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Advisory Committee

Alejandra Gomez

Executive Director
Arizona Center for Empowerment

Alejandra Gomez was born in Pomona, California to immigrant parents. Alejandra became aware of the U.S.’s broken immigration system at a young age when Prop 187 passed in her home state. Prop 187 was an anti-immigration law that targeted undocumented immigrants living in California in the mid-1990s. Alejandra’s father was undocumented at the time, and Prop 187 forced Alejandra’s family to move to Arizona in hopes of escaping the dangers of Prop 187 and other anti-immigrant sentiment. Alejandra began her career in community organizing in 2007, during the beginning of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s racially-charged criminal suppression sweeps that targeted immigrant communities. Seeing the fear and harassment her community was experiencing that was reminiscent of her own childhood, Alejandra beganSince her start in organizing, Alejandra has focused her work on immigration rights through large-scale civic engagement efforts to bring out the Latino vote and direct action. Alejandra lives in Phoenix, AZ and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Arizona State University. Alejandra was the Field Manager for the Adios Arpaio campaign that registered over 30,000 Latinos to vote.

Rooted in her family's immigration struggle, Alejandra lead the organizing efforts in the fight for DAPA and expanded DACA at United We Dream National Network as the Deputy Organizing Director.Working with Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability to organize against Sheriff Arpaio and his unfair practices.Alejandra has dedicated her life to social justice and community empowerment through grassroots mobilization.

Currently, Alejandra serves as a Co-Executive Director for the Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE).

Resources from

Alejandra Gomez

Related resources
AZ Latino Values Research
ACE led this research to support its organizing efforts. It is using the findings as it trains organizers and canvassers to reach eligible voters across Arizona. The findings will help organizers build a strong sense of community among Latino voters and ensure that outreach is done in meaningful ways.
Shifting the Political Paradigm
This opening panel in the 2023 DPI Annual Convening explored the challenges of our current political paradigm.
Organizing to Change the Rules: How to Move Local Election Officials
Local election officials are important power brokers in our fight for a progressive multiracial democracy. They can expand voting access and increase equity in our democratic process or erect barriers that unequally increase the costs of participation for voters and the barriers for voters of color.
What is Winning?
Recent Supreme Court decisions, coupled with the January 6th hearings, have made it clearer than ever that we are operating in a politically charged, high stakes, power arena. How should organizers think about “winning” in this context? What is our role in this power arena?
2022 Midterm Election Debrief
Another election season is behind us. As the dust settles, this fantastic set of state leaders and research partners help us make sense of the election results and begin to identify what we need to learn in 2023 and 2024 to continue strengthening our collective strategies to build and sustain a multiracial democracy in
Past Speaking Events
Oct 4, 2023
Plenary
Shifting the Political Paradigm
description

This opening panel explored the challenges of the current political paradigm, where politics is extractive, transactional, and driven by political operatives in NY or DC, how that political “common sense” undermines multiracial democratic practice, and what we can do together to create and realize a new paradigm where the political system builds power in Black, Latino, AAPI, and Native communities that they can use collectively to win change.

Jul 20, 2022
Plenary
What is Winning?
description

Recent Supreme Court decisions, coupled with the January 6th hearings, have made it clearer than ever that we are operating in a politically charged, high stakes, power arena. How should organizers think about “winning” in this context? What is our role in this power arena?

REsource Report
Oct 22, 2021
Concurrent Sessions
SESSION 3A - Organizing to Change the Rules: How to Move Local Election Officials
description

SPEAKERS: Alex Gomez (Co-Executive Director, ACE/LUCHA), Tomas Robles (Co-Executive Director, ACE/LUCHA), Hannah Furstenberg-Beckman (Researcher, Local Election Officials: Discretion and Democracy Project)

No Moderator Events Available.

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