The responses to these questions were edited for length and clarity by the Georgia Decides team. Each candidate was allotted 150 words for each answer and some answers were trimmed in order to abide by that length requirement. Other edits were made to make sure readers can fully follow and understand the candidate responses.
Campaigning for: State House District 59
How does your background equip you for the job you are seeking?
When I was 10, my immigrant parents moved our family to Stone Mountain in search of affordable housing and better educational opportunities. Unfortunately, the schools began to slip. In order to access a good public school, I took two-buses and traveled four-hours each day. That opportunity not only changed my life, but underscored the value of education and strong public institutions in helping transform people and community — especially for those most in need. Today, as an executive director of an education nonprofit and former president of Summerhill’s neighborhood organization, I have heard too many stories describing a lack of education and economic opportunities. Families working hard and still feel like their basic needs are not being met. That is why I’m running for office — a deep belief that you can’t shape the people and places you care so much about without stepping up to create a new path forward. I hold a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.
What role should government have in the lives of Georgians? How would you apply that philosophy to the job you are seeking?
Government should protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all people and set equitable baselines for our basic needs, including housing, education, health care, etc. Government has a role to play in establishing those equitable baselines afforded to all children, youth, families and seniors across the state of Georgia regardless of how you look, where you live and how you vote. Once established, it is the duty of government and its elected officials to uphold those baselines of quality and care, pass policies, and fund and administer programs that protect these rights for all Georgians. Government should also serve as an equalizer to address injustices in our policies and public systems. I also believe government has a role to play in our private sector where, in the most recent decades, we have seen the gap between “haves” and “have-nots” widen.
If you are elected (or re-elected), what problems will you spend the most time solving and why?
First, fostering thriving families. For Georgia’s economy to recover and stay competitive, we need to harness all peoples’ talents and support working families. Equitable investments to fund more teachers, emotional and mental health support, enrichment programs, and expand needs-based scholarships will set youth up for success. Secondly, building healthy communities. In Georgia, 1.4 million adults and children do not have health insurance. Expanding Medicaid would extend health insurance to thousands of children, to over 155,000 women, and to nearly half of Georgia’s uninsured veterans and their spouses. Finally, defending our democracy. Georgia is the cradle of the civil rights movement, but it is also ground zero for an ongoing assault on our fundamental right to participate in free and fair elections. Since 2020, there has been a concerted effort to make voting more difficult especially among Black, Latino, and young voters. These efforts threaten our right to make our voices heard and undermine our democracy.
Georgia is a politically diverse state. How will you work to represent Georgians whose political views differ from your own?
I believe that public policy should reflect the lived experiences of Georgians and those daily realities are not static or fixed to a political affiliation. To better represent those daily realities, I plan to meet with community leaders — elected officials, small business owners, and faith leaders — regardless of what they look like, where they live, and how they vote. I plan on attending neighborhood meetings and town halls and organize monthly canvassing events. I want to maintain a strong line of communication between my office under the Gold Dome and community so I can continuously learn and stay abreast of opportunities and challenges facing our working families. This will require an open mind and collaborative spirit to join hands with people and groups working to advance issues, address needs and support children, youth, families and seniors across District 59 and the entire state of Georgia.
Who has been the biggest influence on how you view state government and politics? What have you learned from this person?
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Former Atlanta councilmember Carla Smith embodied this spirit and, by working and collaborating with her, I came to more fully understand the need to work for lasting change. I am a natural problem solver and want to get things done. I want to work with communities to identify needs and opportunities, study determinants of change and systems, strategize the potential policy solutions, and pass legislation that does the most amount of good for the most amount of people. Smith emphasized spending time on the ground meeting with people individually to understand their point of view. She took every call — and not just for a quick 15 or 20 minutes. This sometimes felt disorienting and without a clear purpose, but meeting with any resident to listen and understand showed that she cared. I aspire to be this kind of leader and work in a legislative body that understands this and can proactively engage people and community with the goal to truly listen and understand.
Georgia has a lot to offer current and potential residents, but many parts of the state are becoming increasingly unaffordable. Please explain your proposed approach to address housing affordability through legislation and executive actions?
I plan to partner with the cty of Atlanta, Fulton County, and affordable housing stakeholders to push forward ideas around low-income housing tax credits, increased density through more flexible zoning, targeted Black and Latino first-time homeowner assistance programs, and $250 million+ private and public funds to invest in affordable housing initiatives.
Politics is often about compromise. How do you decide when to compromise and take small, incremental wins, and when to refuse compromise?
By keeping my bottom line front and center — the people and communities who elected me. Will this policy or decision help or hurt the residents of District 59? Who will benefit most from this and who will not? I have my personal convictions and values as an individual, but the most important job as a leader is to make sure my decision-making is aligned with my ultimate bottom-line — the children, youth, families and seniors in District 59.
There were politicians who questioned the outcomes of Georgia elections in 2018 and 2020. Do you think Georgia’s elections are secure and will you stand by the results?
I do believe that Georgia elections are secure and will stand by the election results.
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on abortion, state law and local enforcement authority will determine access to abortion.
I am grateful to have the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and will do everything in my power to protect abortion access and fight for a woman’s right to choose what decision she makes regarding her health and body. Once in office, I will use every resource possible to fight against these extreme attacks on Georgians and leverage my platform as an elected official to advocate fiercely for every person’s reproductive freedom.
Are there any programs/legislation you’ve sponsored or created to help people with disabilities?
N/A
Georgia closed out its budget year with a “likely record surplus, billions of dollars in federal aid and a growing economy.” Georgia spends more than half of this money on education and health care. What would you want to see in the budget in terms of spending or taxes?
Georgia is one of only eight states in the nation that do not account for the disproportionate challenges faced by students living in poverty with additional funding. Supplementing the base funding with a weighted measure of additional funds for the resources necessary to accommodate students experiencing poverty can fund transportation, additional teachers, emotional and mental health support, enrichment programs, and expand needs-based scholarships — all of which would set up youth for success and to thrive as adults. Early care and education centers play an integral role in the health and well-being of Georgia’s working families. The centers provide a substantial, lasting and intergenerational impact on health and well-being, particularly for children from working families. I will support proposals that build on the recent boost in child care funding by expanding access to the CAPS (childcare and parent services) program.
The Legislature often votes along party lines. When would you seek bipartisan action and what issues merit such consensus?
I will try my best to listen to and work with all members of the state Legislature, regardless of political affiliation or geography. This spirit of bipartisan collaboration feeds a healthy legislative process that is solutions oriented and delivers results for all Georgians. But let me be clear — my bottom-line will always be doing what’s best for the people, working families and communities in District 59. If good faith efforts to listen, learn and work together aren’t being reciprocated by the other side, and there’s an opportunity to deliver much needed support, justice and resources to communities in my district, I have no problem going forward and doing my job — even if that results in a party line vote.