When I was three years old, I immigrated to the United States with my family. We packed into a one-bedroom house with our entire extended family, because that’s what survival looked like. My dad would take two buses to his job as a hospital technician, while my mom woke up before dawn for her shift as a factory machine operator. Even as a kid, I understood: they were sacrificing everything for their American Dream.

Watching my parents taught me the value of hard work. I started working in middle school and took on two more jobs in high school to contribute. I loved staying busy and giving back to my community. Despite my busy schedule, I’m proud to say that I graduated near the top of my class.

After receiving my masters in Community Psychology and Social Change from Penn State, I knew I wanted to build a career helping others. I worked at a Head Start program, became the Executive Director of two prominent non-profit organizations, SkillsUSA Council and the Children’s Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, and even taught a career exploration class at Northampton Community College. I worked to increase investment in public education and workforce development to give young people real opportunities – and helped grow our economy by building a stronger, more skilled workforce.

I continued to serve my community in any way I could. I worked in Senator Casey’s office as a Regional Manager for Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon Counties, as well as his Statewide Latino Affairs Advisor. There, I saw how the government can truly work for people when our leaders listen. I also served on Governor Wolf’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs and volunteered with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, working with local businesses to help them grow and create jobs in our community.

I worked at PPL Electric Utilities, helping people lower their utility costs to keep more money in their pockets. At 43, I decided to return to school and earn an energy systems engineering degree from Lehigh University. And when I left PPL, I was helping connect companies to our grid, many of which were renewable energy companies.

During my career, I’ve held a lot of titles: educator, public servant, community leader, and engineer. The thread through it all is that I’ve always felt the call to serve – to help others help themselves.

Now, I’m running for Congress because I’m not done standing up for our families, our businesses, and our community.

So, if you’re reading this (first of all, thank you for making it this far!), and if you’re ready to fight with me for our future, I hope you’ll consider contributing to my campaign for Congress today.

I know that this is a time of real chaos – and it’s a nerve-wracking time for many in our district. But I also know this: if we rise together and commit to making a difference, we can build a future that’s brighter, fairer, and more hopeful than the one we were handed.

In these dark times, we have to be our own light. And when we come together, that light doesn’t just guide us forward – it shows the world how powerful we are when we stand united.

Thank you for being part of this fight.

Carol Obando-Derstine