Lee Barker (he/him/his) is a black man that is a native of Tacoma, Washington and a graduate of The Evergreen State College. He currently serves young people as a McKinney Vento Coordinator at Tacoma Public Schools, advocates for father’s rights, volunteers weekly at the New Covenant Feeding Program, mentors youth in the community, and above all, is the proud father of Talea.

“To me ,the essence of The People’s Assembly is grounded in the movement for racial equity and the knowledge that victory is attained through genuine collaboration with the community to bring about positive change. Never in our lifetime has there been a more urgent call for Justice and Equality. I see the hopeful signs of change coming and know we cannot take our eyes off the road for even a moment, for the moment is right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do. The nation needs us, now, to change the unjust systems that have shackled black people for generations. I believe The People’s Assembly is the movement to inspire change in our community.”

Elise Bodell (she/they) has a passion for supporting young people in exploring, finding, and building their strength and power to thrive.

“If we remain silent in the face of injustice, or claim ‘neutrality,’ we continue to benefit from and perpetuate racialized violence and oppression. We have to ask ourselves: what are we willing to give up in order to undo racism?  

I believe that it is my responsibility to put my body on the line and take actions that have a personal cost to support anti-racist work and dismantle white supremacy. I hope to educate, agitate, and motivate my own white community to move beyond comfort, control, and complacency towards accountable action.

To me, The People’s Assembly is a space of imagination. We resist the dehumanization, profound isolation, and intergenerational violence enacted by systems of oppression rooted in anti-blackness and white supremacy. Instead, we imagine joy, connection, healing, and justice. We imagine and we get to work.”

thy nguyễn (she/they) is a viet refugee descendant, queer, and chronically-ill person who sings, writes, and resides in the stolen lands of the puyallup tribe. during the day, thy works as associate director of grants/data/operations at the ywca-seattle and manages their independent consulting business delivering coaching and facilitation to individuals/groups across puget sound; during the evening, she holds spaces for creative resistance, healing, and expression as a community organizer with the people's assembly; and during the night, they write songs and dream of ways to build towards a free and just world.

“To me, The People's Assembly’s mission is about mobilizing the people’s power to abolish white supremacy (and intersecting oppressions) and to create new systems of community care, safety, and freedom. What this looks like is holding spaces for deliberate imagination, creative resistance, and collective healing. I believe that the revolution of my generation is doing the work to do “The Work” — creating the conditions that will enable our future seeds to actualize justice and liberation.”