Contact: Johanna Kichton, 202.660.0605, press@peoplesaction.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.—People’s Action today announced its endorsement of Maya Wiley in the New York City mayoral primary election. Wiley is running a movement politics, people-powered campaign and will fight for the People’s Action People’s Platform once elected. She is also endorsed by People’s Action member organizations Community Voices Heard Power, VOCAL-NY Action, and Citizen Action of New York.
“For too long, New York City has been dominated by the one percent who only care about protecting their money and power. We are proud to endorse the only candidate for mayor who will fight against the corporate elite and for the multiracial working class,” People’s Action Movement Politics Director Brooke Adams said. “Maya Wiley will govern with us to make sure everyone is taken care of. ”
“Maya Wiley has the vision, qualifications, and grit needed to lead and transform NYC into a city where Black, Latinx, AAPI, queer, working-class and low-income communities can live in dignity. As a member of People’s Action, Community Voices Heard Power is proud to have Maya Wiley as People’s Action’s candidate for mayor of New York City,” Community Voices Heard Power Executive Director and People’s Action Institute Board Member Afua Atta-Mensah, esq., said.
“Maya Wiley understands the scale of the crises New Yorkers face, and the way stigma and racism perpetuate punishment and harm, instead of care and compassion,” VOCAL-NY Political Director Action Fund Paulette Soltani said. “VOCAL-NY Action Fund members—people living with HIV, people who use drugs, who are formerly incarcerated, or experiencing homelessness–should be at the center of any policy solutions impacting their lives, and we know Maya will do just that.”
“New York City is facing a major turning point, and it requires a leader with both the political analysis and know how to guide us through one of the most challenging periods of our time. Maya is that candidate,” Citizen Action of New York State Political and Campaigns Director Stanley Fritz said.
“I am running for Mayor because I am a change making leader who can bring New Yorkers together to recover from the COVID-19 crisis in a way that reimagines New York City so that it can be a city where we all can thrive. My vision is a New York that rises from the ashes of twin pandemics — coronavirus and systemic racism — that deny investment for people of color,” Wiley said. “An endorsement from People’s Action would help solidify my support within the community at an extremely critical moment, and I would be honored to have their endorsement. People’s Action is fighting for many of the same goals as I am, and together we can achieve them.”
Maya Wiley is a leader in city government and in spurring democratic change. She serves as counsel to the mayor, held police accountable as Chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and worked to improve public education as a Co-Chair of the School Diversity Task Force. At the New School, where she served as a University Professor, she founded the Digital Equity Laboratory on universal and inclusive broadband. Maya is a veteran of both the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ACLU, was a former Legal Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Maya was also Senior Advisor on Race and Poverty at the Open Society Foundations, the largest funder of human rights work the world over.
People’s Action’s Movement Politics program recruits, runs, and elects progressives into local and statewide offices across the country. Since 2016, People’s Action has helped elect over 380 movement politics candidates. The program focuses on electing women, people of color, and low-income people who are grounded in progressive movement building with our member organizations.
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People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations in 30 states, united in fighting for justice. We operate the largest progressive rural organizing project in the country. People’s Action and its member organizations coordinated one of the biggest distributed organizing programs in rural areas this election season.