About the People’s Redistricting Alliance
A multiracial coalition of community-based organizations (CBOs) and residents based in Orange County, the People’s Redistricting Alliance (PRA) was established in early 2021 to ensure a community voice in statewide and local redistricting processes. Centering the lived experiences and needs of low-income communities of color and working families, the PRA has pursued maps and other redistricting outcomes that maximize opportunities for year-round organizing and policy advocacy, working toward an Orange County that treats everyone equitably and with justice. Organizing across diverse communities builds bridges, better mitigates potential conflict between groups, and deepens the foundation for collective work over the next decade.
PRA Structure and Participants
The PRA includes 16 members that reflect Orange County’s diverse communities, including:
- ACLU of Southern California
- AHRI Center
- Arab American Civic Council
- California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
- Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
- Coalition on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA)
- Latino Health Access
- Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA)
- Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO)
- Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD)
- Orange County Environmental Justice (OCEJ)
- Orange County Voter Information Project (OCVIP)
- Pacific Islander Health Partnership
- Resilience Orange County
- South Asian Network (SAN)
- VietRISE
Each member brings a deep connection and engagement with communities on the ground countywide, with a particular focus on community organizing and integrated voter engagement in the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Irvine, Santa Ana, Stanton, and Westminster.
Through the Orange County Civic Engagement Table (OCCET), the PRA’s work is coordinated with statewide and regional stakeholders in the Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) Redistricting Alliance, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice (statewide), the Black Census and Redistricting Hub (statewide), the People’s Bloc (Los Angeles), IE United (San Bernardino, Riverside), and Alliance San Diego (San Diego). OCCET serves as the Orange County lead of Advancing Justice’s statewide redistricting network, with PRA mapping priorities also integrated into their statewide submission.
PRA Process and Activities
Since February of this year, PRA members have met every two to four weeks to advance their collective work. To promote greater community engagement in redistricting, OCCET and PRA members have (1) educated CBOs and residents about redistricting, its impact on their political representation, and how the processes established by decision makers work, (2) created a space through which they identify and articulate communities of interest (COI) important to them, (3) mobilized both to participate in CCRC and other public hearings, and (4) worked closely with them to create congressional, state, and local legislative redistricting maps that best address the needs of low-income communities of color and working families.
Members shared their communities of interest and other priorities at both July 8 and September 1 public input hearings and provided written testimony supporting their participation. A summary of these communities of interest is provided in the following section and their written testimony is included in Appendix A of this submission.
This submission represents the culmination of over seven months of community engagement.
OCCET Background and Role
The Orange County Civic Engagement Table (OCCET) coordinates PRA activities. OCCET is a progressive AAPI-Latinx-labor-environmental justice alliance that seeks to build progressive transformation of the region. The eight organizations that anchor OCCET serve the emerging majority of the county; low-income immigrant Latinx and Asian American communities that work across issues of immigrant, economic, and racial justice across the county.
Through this innovative partnership, OCCET is committed to increasing the quality, scale and effectiveness of civic participation in communities of color and among low-income populations in Orange County.
Questions regarding this submission should be directed to Daniel Ichinose, Research Director at OCCET (daniel@occivic.org).