EMILYs List Endorses Lateefah Simon for Election to California’s 12th Congressional District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Lateefah Simon for election to California’s 12th Congressional District. EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement:
“Lateefah Simon has spent her life and career fighting for underrepresented Americans to have a voice in government and society, and we know she is committed to continuing to do so as representative for California’s 12th Congressional District. Whether as organizer, an activist, or a community leader, Simon has been a champion for civil rights and for the women, families, and youth of California. EMILYs List is proud to endorse this pro-choice champion for election, and we have full confidence in her ability to stand up to extremism and work to protect our democracy in Washington.”
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 “Genius” Fellowship. 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.
