Meet Daniel
A California native and a Millennial, Daniel believes that you don’t need to wear a shirt and tie to be professional or join an “Alliance” to be “Progressive.” He isn’t your typical Council Member, and that’s a GOOD THING. He believes that wellbeing and safety are human rights and that the only path to “Pride” and “Purpose” is hard work. We need to prioritize the residents of Richmond and District 5 and focus on building a more modern, equitable, and sustainable city. We need progress not platitudes. We need cleaner water, cleaner streets, faster internet, and more jobs. Daniel is For Richmond. For Real.
Like many people of his generation, he has experienced ever increasing rent, a soaring cost of living, and infrastructure in need of modernization. Daniel wants to give small businesses a place to thrive and residents the opportunity to have “Pride” and “Purpose” in District 5 and the City of Richmond.
His first experience working in government was serving as a member of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Crisis Response Team. As a volunteer he underwent extensive training in crisis care, intervention, and working with city departments and leaders. After being designated as “Cohort Captain,” he was “On Call” and responded to events at the request of the Police & Fire Departments, and area hospitals that include: homicides, suicides, death notification assistance, domestic violence support, officer involved shootings, infant death, and serious traffic accidents. When deployed, Daniel was the liaison between crisis survivors and departmental officials, providing immediate comfort, emotional support, and resources to survivors of traumatic events to help them begin their path to recovery.
After witnessing the impact that a city led program can have on residents, he changed course and spent 10 years working for non-profits. First, as a fundraiser for the University of California, then as a Senior Consultant for a global fundraising firm.
Shortly after moving to Richmond, Daniel was appointed to serve on the city’s Economic Development Commission. Seeing that the commission’s then (previous not current) city council liaison was rarely - if ever - present, he reached out to city leadership for answers. He was told, “they have a full time job, you can’t expect them to be there in the middle of the day.” If we were showing up in the middle of the day, why couldn’t they? It was then that Daniel decided to show up for Richmond in a bigger way: To seek the opportunity to serve the residents as a city councilmember.
Daniel holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and a Master’s Degree from Georgetown University. He lives in the Richmond Annex with his wife Maddy and their dog Socks.