Dr. Forest Peterson
Stanford
Activism focus: Labor Standards, Universal Childcare, Public Infrastructure
Candidate Statement
My name is Forest Peterson, and I would be honored to represent this district as an AD24 delegate. I am a business founder, an engineer, a union activist, a parent, a teacher, a public servant, and a construction laborer with a deep understanding of what working people in the Bay Area need.
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Time and again, I have been an advocate for those in need in our community. As a working PhD student, I fought for affordable housing, universal childcare, and dependent healthcare through the Stanford Solidarity Network, and succeeded in obtaining nearly $15,000,000 in grants to make doctoral studies affordable for students with children as well as establishing a monthly free food distribution for graduate students. I am a co-founder and labor representative for Rhumbix, a forty-million-dollar tech startup, where we build technology to help empower blue-collar workers and increase safety in the workplace. And when COVID-19 hit, I was a key member of Students for Workers’ Rights, organizing to protect contracted service workers on campus from layoffs and unfair treatment.
As a delegate, I will continue the work that I have begun as Santa Clara County’s first-ever labor standards investigator, to ensure the safety and fair treatment of workers throughout the district. I will continue the struggle to give every resident and every family the same opportunities not just to survive, but to succeed.
Organizations*
Steering Committee of the Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition
Elected Executive Board member of the Santa Clara County Construction Careers Association
Co-founder of the Stanford Student-Parent Alliance
Elected Sergeant at Arms of the Stanford Solidarity Network
Elected Coordinator of the American Federation of Teachers Committee on Political Education
Funded CTE research fellow at North Carolina State University
Friend of the Data, Planning, and Analysis Group (AED) Visualization in Transportation (AED80), Transportation Resource Board (TRB)
Through employment, a member in good standing:
LiUNA Local 185 (virtual technician foreman, and journeyman concrete laborer)
AFT Local 6157 (associate faculty in CTE)
SEIU 521 (lead labor standards investigator)
* Organization names for identification purposes only
We proudly ENDORSE Dr. Forest Peterson for ADEM!
I am honored to be the only Labor endorsed candidate in AD 24: I am endorsed by the AFL-CIO South Bay Labor Council (promoted by Laborers International Union of North America Local 270 - LiUNA!), the Service Employees International Union Local 521 (SEIU), and the American Federation of Teachers Local 6157 (AFT). I am also endorsed by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, the Progressive Delegates Network, Roots Action, Our Revolution, Peninsula for Everyone, and the California Democratic Renters Council.