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Good morning Young Democrats!

For those of you who I haven’t gotten a chance to meet yet, my name is Giovanni Chavez, and I am the new President of the California Young Democrats. It was an honor to be elected during the 2023 CYD State Convention last month. I look forward to fulfilling my commitments to creating CYD’s first anti-money in politics policy, growing our membership numbers, and empowering Young Democrats to bring change to their communities. I have assembled a great team to lead us into an era of a stronger, bolder, and unapologetically progressive CYD. I’m proud to say that this team was unanimously elected at the CYD State Convention. The CYD At-Large Executive Board is as follows:

President: Giovanni Chavez

VP of Membership: Codi Vierra

VP of Finance: Megan Imperial

VP of Operations: Ruy Laredo

Secretary: Emily Bonner

National Committeeperson: Negeen Sadeghi-Mohaved

National Committeeperson: Parshan Khosravi

Parliamentarian: Nabil Kherfan

Political Director: Navkaran Gurm

Communications Director: Michelle Andrews

Immediate Past President: Diane Le

President of California College Democrats: Jason Park

President of California High School Democrats: Nicolas Kiet Quach

North State Regional Director: Maiya De La Rosa

North Coast Regional Director: Brendan Sweeney

Bay Area Regional Director: Rowen Kliethermes 

North Valley Regional Director: Teresita Orozco

South Valley Regional Director: Bryan Beltran

Inland Empire Regional Director: Tariq Azim

Los Angeles Regional Director: Nicolas Kiet Quach

Orange County Regional Director: Jeanie Le 

South State Regional Director: Malik Thornton

We have a lot of work ahead of us. MAGA extremists all over the state and the country are attacking LGBTQIA+ communities, threatening reproductive freedom, spreading anti-AAPI hate, attacking workers’ rights to dignity and fair pay, and delaying action on climate change. These same extremists are even targeting our schools by banning books, rewriting history, and blocking educational opportunities for our youth. We have to work together to fight against this rising tide of right wing extremism. 

In that spirit, we have already hit the ground running. At the CYD State Convention, before being elected, we pushed for various pro-worker, pro-labor, and anti-corporate interest resolutions. These resolutions included supporting a fair and reasonable contract for California Faculty Association members, supporting the workers striking for fair wages and against animal abuse at Medieval Times, opposing a grocery industry merger that would harm workers, and supporting the California State University Employees Union’s organizing efforts.

We are actively organizing to build the next generation of progressive leadership. We are partnering with young activists in Ventura County to host a Youth Civic Engagement Fair on August 5th from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., which will bring different youth organizations together to share knowledge and resources to promote social justice and change! This event will have live music, food trucks, guest appearances, and other entertainment. For more details, please visit:

Chartering Updates

We are also chartering new Young Democrat chapters early! If you are looking to start a new Young Democrats chapter or did not get the chance to re-charter one during the last May 2023 CYD State Convention, it is not too late. You may apply to have your charter approved at the August State Leadership Committee Meeting, the next time our CYD voting body will convene, via our mid-year chartering process. You can find all the chartering forms and steps at http://cayoungdems.com/chartering/. Please provide all required documents and information. Per CYD Bylaws, your chartering packet and payment is due fifteen (15) days prior to the August State Leadership Committee (SLC) Meeting. Thus, the deadline for submission is Friday, August 4th at 11:59 PM.

Some chapters were conditionally chartered–those that did not turn in all their required chartering forms but were approved under the condition that they would turn in those forms–at last month’s State Convention. If your chapter received conditional chartering approval at our May 2023 State Convention, your updated and complete chartering packet is due prior to the August 2023 SLC in Visalia. Please be in touch with your Regional Director to make sure you know what information needs to be fixed and provided to be approved. You can re-submit your chartering packet via the regular chapter chartering form at http://cayoungdems.com/chartering/.

YDA Convention

The Young Democrats of America Convention is starting today (June 18-21) in Las Vegas, and California is coming in strong with over 30 Young Democrats arriving to represent us at the national stage.

We are proud to have an incredibly diverse delegation, as CYD actively worked to make this year’s YDA Convention more accessible to members of traditionally underrepresented communities. When selecting members of our delegation, we took into account race, sexual orientation, gender identity, geography, and disability status while also ensuring that socioeconomic status did not present a barrier to attendance.

We are super excited to have several amazing California Young Dems running for board positions in YDA caucuses including:

Rachel Bracker for YDA Women’s Caucus Chair

Zachary Kihm for YDA Hispanic Latinx Caucus Vice Chair

Alondra Esquivel Garcia for YDA Hispanic Latinx Caucus Treasurer

Adrian Ballesteros for YDA Hispanic Latinx Caucus Vice Chair of Political Affairs

Jason Park for YDA Environmental Caucus Executive Vice Chair

Jill Morton for YDA Environmental Caucus Parliamentarian/Vice Chair of Governance

The CYD Executive Board is also proud to have endorsed the YDA Onward slate for YDA Executive Board. The YDA Onward slate consists of:

Quentin Wathum-Ocama for YDA President

Dyna Kristine Martinez for YDA Executive VP

Katherine Jeanes for YDA Secretary

Izzy Dobbel for YDA Treasurer

Spencer Dirrig for YDA Midwestern VP

Hannah Perkins for YDA Southern VP

Gabi Koc for YDA Eastern VP

Our mission is to empower Young Democrats. We are highlighting and will continue to highlight Young Democrats’ voices because Young Democrats are the leaders of today and will be the backbone of the future. Your voice matters to us. Feel free to tag CYD at @cayoungdems on Twitter or Instagram for a retweet or share.

If you’re a Young Democrat, CYD alumnus, or a friend of CYD, please consider helping our efforts by donating.

In solidarity,

Giovanni Chavez, CYD President