadowFund. Previously Simon served as the president of the racial justice organization the Akonadi Foundation, where she worked to support youth of color in the Oakland, California area. Simon first began her career in advocacy at age 16 with the Young Women’s Freedom Center. By age 26, she became the youngest woman ever to receive a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” Vice President Kamala Harris, then serving as San Francisco’s district attorney, chose Simon to lead the creation of Back on Track, a program designed to reduce recidivism rates among youth who had interacted with the criminal justice system. Simon was born legally blind and was inspired to run for the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors of 2016 in order to improve public transportation in northern California. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Mills College and a Master of Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised $850 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure operations for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country’s first woman as vice president, 175 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 20 governors, and over 1,500 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.
