I have worked for DHS for 15 years and currently serve as Assistant Director for Region 1. I served as Director from 2010-2014. Our members have faced many challenges recently; the Janus decision, the attacks on PERS with SB 1049, and this year, the covid-19 epidemic and the struggle against racial injustice and institutional racism. But as a union we are a courageous force, and we have leaned in to get new members, fight for our retirement, negotiate safe working conditions in an epidemic, and joined in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives. It would be a privilege to advocate for Region 1 members in all locals and sectors of 503. I want to especially join the effort to recruit new member-leaders, particularly member leaders who are Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC), members with disabilities, and members who are just beginning their work in the public and provider sectors. We have many more challenges to lean into over the next two years, but I am proud to be part of a union that advocates courageously for economic justice and racial justice in our union, at work, and in our state.