Our Volunteers

I joined the campaign as a volunteer from the very beginning and I wound up becoming the field director, meaning I was ultimately responsible for making sure other volunteers showed up to phonebank, had a good experience and were effective in persuading the voters they talked to. Phonebanking on Zoom during a pandemic was much more grueling than the door-knocking we usually do in our grassroots campaigns, and this really was the toughest election I ever worked on. I am so grateful for all the amazing folks who stepped up to phonebank, canvass or take on new leadership during this campaign. Between the new leaders we developed for our movement, the first-time activists we helped bring into political work and the democratic socialist champion we elected to Albany, I would say all the long nights of obsessing about our volunteer turnout were worth it.

Zohran marches to his own tabla. Every beat is accountable to only the people. With his race, we expanded the electorate with every Muslim vote. With his campaign, we created a new table with endless possibilities. Because we are done waiting. We are done being offered crumbs. We are done having to prove our communities' worth. This win is just the beginning. We will win again and again with our values intact.

I worked with the Zohran campaign designing the logo and several mailers. I was enthusiastic about the campaign as a socialist and South Asian Astorian. I believe having socialists in office can complement and amplify the struggles in our streets, workplaces, and buildings.

Although I had heard about Zohran’s campaign a while ago, I didn’t get involved until COVID hit and I was looking for more ways to support folks in my neighborhood. When I volunteered with the Ramadan/Iftar program and witnessed the campaign’s commitment to mutual aid, I felt inspired to get more involved in outreaching specifically to Muslim folks in the neighborhood. I’m grateful for the many incredible people I met through this campaign, and look forward to continuing to building power amongst Astoria residents fighting for social justice.

I started working on the campaign by doing morning subway canvasses and talking to my neighbors IRL (So 2019, am I right!) about Zohran’s platform for energy, housing and justice for all at the end of last year. When COVID hit, I started leading phone banks with the other field leads. It was such an honor to work for a campaign that lived its values in putting community first through mutual aid. I also got to see returning volunteers come back and get more comfortable with phone banking! When people said to our bankers “Zohran? I met him on the subway - nice guy” or “I spoke with a nice volunteer about housing for all,” I knew we had done our job - and that cold mornings on the subway platform and weekends calling strangers were well worth it! I started working on the campaign by doing morning subway canvasses and talking to my neighbors IRL (So 2019, am I right!) about Zohran’s platform for energy, housing and justice for all at the end of last year. When COVID hit, I started leading phone banks with the other field leads. It was such an honor to work for a campaign that lived its values in putting community first through mutual aid. I also got to see returning volunteers come back and get more comfortable with phone banking! When people said to our bankers “Zohran? I met him on the subway - nice guy” or “I spoke with a nice volunteer about housing for all,” I knew we had done our job - and that cold mornings on the subway platform and weekends calling strangers were well worth it!

This is the first campaign that I worked on, and I will always be so grateful this was my starting point! Getting involved with the campaign really helped me become aware of the change that one single person can make. It was really all about the people. Wow, the people I met working on this campaign! There wasn’t a single person I talked to who didn’t blow me away with their passion and enthusiasm! Even now that the campaign is over, they continue to inspire me to effect positive change in my community. I’ve never been part of a better team!

I worked with Zohran and other volunteers to provide hundreds of free meals and groceries every week because the government and private sector were not adequately meeting the food needs of our community. But a mutual aid program can’t fix food insecurity, let alone an eviction crisis, health insurance tied to employment, or the climate crisis; all of those require changing our government, and that starts with your local representatives. I’m so excited and proud that with Zohran as my assemblyperson, my beliefs are finally being represented by my representative.

I first met the force that is Zohran when he was delivering a rousing speech about the evil incarceration apparatus in Queens and a pep talk on how to canvass for the upcoming DA race. He spoke about about how we get out of our comfort zones, talk to our community about these injustices, and build a just future. When he told me he was running for assembly and looking for someone to make him a website, I was ready to throw down. We built a website and throughout the campaign changed it to ensure our messaging was focused, pointed, and made socialist ideas and policies accessible to all of our neighbors. Now that we've won, I'm continuing to plant the seeds of a brighter future with Queens DSA.

As the campaign manager, I created, facilitated, and cultivated relationships between our campaign, individuals, and community groups. When the pandemic hit, these collaborations were critical to the continuation of work we were doing and led to all the mutual aid work we did and supported. I organized a poll-watcher program with our incredible volunteers to ensure every voter who showed up to the polls on Election Day could vote, because ya know, voter suppression is alive and well. I led and participated in so many Zoom calls and came up with countless ice breaker questions (note: I will get better at them). I drank lots of coffee, laughed a lot, cried a lot, and am so proud of the work we’ve done and are continuing to do.

