Our organization monitors, advocates, and engages our members in campaigns and initiatives that relate to visibility, representation, and minority justice.

Here are past campaigns we have supported and engaged in, to read more about our activities just scroll down:

Oppose Measure A (Local Campaign)
Assembly Bill 2016 – Ethnic Studies (Statewide Campaign)

Oppose Measure A – March-June 2018

On Friday, April 20, 2018, our organization voted to join a chorus of other grassroots groups, nonprofit agencies and community organizations in a stand against the City of Santa Clara’s Measure A, which will be hitting the ballots on June 5th, 2018. (Absentee ballots will begin being sent out on May 12th.)

You can find our official position letter here.

Why do we care about this issue?

We approached our position on the basis of ensuring minority representation in local government, politics and decision-making.

In the City of Santa Clara’s 160+ year history of incorporation, they’ve ran an At-Large Election System that, in principle, conveys the simple message that City Council candidates run – and are elected – to represent the needs and interests of the entire city.

For a city with a total population size of ~120,000, in practice, the At-Large Election System has continued to dilute the minority vote in the City of Santa Clara. We’ve seen that the minority population in the city is over 40%, but despite this number, the City of Santa Clara, in its 160 year history, has yet to see a person of color successfully elected to its City Council. The implementation of At-Large Elections while diminishing the minority vote is in violation with the California Voting Rights Act (2001), which was the basis for the City of Santa Clara’s current lawsuit (they were sued) and their response to address this violation.

What would Measure A do and why are we opposed?

Measure A proposes to District Elections. If it passes, bye bye At-Large Elections.

Measure A proposes “cutting” the City of Santa Clara into two electoral districts (about 60,000 voters per district, representing 50/50 of population).

Under this model, each district would elect three councilmembers to represent them on the Santa Clara City Council. To determine the winners in this “3 x 2 model”, the City of Santa Clara further proposes – through Measure A – to implement a Ranked Choice Voting System, with a Single-Transferable Vote (STV), a form of Proportional Representation.

We’re opposed to this proposal because the lines that the City of Santa Clara’s Districting Committee recommended would divide the minority vote.

Additionally, we believe more analysis needs to be done with regard to budgetary impacts on implementing a new election system in the County, case studies on correlations to increased minority representation in urban areas under an STV System, and frankly, explaining Ranked Choice Voting with an STV is challenging for even the electoral pundits among us.

Challenge: Explain Ranked Choice Voting in under 3 minutes. 🙂

Press and Media on Measure A:

General Information About Measure A:

City of Santa Clara’s Overview on Measure A

Arguments Around Measure A:

AB 2016 (Ethnic Studies)

As an organization that promotes fair and just representation for not just Filipin@ American communities, but all minority communities, L.E.A.D Filipino was proud to advocate for and join hundreds of other grassroots groups, community organizations, and school districts in supporting the passage of Assembly Bill 2016. L.E.A.D Filipino believes this is a significant and important step in the right direction for California as we celebrate our diverse communities, histories and contributions by acknowledging and educating ourselves on the roles that we have each played in our state’s collective fabric.

Signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown in September 2016, AB 2016 requires the California Instructional Quality Commission to develop – and California’s State Board of Education to adopt – a model curriculum in ethnic studies that may be taught in our state’s public school districts and charter schools with grade 9 to 12, based on the curriculum that’s currently being developed.

AB 2016 are the first steps to ensuring that all California high school students have an opportunity to learn about their own or another culture’s history, experiences, and contributions that have shaped the state’s past, present, and future.

The curriculum will be developed with ethnic studies faculty from California universities and public school teachers with experience teaching ethnic studies. The model is expected to be implemented in schools in 2019.

Read our support letter here.