Celebrating the Women Leading California from Blue to Progressive

7 min readMar 30, 2023

Women’s history is everyone’s history, and while women make history every day of every month, each March our nation commemorates Women’s History Month to celebrate the vital role of women across history. We are grateful to all of the women-identifying leaders across the state who contribute to moving California from blue to progressive with us. This month we asked women-identifying leaders in the CDT network to share what brought them to this work, who inspires them, and what they dream is possible for California in the next couple of years. Below are some of their responses.

Hatzune Aguilar (Director of Strategic Engagement, Communities for a New California)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

Speaking up for and fighting with my family and neighbors has been something I’ve done since I was a little kid. The first professional paid experience I had was in college as an intern for Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Which female-identifying leaders have inspired you in this work?

Ai-jen Poo inspires me for how she connects the dots between gender equality, the future of work, family care and more. Not only does she lift people’s experiences out of invisibility, but she leaves people with a better understanding of how to be a part of a concrete solution and how to be better humans.

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

For many of us, the pandemic challenged us to prioritize a common good for the sake of human decency, to treasure our loved ones even if at a distance, and to distill our often-chaotic lives into something more holistic. As we continue to emerge from this crisis and the constantly evolving climate change events, I see Californians continuing to use these principles in their lives and in each subsequent battle.

I notice progressive organizations also coming out of this phase, reaching out for each other to invigorate our families and neighbors together in the name of multigenerational and multicultural power and wellness.

The dream that I believe is possible in the next two years is a larger base of residents interested and engaged in winning, community organizations strategically aligned and battle ready, and an investment in both that is uncompromisingly progressive. With such a dynamic landscape I believe we will see more progressive female-identifying candidates of color and policies that buoy entire families.

Sky Allen (Executive Director for Inland Empire United)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

I began working with movement building nonprofits immediately after graduating from undergrad.

Which female-identifying leaders have inspired you in this work?

I am inspired by women leaders every day! Most recently I’ve been inspired by national leaders like Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, community leaders like my former supervisor Veronica Alvarado from the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, and my forever shero, my mom

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

I think our regional tables are going to emerge from 2024 even stronger than we are now in terms of capacity and community reach, and I think we will continue to elect strong women leaders at the federal, state, and local levels.

Gabriela Bobadilla (Administrative Manager for CDT)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

Over a decade.

Which female-identifying leaders have inspired you in this work?

Arlene Cano Matute, Gloria Lucas, Elizabeth Ayala, Emilia Ortega-Jara, Estella Acuña

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

My dream is to have elected officials that are knowledgeable and invested in helping the working class of unincorporated Riverside County.

Jamarah Hayner (General Consultant, George Gascon for District Attorney 2024)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

20 years

Which female-identifying leaders have inspired you in this work?

The mothers, sisters, aunties, grandmas, organizers and working women who live this struggle every day — especially the ones whose names we’ll never know. It’s an amazing time to be a woman in politics and the women leaders at all levels are growing in number every day, but the reason we do this work is to empower those women, their families and their communities — because that’s my family and community too. We’re just here to help with the lifting and bring more chairs to the table.

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

Abundance! More elected officials, activists, campaign staff and voters who don’t see our issues as an experiment or a threat but as a proven course of what works. Reform means safer communities, healthier families, more responsible budgets and normalizing solutions that work rather than letting mistruths and fear-mongering dictate policy. Thankfully — even on days when it doesn’t feel like it — we’re getting closer all the time.

Angie Junck (Heising-Simons Action Fund)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

I am a second generation immigrant who was transformed by my high school walk out to protest Proposition 187, a 1994 anti-immigrant law that restricted undocumented immigrants from state public services. That movement sparked my commitment to serving and building the power of immigrant and other communities of color impacted by criminalization. For a decade and a half, I was a movement lawyer fighting the injustices faced by people caught at the intersections of the criminal legal and immigration systems.

Which female-identifying leaders have inspired you in this work?

Women who channel their own personal experience to support and develop others with the goal of transforming their communities. Over several decades of movement work, these organizers have been my greatest teachers. From them I have learned the importance of human connection, the facets of structural injustice, and the role of power in creating change. They are people of color, survivors, mothers, sisters, daughters, immigrants, formerly incarcerated people, and so much more.

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

We embrace and usher in the leadership and development of bold futurists –those actively involved in creating a future of what could be and shifting current paradigms to make those visions possible. I see formerly incarcerated and immigrant abolitionist organizers at the center of this change, where they are lifted into positions of power in both the field and in government, and others follow their lead.

Irene Kao (Executive Director for Courage CA)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

In theory since middle school when I first learned about the Civil Rights Movement in depth. In practice since college when I had the opportunities to take ethnic and women’s studies classes and participate in student-led campaigns at the University of Michigan.

Which female-identifying leaders have inspired you in this work?

bell hooks, Dr. Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, Yuri Kochiyama, Grace Lee Boggs, Dolores Huerta, adrienne maree brown, Deb Haaland, Holly Mitchell, teachers like Professor Michele Mitchell who brought a lot of rigor, camaraderie, and joy to daily movement work, and several of my colleagues now who I am proud to work alongside.

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

A real sea change in politics in California. While we’re facing some major headwinds, I am already seeing how quickly policies and cultures change with new leadership that really invests in working with communities and progressive organizations. There’s a clear sense of how the political establishment is not working for everyone, and a stronger camaraderie among us that makes me hopeful for what more we will do as we each do our part to bring in more leaders like us.

Jane Kim (California Director for Working Families Party)

How long have you been committed to movement work?

Over 20 years

What are you dreaming is possible in the next two years for California?

Building a pipeline of well supported, progressive elected champions to win office from local level to state and building a progressive agenda which includes expanding single payer healthcare, tuition free public college, stronger tenant protections and a wealth tax.