WPI Graduate Network: Graduate Profiles

Lacy Serros, Tides Foundation

Lacy Serros has dedicated her career to motivating individuals and communities to be their own catalysts for change. She is a Community Fellow at the Tides Foundation where she staffs the Voter Action Initiative, a grantmaking fund that supports building inclusive democracy through a variety of activities including voter registration issue-based advocacy, election protection and community organizing. Lacy was a member of the 2005–2006 Women’s Policy Institute and has returned this year to serve as a co-mentor for the reproductive justice and environmental justice team.

Lacy began her career working on campaigns for the United Farm Workers of America and the Dolores Huerta Foundation in the Central Valley, where she grew up. She moved into policy work at the Latino Issues Forum where she advocated for health care expansion for low-income communities and she continued to hone her policy advocacy skills in the Women’s Policy Institute.

At the Institute, Lacy and her team advocated for the passage of SB 1471 (Kuehl), a bill that would have increased access to sexual health services and information. The bill required community-based programs and school programs that received state funds to provide medically-accurate, unbiased, comprehensive education that was culturally, linguistically, and age appropriate and delivered by trained educators. The bill passed both houses but was ultimately vetoed by the Governor.

While the outcome was disappointing, Lacy and her teammates considered the experience invaluable and felt proud of what they learned and accomplished. The Institute solidified her knowledge of the legislative process and gave her the skills and confidence to continue advocating for positive legislative change.

Whether she is acting as an Institute mentor, advocate or lobbyist, Lacy is working tirelessly to remove barriers to political participation and create a California that actually reflects the wants and needs of all its citizens.

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