Community Experience

For the last six years, I have been a St. Paul (Minnesota) community advocate and a “public servant”. I have organized citizens to pass needed state legislation, and organized local community cleanups. I have run for political office in Saint Paul (city council & mayor). Prior to moving to NYC, I was participating on three non-profit boards including the local district council. I found my community voice after debuting as a local superhero (See Superhero section) 

Lead Organizer: Frogtown Cleanup Squad | April 2020-May 2022

Problem: Frogtown is a lower-income community that has a lot of outdoor trash, which creates a negative feedback loop where residents continue to litter in the streets.

Why I Engaged: I’m a Frogtown resident. Cleanups beautify your own neighborhoods, shared belonging, and valuable social engagement especially during the Covid pandemic

Approach: My cleanup events are intentional and collaborative with neighbors and small businesses. For every event, my motto is  “the volunteer is king” implying that I want to entice, award, and simplify volunteer engagement. 

  1. Step 1: Choose Specific Location and Date
  2. Step 2: Partnership with city and local businesses (for supplies & food)
  3. Step 3: Community Promotion- Gauge volunteers and create a flier
  4. Step 4: Direct Outreach- Targeted Door-Knocking on impacted area
  5. Step 5: Celebrate Results- People like to see impact AND experience the benefits for themselves

For example: Cleaning up the alleys in a commercial business corridor creates an entirely different perspective of the busy commercial street (i.e. an urban art crawl!)

Results/ Highlights: 

  • Over dozen large cleanups
  • Over 300 members in cleanup group 
  • Largest cleanup had over 100 local attendees, and coordinated with only 6 volunteers (Feel free to ask more)
  • After George Floyd civil unrest, there was considerable damage on the main commercial avenue. The Frogtown Cleanup Squad did an immediate cleanup at the street level and the alleys. Several weeks later, I did a cleanup with the St. Paul Police department and their cadets.

Political Organizer: MN Catalytic Convertor Legislation | Jan. 2021

Problem: The price of heavy metals increased leading to a surge in catalytic converter theft in the Twin Cities metro (Minnesota). Local legislation is insufficient in discouraging theft, and the solution requires state-level legislation. The thefts are concentrated in the cities, and a successful bill would require support from rural legislators and bi-partisan agreement. 

Approach: The goal is to put public pressure for legislators to take action. I created a citizen petition informing citizens scope of the problem, community data reports (using open source crime data), and legislative outreach.

Results: I published an article in the local newspaper, The Midway Monitor. The petition collected over 1600+ signatures, which led to me hosting a virtual community meeting with both Democrat & Republican legislators, and the Saint Paul Police department. Shortly after, legislation was passed! [Note: legislation required scrappers to document & identify the owner of any catalytic converter received] 

BoardMember | Hamline Midway Coalition | Nov. 2022- March 2024

The Hamline Midway Coalition is a neighborhood district council for the Hamline neighborhood in St. Paul. I’ve been involved in the renter engagement, and finance committee. I was also engaged in transportation issues involving the Metropolitan Transit Council .

BoardMember | Recovery Cafe Frogtown | Jan. 2022 – March 2024

Recovery Cafe Frogtown is a recovery community organization that helps people traumatized by addiction, homelessness, and mental health challenges. I’ve outreached for the organization and was the residential housing expert. I’ve participated weekly on the group share for over a year with the same group. With my peers, I was able to set goals, and deal with trauma without resorting to drug use. In addition, I was a mentor and friend to other members in the group. One of the lessons I’ve learned about recovery is that EVERY person is capable of transformation. The recovery journey is not easy. I’ll be sharing my recovering journey in a future post.

Steering Committee|  St Paul Strong | Jan. 2021 – March 2024

St. Paul Strong is a citizen-led organization promoting political and government transparency in the city of St. Paul. The group publishes policy articles, discussion, and public forums. I’ve directly participated in two publicly televised forums:

St. Paul 2019 Ward 1 City Council Candidate & 2021 Mayoral Candidate

I ran for political office in 2019 and 2021. My campaign focused on addressing public safety, increasing community capacity, and deeply understanding citizen needs. I’ve intentionally door-knocked and outreach to disenfranchised communities (areas with low voting). In addition, I dressed up as a frog in my campaign (see superhero section). I believe that creating joy, excitement, and imagination can transform and revitalize under-served communities. 

Can you imagine our leaders being easily discernible and connecting to multi-generations?  Here are some few highlights/insights on my campaign

  • I programmed and wrote a community data report highlighting St. Paul voter inequity.
  • For the city council race, I received 500+ votes. For the mayoral race, I received 1500+ votes.
  • I visited all the neighborhoods of St. Paul and gain deep knowledge of the city.
  • I’ve talked with over 500+ residents. This experience helps me hone my message, communicate, and read people. A base conversation topic was on belonging. 
  • I’ve participated in two ride-alongs with the St. Paul Police Department experiencing a regular day in Frogtown, and domestic violence incident. 
  • I’ve volunteered for the 2020 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.