Issue Position: Equitable Policy Making

Issue Position

I am running to build the boldest, most inclusive district in Minnesota. I bring a depth of understanding and passionate commitment to inclusivity and breaking the systemic barriers of race, gender and poverty. To break these systemic barriers, we must address urgent needs such as housing, health, and the environment. In conversations with neighbors it is clear that the dominant narratives maintain systems that harm and kill the very people who are excluded from these systems. This is clear now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was always there, in our approach to housing, healthcare, and the environment.

As a State Representative, I will use my position to hold corporations and their lobbyists accountable. We know that the people and institutions that hold the most power today are not paying their fair share. Meanwhile, people looking to work a living wage job, give their kids a good education, and desire to live in a healthy environment tend to suffer the most. I will fight for legislation that is created by centering the needs of residents, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color, queer people, women/trans/femme/non-binary people, people with disabilities, seniors, and our youth.

I will also champion issues to ensure that women of color are protected in our legislation. I support the recently created task force that is fighting for more data and resources for protecting Native and Indigenous women, and I will push for the CROWN Act to ensure that women and men of color can wear their traditional and natural hairstyles in the workplace and schools. These laws are crucial first steps to building a more inclusive society.

​Our government and institutions have institutionalized inequality and inequity. Just as the government consciously or implicitly excluded people, the government can actively include people in its policies. This upcoming election will define the next generation and determine if we will go back to the old normal or create a new normal that supports our brothers and sisters no matter their status and focuses on creating healthy communities. I will strive for a new, supportive, inclusive normal.

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