This season we are proud to spotlight our Board Member Charlene Mendoza, whose years of teaching, organizing, and community leadership reflect the heart of Arizona List’s mission. Here is what she had to say about her experience with Arizona List thus far:
As a teacher working with high school students for many years, I have always been appreciative of the way the Arizona List has engaged young people. This has been true from working with interns, to providing opportunities for training, to making sure there are meaningful experiences, to working with first time candidates. The Arizona List teaches all of us about extending opportunities for each other, to opening doors and the power of connection.
For instance, the Arizona List is always one of the first organizations to reach out to people who are considering running for office and the great majority of the time are one of the first organizations to step in with help and support in the early days of a campaign.
Increasingly as there are more and more times when we have contested Democratic primaries, it becomes critical to offer support at times other organizations or potential donors want to wait and see what happens.
I am very proud of the work the Arizona List did with Selina Barajas who was recently elected to be the first Latina and the first woman representing Ward Five on the Tucson City Council. We have all understood that Ward 5 in Tucson is ripe with potential and people who are ready to jump in and make their voices heard. Historically, Ward 5 has not had a strong voter turnout. So, the energy and focus Selina brings to Ward 5 is invigorating and important. The Arizona List interns serving on her campaign had wonderful experiences. Electing more Latinas into office across Arizona has long been a passion and a mission for me. It is always amazing to see how our network is expanding over time.
I believe deep in my heart that engaging young folks, especially young women, early and meaningfully, and electing more Progressive Democratic Women, especially Latinas, across Tucson and our whole state will make a positive difference for all of us.
I know how meaningful it was to me to volunteer on Regina Romero’s campaign for Mayor back in 2019. It was a tough race and many people were willing to support other candidates who were less experienced or qualified because they fit their idea of who should be Mayor.
Now, six years later, I’ve changed my career and am serving as Mayor Romero’s Chief of Staff. In so many ways, this feels like an extension of my work teaching. It is important to be an active listener, to remain curious, to approach challenging situations with an open mind because you never know where the best solution may come from.
This is truly an amazing experience to work closely with the first woman Mayor and first Latina. Since then, we have worked hard to elect other Progressive Democratic Women onto the City Council and moved policies that have been impactful. For instance, before Dobbs fell officially, we were working on bringing a resolution to Mayor and Council, one of the first, if not the first in the nation, to change the general orders of police, to deprioritize reproductive healthcare related encounters and to affirm the rights of all people to bodily autonomy and access to abortion.
The challenges of being a woman in politics are many. It is true for the women we elect into office and for those of us who work alongside them. Racism and misogyny are real. We are breaking into spaces that were not designed for us and where we are often the minority.
And, there is hope. Again, in Tucson, we have elected the most diverse City Council ever. It is exciting to me that the Mayor and Council bring such a broad array of lived experiences that will help us guide our policy making. We’ll have a majority of working parents and of women.
Looking ahead to the future, I hope the Arizona List will continue to be a strong partner for first time candidates and young people who want to get more engaged. I hope that we can continue to bring people together in person or virtually who we can learn from. Through my time with the Arizona List, even before serving on the Board, I’ve had a chance to interact with inspiring people whom I have learned so much from. A few highlights were hearing from Karine Jean Pierre, Lucy McBath, and Wendy Davis. I hope we continue investing in all parts of our state and rural areas because that makes a difference in our statewide races. I hope we continue to find ways to reach across our differences and find those things that unite us. As we are fighting for so much, from reproductive healthcare, to constitutional rights, to standing with our queer and trans community or against the attacks on our immigrant and undocumented community and even the very foundations of our democracy, we need to build coalitions and work together.
Thank you Charlene!
