CTGCA Class of 2022 Spotlight: Caroline Menjivar

In honor of Veterans Day, we are proud to spotlight an incredible Close the Gap California Recruit and Marine Corps vet, Caroline Menjivar.

One of the most important qualifications we look for at Close the Gap when we’re recruiting is a woman who has an authentic connection to her community, and a leadership quality that is intuitive to the voters. Can you tell us a little bit about your life in those respects, and how you see the experiences of people in the San Fernando Valley reflected in it?

I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. I’ve always considered it home. As a child, I watched my parents, immigrants from El Salvador, wake up in our small Tarzana apartment every morning and get ready for work tending to wealthier people’s needs. My mother cleaned mansions, and my father waited tables at a Studio City country club until he saved enough money to open a car dealership. The apartment’s location afforded my sister and me access to quality public schools, where I didn’t have friends who looked like me. I excelled academically because of the quality education and support I obtained from my teachers. My leadership skills were formed by my access to sports at school and local parks. Unfortunately, schools have cut budgets for some sports and other extracurricular activities, and kids enjoy less open green space that often goes unmaintained.

Adversity struck when my parents separated, and my mom became our sole provider. Like so many first-generation, first-born kids, I took on additional responsibilities for our household, such as translating and working part-time at 15. My mom poured her savings into buying our first home, only to fall victim to the subprime mortgage crisis. We were evicted and became housing unstable. The economic downturn of 2009 interfered with my dreams of becoming a firefighter, so I enlisted in the Marine Corps and served from 2009–2016.

With no financial backing to turn to, like so many children of immigrant parents, I worked full time as an Emergency Medical Technician while earning my Bachelor of Arts from CSU, Northridge, and my Master of Social Welfare from UCLA. There I got the opportunity to work in local government and never looked back. I have organized the 1st SFV LGBTQ+ Pride Car Parade and a Veterans Day drive-thru recognition in this community. I serve on the GLSEN LA Chapter Board and The Help Group’s Kaleidoscope Advisory Board, where I focus on bringing resources to LGBTQ+ youth. I have trained K-12 schools to create a more safe and affirming environment for their queer youth. I have led field trips for students to universities like UCLA to offer them a glimpse into a reachable future.

I advocate for veterans and military families with the SFV Marine Corps League. I currently work as a Director at a non-profit organization overseeing COVID-19 initiatives and vaccine clinics in the San Fernando Valley.

I have experienced and seen firsthand how inequity affects the lives of San Fernando Valley families. The pandemic only exacerbated the gap between the wealthy and those living an illness, a lost job, or an eviction away from an uncertain future. Like so many, I have experienced loss from COVID-19 due to our unjust health care system. It has never been more urgent and personal to close this gap.

You lived through the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as an active Marine — tell us about that, what stays with you most?

I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2009 because I wanted to serve my country. I have always been drawn to giving back. Serving under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy meant hiding a part of myself and a relationship that meant so much to me. It prevented me from further building camaraderie with my Marines because I was worried about being caught.

When President Barack Obama signed the law repealing this policy, I felt a huge burden lifted. I could finally stop putting energy into worrying about being outed by accidentally referring to my girlfriend, now wife, by the correct pronouns. At first, I was scared, thinking the Marines would not accept me for who I was, but after coming out publicly in uniform, I felt welcomed and loved. I had tears in my eyes when I first told my Sergeant I was gay.

The LGBTQ+ community constantly has had to come out, and I have had several times that I have had to come out on a grander scale, and coming out in the military has been my most memorable.

I was finally able to invest myself authentically as a leader among my fellow Marines, allowing me to serve until 2016.

I am very active in San Fernando Valley Veterans groups because I want to be a voice for LGBTQ+ veterans and ensure our needs continue to be met. We have much more work to do to ensure full equality in our military. A bill in Congress is waiting to be passed that would create a commission to address the inequality towards LGBTQ+ military members. I was devastated when Trump banned transgender military members from serving because it felt like we were headed back to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell era. I was pleased to see President Biden reverse the ban, but we cannot let another presidential administration strip the rights of our trans siblings from serving our country.

What stays with me are the comments I heard while serving. Comments from male marines, “She’s too pretty to be gay,” “ She just needs me,” when talking about other queer female marines. Comments that were said in front of me before I came out. I remember how worst bisexual and feminine male marines were treated compared to me. Gay marines were not treated the same as queer woman marines. I think about them, and I think how much more work needs to be done to protect everyone and ensure everyone feels safe, especially when they are keeping our country safe.

How did Close the Gap’s recruiters and process impact your decision to run?

