People Powered Leadership for a New Era

Meet Jasmin

I’m running because this community raised me and I refuse to turn my back on it.

I grew up watching neighbors look out for each other, organizing food drives, fighting for repairs, and showing up even when the system didn’t. I’ve lived the reality of housing instability, under-resourced schools, and being told to wait my turn while decisions were made without us. Instead of waiting, I organized. I served. I stayed.

I don’t just talk about community: I show up every day. I sit with tenants navigating broken systems, I fight for families to stay housed, I bring resources directly to our schools, and I hold power accountable because our people deserve dignity, not excuses.

I’m running for State Assembly in the 65th Assembly District to continue to represent us because our community deserves leadership that comes from lived experience, not ambition. Leadership that answers to working people, not developers, not corporations, not political insiders, politicians or clubs.

I am a homegrown candidate, born and raised in this community, a product of the NYC public school system in this very district and a lifelong NYCHA resident. I am a graduate student at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. 

My advocacy is not abstract, it’s personal. I’ve organized alongside neighbors around the future of East River Park, demanding transparency, climate resilience, and community input in decisions that impact working families and coastal residents living on the frontlines of flooding and extreme heat.

Beyond climate, my work has centered on expanding youth services and education access. I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years to strengthen after-school programming, social-emotional learning, and mental health support for young people and families because public safety starts with opportunity. I did this in the West Village, Battery Park City and the Lower East Side. I believe in fully funding our public schools and investing in wraparound services so children in Lower Manhattan have the same access and enrichment as anyone else in this city. 

I’ve supported small businesses, particularly immigrant and women owned storefronts in Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and the East Village, understanding that commercial displacement is directly tied to residential displacement. If we want vibrant neighborhoods, we have to protect the entrepreneurs who give them life.

In 2018, I was part of AOC’s historic victory. I was her Bronx Lead. In 2019, I helped draft the Green New Deal for Public Housing with her and Bernie Sanders and in 2020 I was her NYCHA Field Director. During the pandemic, I designed and implemented her very successful mutual aid network, and launched one of my very own in this community, LES Mutual Aid Network, which served 14,000 meals to over 5,000 homes.

On day 1, I am ready to serve. Our community needs leadership that understands that housing is a human right, that public safety means stable homes and strong families, and that real change only happens when we organize together.

This campaign isn’t about me, it’s about us. It’s about honoring where we come from, protecting our neighbors, and building a future where no one is invisible, disposable, or left behind.