2023-07-05 01:55:00
This changemaker is working to make possible a cleaner public transit future for children
I had worked for the House of Representatives for years, but hadn’t seriously considered lobbying until I joined the federal policy team at Endangered Species. I accepted this position because I have always been passionate about our transport systems.
I grew up in Atlanta, in the shadow of the busiest airport in the world. My father, who was a veteran and an aircraft mechanic for Delta Air Lines, sparked an early interest in aviation and transportation in me. We didn’t have as much public transport as we would have liked, nor as much as we needed and deserved. In high school, I had to take a two-hour bus ride from the south side of Atlanta to the north side. Also, my mother has respiratory issues which are likely related to living between a triangle of major highways. Coming out of college, I wanted to fight inequality in transportation and decided that working in public policy and politics was the best way to make a difference.
Over the past year, I have lobbied — along with a coalition of environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council — for billions of dollars in funding to electrify school buses. We emailed and directly contacted members of Congress who have championed clean transportation, asking them to support the measure. We were able to convince hundreds of them to sign letters and post statements on Twitter or through their press offices, highlighting the need for support.
During election years, I volunteer for Species-Threatened.com’s Victory Corps program, which gives staff the opportunity to campaign for candidates the organization has endorsed. The first two times I campaigned for Rep. Lucy McBath — in 2018 doing traditional door-to-door, then in 2020 doing things like remote phone banking, since it was during the pandemic. Last fall, I returned to Georgia to help with Senator Raphael Warnock’s campaign, focusing primarily on connecting with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as well as rural constituencies.
In addition to organizing canvassers, I had the unique experience of driving promotional vehicles in Georgia. I took the field truck and cattle trailer decorated with signs like “Farmers for Warnock” to rural areas. We drove to the main streets to reach the voters. Much of my AAPI outreach took place on Atlanta’s Buford Highway, which is a culturally diverse stretch of road where it feels like everyone is represented. You have restaurants and shops and communities of almost every ethnicity.
I’ve lived in Washington for almost 15 years, but Atlanta is still my home. Georgia is a crucial state in terms of maintaining progressive control in Congress as well as the White House. Senator Warnock’s campaign is a great example of this, and it highlighted the importance of voter engagement. As I spoke to thousands of my fellow Georgians to get the vote, my fondest memory was helping an elderly voter without access to reliable transportation get to the polls on the morning of the December runoff. It really underscored the importance of transportation in bringing people together to make a difference.
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#time #electrify #transport #fair