Dalia Velasco currently serves as ABC’s Policy & Advocacy Manager where she is responsible for advancing ABC’s policy agendas on local education, health, and economic prosperity issues.
Dalia has spent the last five years focused on addressing critical challenges LA Unified students face in attaining their educational goals and empowering parents to be effective advocates for their children. Dalia also works to uplift the intersectionality of education, health, and economic prosperity issues.
Prior to her role with ABC, Dalia worked as a community organizer identifying, developing and supporting parent leaders, primarily Latina, Black and Indigenous mothers, whose children attended public schools in Los Angeles. This work was aimed at increasing data transparency so parents had the necessary information to make the best choice for their children’s academic needs, and greater access to quality public educational options. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dalia led coalition efforts to unite parents across LAUSD to advocate for the highest needs students in the district. The coalition went on to sue LAUSD for infringing on their rights to an education. One of the results of that coalition work was a campaign around recovery and the need for a more individualized approach that highlighted the role of parents and teachers working together to support students. In this campaign, Dalia created the Individualized Recovery Plan that combined research and parent experience to better support students academically and socio-emotionally.
Dalia continues to grow her experience having a cross-sectoral understanding of the issues that face our communities and the importance of pairing stories of lived experiences with data to impact positive systemic change. Her background in organizing, advocacy, coalition building and campaign development provide a strong foundation for advancing equity issues of Latina/o communities across the Los Angeles region.
Dalia is a Los Angeles native and a first-generation college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies and a minor in Sociology from Azusa Pacific University. As a Los Angeles native Dalia is passionate about advancing social, economic, racial equity and justice for the Latina/o community in the Los Angeles region through power building and policy advocacy. In her free time she enjoys going out to eat with friends and family as well as exploring the many parks and hiking trails in the LA area with her dogs.