Cinda Danh (AAWPI '13) is running for Lynn City Council and is the
first
AAWPI alumna to run for office!
The daughter of Cambodian genocide survivors, Cinda speaks movingly about her experience fighting the eviction and foreclosure of her family's home as one of the main reasons that she is running.
"When your house is foreclosed, they send someone to plaster bright red paper that says you need to vacate the premises in 72 hours," Cinda says. "If English isn't your first language and you don't know how to navigate the system or call your elected officials, you'd feel pretty powerless."
With the help of community organizations she fought the foreclosure, staging protests in front of her home with community members to block their eviction and taking the bank to court - and WON.
While Cinda was battling her family's foreclosure Cinda became an AAWPI State House Fellow and we paired her with her own Lynn state representative for her internship.
She went on to become the Lynn Representative's legislative aide and eventually the only Asian-American chief of staff in the State House. "
As an alumna of AAWPI, she's made it a point to mentor and guide the young AAWPI women who have interned in the State House after her,
" said Rep. Jim O'Day.