“Mother Earth does not expect you to save her, she expects you to respect her.”
– Nemonte Nenquimo, Waorani Amazon Forest Defender
About Chelsea Villalba
Solidarity was a lesson I learned young. Born to hard-working Ecuadorian immigrants in the 1990s, my first conversations were in Spanish before I learned English in a pre-K Head Start program. As a lifelong interpreter for my family and local community, I learned the importance of language accessibility firsthand. Seeing my parents take the bus to work in snowstorms and missing school events to keep food on the table, I learned the value of hard work and sacrifice for the people we love.
I am grateful to the several social safety net programs that allowed me and my peers to thrive in spite of the challenges we faced. I grew up using CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) and eating free lunch in Central Islip public schools. At 14, I started working as an administrative assistant during summer breaks to supplement my independence and foster my ambition. I remained employed while earning my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Welfare at SUNY Stony Brook, often juggling full-time studies and 2-3 jobs to pay the semesters’ fees.
These formative life experiences embedded commitment, community service and proaction in my identity. Today, I am deeply humbled to be a social worker for immigrant youth in foster care and an active mutual aid network contributor in my community.
My specialization is in Community, Policy & Political Social Action, reimagining the intersection between public health and equitable policy-making. However, my interest in government first became apparent in 2011, when I spoke during the public comment of a school board meeting in order to advocate for my own education and oppose unjustified budget cuts. Since then, I’ve been an advocate for human rights across local, state and federal government.
I am honored to have worked with dozens of grassroots community groups and helping organizations dedicated to economic, disability, educational, immigrant, racial, 2SLGBTQIA+ and climate justice. From organizing supply drives to support low-income students, to delivering ready-to-eat meals to displaced neighbors in emergency housing, trusting that community can and will take care of each other in hard times sets the stage for a more just, caring and equitable future for all. I am thankful to the A.J. Williams African Roots Community Center, People’s Place, Food Not Bombs, Old Dutch Church, Community Solidarity, Climate Defenders, and the Garlic Festival’s composting education initiative for the opportunities to collaborate and learn more deeply from each other.
Writing the Ulster County Food Insecurity Report further influenced me to rethink food waste amidst the fertile and abundant fields of this river valley. Helping progressive Democrats get elected, researching and drafting legislation, attending and speaking at countless legislative meetings across all levels of government, and working at the voting polls has supported my deeper understanding of the democratic process.
I am running in this race because voters deserve a real choice in who they elect. This campaign serves to show that any dedicated neighbor can run for office, especially if you have a unique perspective to serve your community with.
I am deeply invested in public health advocacy at all levels of government, through the lens of climate resilience and housing justice. We all deserve accessibility, transparency and accountability from every single one of our elected leaders. Government should work for every community member, with dignity and justice for all.
I will work for you, with you—because that’s the only kind of leadership that really matters.
Escucha a la conversacion entre Mariel Fiori y Chelsea en esta entrevista.
Listen to Chelsea’s conversation with community members, Yolanda Knox and Katrina Houser on Rise Up Radio, here.
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
chelseaforward1 