Marisa Alcaraz, a proven advocate for the working families of the San Fernando Valley and the City of Los Angeles, is the candidate for L.A.’s vacant 6th City District who fights for real change.
Marisa is the woman behind the scenes who brings communities together to successfully champion landmark labor policies such as the $15 Minimum Wage, Fair Work Week, and Hero Pay. She has worked to build hundreds of affordable and permanent supportive housing units and brought a homelessness prevention program to the City. She created policies to bring more healthy food options to neighborhoods with Good Food Zones, Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones, and Healthy Neighborhood Markets. She secured tens of millions in park funding to repair and upgrade parks and also worked to create the first green alley network in Los Angeles. And she spearheaded the City’s Guaranteed Basic Income program, a $40 million pilot program that is the largest of its kind in the nation.
With her experience, Marisa Alcaraz will be able to hit the ground running to help bring about a new era for Council District Six and the LA City Council—one that is about unity and equity, about building up our neighborhoods and communities, empowering our youth, and being better leaders for the next generation to follow.
Marisa is a single mom and Latina who was born and raised in the Valley and has lived here for over 30 years. She attended Birmingham High School, and her daughter Emma currently attends Kindergarten in Van Nuys. Marisa grew up in a working-middle-class family. Her father came here from Mexico and is a retired union carpenter (Local 661), her mother grew up here in the Valley and is a retired NICU nurse, and her sister is an ICU nurse and SEIU member. Her parents brought her up to value public service and to be an active member of her community. That is what led her to a career in local government, where she has been working for the last 15 years, on policies that address environmental, social, and economic justice, and fighting for working-class families like hers. And that, combined with her integrity and experience, will make her a Councilmember who will bring about the change we need at City Hall.
Marisa Alcaraz was raised in Lake Balboa, surrounded by family that always emphasized the value of public service. Her Uncle Jim served as an L.A. City firefighter in the Valley.
Marisa graduated from Birmingham High and went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree at UC Irvine and her Master’s at USC. She was president of the Young Democrats in college, and she took her first job at City Hall — to fight for change.
Marisa directed the successful effort at City Hall to raise the minimum wage to $15.
Marisa is raising her daughter Emma, a kindergartener who attends public elementary school in Van Nuys, in the same neighborhood where she was raised. Marisa has dedicated her career to a cleaner environment, safe neighborhoods and a brighter future for Emma’s generation.