I met Zohran at a DSA debate watch party in the basement of a Tibetan restaurant in Jackson Heights. I bought a few buttons & signed up for my very first canvassing shift to doorknock for Bernie and Zohran. As someone who was still very new to New York and essentially knew nothing about the political ecosystem in Queens, I had really low expectations for myself in how I would be able to contribute to the campaign. I think that's why I found a home working on the data/admin side of things on the campaign. And that initial imposter syndrome very swifty vanished as I met all these wonderful people who made the politics feel accessible and the work inclusive to everyone. I'm really proud of all the work our data team was able to accomplish and the little community we built. I don't know if many people can say that they were able to make new friends in the era of social distancing, but I sure did. I have so many now! I can't wait to keep building and organizing with them!

Working behind the scenes on the Zohran campaign has been an amazing way to meet my neighbors and make friends. Even in the midst of a pandemic that forced many folks into social isolation, I've felt so much more connected to the people around me (many of whom I've never met in person!) since getting involved. I've learned that working with data and spreadsheets is sometimes a slog, but it can also be full of joy. For me, joy in this campaign has looked like collaborative playlists, weekly Zoom check ins and "data parties," and chalk messages more beautiful than I could have dreamed of.

I got involved with the campaign via the Astoria Food Pantry. As a Broadway stagehand, I lost all of my work instantly. It was hard to sit at home and watch the community in so much need. I reached out to the Astoria Mutual Aid Network who put me in touch with the pantry. Being a regular volunteer, I often worked around Zohran and his staff since we were all sharing the space. One day we had a large food donation come in, we weren’t sure how big it was until a bus pulled up.  Even though the primary election was only a few days out, Zohran stopped what he was doing to help shuttle boxes of food inside.  I had already read up on his campaign, but that day I was certain he had my support!

I got involved in the campaign when I started a pop-up food pantry in Astoria in response to COVID-19 job and income loss. Zohran reached out and generously offered me the campaign space so that I could expand beyond the back of my car. Honestly, the act of generosity of offering a space to someone he didn’t know was huge. The humanity of candidates often gets lost in the rigorous nature of a campaign, and it was clear that Zohran’s desire to do good was what drew him to public service, instead of any desire of title. Basically, he walks the walk.

The most powerful and effective way to organize and campaign is by talking with people. So starting in November, I was out on subway platforms in Astoria canvassing my neighbors about why voting for Zohran was so important. We knocked doors all winter, registering new voters and petitioning to get him on the ballot. When COVID-19 hit NYC, losing that one-on-one voter contact was tough. Not only for the campaign and our chances of winning, but for me personally: that in-person contact and conversation is the fuel that energizes me to keep showing up and keep doing the work. Which is why it was so rewarding when I ended up being in charge of text banking. I was able to text tens of thousands of voters and have in depth conversations with thousands of them. All from the comfort and safety of my home. Even though none of us were able to interact or talk in person, we were still able to connect and listen and learn from one another. That human interaction, that one on one conversation is the way that we won this campaign and it’s the way we will continue to build power to make political change that improves the lives of workers & renters in this city.

I developed and implemented the campaign's communications strategy - in other words, shaping Zohran and the campaign's public image. That meant things like researching and writing many of the campaign's policy platforms, getting us covered in the local and national press, maintaining Zohran's social media presence, and assisting with other public-facing content like mailers, scripts and video. I also managed most of our external relationships and our endorsement process.

Housing rights are very important to me. When I heard that Zohran was a housing counselor, I knew he would have the perfect perspective to deliver on housing issues like rent control and funding public housing. I helped out mostly on the back end with data, but also pitched in with phone banking and updating the website. After this campaign, I'm going to stay involved with the work DSA is doing across Queens.

I signed up for Zohran’s emails at some point in February, but Bernie dropping from the primary in March galvanized me into getting involved. In that moment, things felt so overwhelming and out of control, and taking part in a community movement seemed necessary on a deeply personal level.  I ended up working as a field lead and helped lead the postcarding program. Around 9,500 postcards were sent by over 100 volunteers--volunteers in New York, but also in Texas, California, Florida. There’s intimacy and care and weight in putting pen to paper, in taking a walk to the mailbox--and I think that’s

I lost all of my jobs in March and after Bernie dropped out, I was pretty sad and decided to do something in my free time. I'm shy on the phone, so I volunteered with the data team, doing a manual audit after every phone bank. We relayed a lot of mutual aid requests and watched the program grow, which was cool to see. Now that the election is over, I'm going to explore working in activism and help get the New York Health Act passed. I'm a stroke survivor, so access to universal healthcare would be pretty amazing!

I'm so proud to have helped schedule and plan fundraisers for a campaign as inclusive as Zohran's. From merch made by Indian graphic designers to signs in Arabic & Urdu supporting queer liberation, the intersectional approach we embodied is what will carry us forward. We were not only building a coalition of voters committed to radical change; we were building community.

We were drawn to this campaign because of the policies, but also because we were excited by a South Asian American candidate who represented the values and policies we stand for (and because of Zohran's kurtha game #fashion). We did button making, petitioning, flyering, chalking, writing postcards, phone banking... we dabbled with ways to help, but through all of it we were able to connect with Astoria on a deeper level. We are proud to donate time and money to a campaign that set up a precedent for campaigns helping people, not just the candidate.