Tag Archives: christina sanders

While Texpate and Campos talk about the latest skirmishes in the City Council District D race, word came that another candidate is in the midst–Christina Sanders.

Sanders is the State Director of the Texas League of Young Voters and has been working to empower the youth vote. Here’s a community profile on Christina:

Christina Sanders is one of America’s youngest civic engagement leaders. Christina’s expertise is engaging and training young people to be involved and participate in elections, voting and the public policy. Sanders is a Houston native and received her Bachelors of Political Science and Masters of Public Administration in Public Policy degree from Texas Southern University.

Christina steered the founding of the Texas League of Young Voters Education Fund, a state affiliate of the League of Young Voters Education Fund which is a non-partisan organization that seeks to register, educate and turn out young voters across the country. As State Director, Christina Sanders has lead the Texas League to grow to be the largest field-based young civic engagement organization in Texas. Under her leadership, thousands of young Texans were organized to join coalition partners to fight and defeat the proposed   Texas Voter ID Law.

Christina co-authored a manuscript entitled,” From “Block the Vote to Protect the Vote”: Historically Black Student Voting Suppression and Disen-franchisement in Texas”,  published in Volume XIV of the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy; making her one of the country’s youngest experts on Student Voter Disenfranchisement.

Christina’s passion for engaging young people in the American Political systems is also evident in her service as an adjunct professor of Political Science at Texas Southern University. Appointed at age 25, Christina was amongst the youngest Political Science professors teaching at a Texas public four-year university.  To date, she taught nearly a thousand young people about the workings of government and the importance of civic responsibility.

Ms. Sanders has worked in the office of Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis as a District Aide and Policy Analyst. While there, Sanders lead the organizing of clergy, elected officials and community groups in a collective effort that established a  Public Defender’s Office for Harris County, Texas.

Christina’s success in Public Policy is diverse as she served as the Public Policy coordinator for Houston Communities for Safe Indoor Air (HCSIA), where she successfully worked on smoke-free policy change in many Texas cities. She also served in Washington, D.C. as the National Coordinator of Black Youth Vote!, a program of the National coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Christina is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Lawyers’ Committee of Civil rights Under the Law “Young Champion of Justice Award” and the Spirit of Democracy award as recognition of courage and outstanding work in protecting the voting rights of students at Prairie View A&M University. The Houston Defender suggested that through her work she is following in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps.

I’m looking forward to hearing more about her campaign, issues, etc. No doubt she will be energizing the youth vote during an election in which the youth vote usually goes ignored by other candidates.