When I came to Close the Gap, I had already set my mind to run. Launching a campaign for public office had been part of my five-year plan, but I wish I had engaged with Close the Gap earlier.

When I connected, the Close the Gap team was incredibly helpful in thinking through my path to victory. My point of contact, Emily, guided me up to launch and helped me connect with elected officials and organizations that provided key insight for the road ahead.

I valued Emily’s campaign experience, and she spent time talking through ideas I had for my race. She went above and beyond when she joined my Campaign Kickoff Event.

Would you say there was a single issue or factor that pushed you to officially throw your hat into the ring for Senate in 2022? We’d love to hear about what motivates you.

I have experienced too many injustices in my life. Every job I have had further cemented this path decision for me.

I believe California needs to address homelessness and mental health wellness with more urgency. I understand what it’s like to be evicted, and the instability affected my mental state. I was glad that I found the Marine Corps recruiting office because it gave me a different path to pursue rather than falling into a dark place. When I worked as an Emergency Medical Technician, I saw the gaps in our mental health system and the mistreatment of our unhoused and elderly population. I would transport individuals with mental illness to a hospital only to see them released back out on the street with no resources. This pushed me to run for office to address our mental health system. To bring accountability to our skilled nursing homes that house our elder population.

Seeing these circumstances up close made me want to have a more direct impact on public policy. Mental health and wellness, homelessness, criminal justice reform, education, and economic stability are connected, and we can’t create policies to address them in silos. Seeing these circumstances up close made me want to have a more direct impact on public policy.

When I worked for elected officials, I went above and beyond a typical Representative. You can imagine, not everybody was compassionate towards their unhoused neighbors. With a background in Social Welfare, I went beyond turning to City resources to address community concerns. I went up to every homeless encampment, connected with everybody living in RVs, and learned about their story. I knew everyone in this community by name and interacted with many women who were victims of domestic violence. I had been a therapist for domestic violence before and knew where to direct them to access available resources. If these were in sensitive areas, I would work with them on different options instead of resorting to force. I want to ensure more funding is diverted to shelters for victims of violence. Increasing beds for victims of violence is a cheaper and faster approach to housing than regular homeless beds. I am running because we need to look at issues through an intersectional lens.

I am running because I have seen the fear in the eyes of a domestic violence victim who can’t catch a break because of our current policies. I am running because I have felt the embarrassment and shame of eviction. I am running because young kids are still surprised to see a lesbian working in local government as if my sexual orientation would be a deterrent.

I’m running for State Senate because I know what it’s like to overcome difficult odds. I’ve experienced housing instability, lost job opportunities because of the economic downturn, and discriminatory policies preventing me from loving my wife openly. I want to work on preventing the community from experiencing what I experienced. I thrived because I had access to quality public schools and found an accepting and supportive community in the San Fernando Valley.

I am running because I want to be the representation I yearned for when I was young.

As a State Senator, I will address these crises with urgency because we are past the point of studies, slogans, and sound bites. We need action and services. I believe that your zip code, age, race, gender, or sexual identity shouldn’t determine your destiny. Let’s rewrite the rules, so every Californian receives the support they need to stay safe, healthy, and thrive. I am running because simply having a democratic majority in the State Legislature isn’t enough. We need progressive representatives who will stand up to corporations and special interest groups and push back on the status quo.

What are your biggest priorities for service in Sacramento — what do you feel your community is really counting on you to deliver/what can you just not wait to get to work on?

Housing

I know what it’s like to live with unstable housing. We lost our family home during the subprime loan crisis. My mom remains on a waiting list for subsidized housing. My wife and I could only buy our home because my Veterans’ benefits include low-interest, zero down, home loans. The San Fernando Valley median housing price is $995,000, 30% higher than last year. With a median income of $71,000 and nearly 205,000 living below the poverty line, stable housing is out of reach for too many families. Even with the eviction protection during this pandemic, we saw too many illegal evictions. Some renters were taken advantage of by their landlord due to their immigration status. I also know renters who live in poor conditions but don’t report it because of their immigration status. I don’t view any issue in silos because these problems are connected. When we talk about housing, we need to think about immigration reform, livable wages, renter protections, pay equity, affordable childcare, and access to transportation.

I will take an “all of the above approach” to solving our housing crisis. I will prioritize funding programs that have proven results in moving unhoused populations into supportive services and housing. I will work to increase mental health services and ensure we meet the needs of communities of color, LGBTQ+, and domestic violence victims. We need to strengthen renter protections while assisting mom-and-pop landlords to stay afloat to prevent big developers from buying them out.

Climate crisis

The San Fernando Valley has been affected by wildfires, drought, car-generated air pollution, a natural gas leak, and record-breaking hot summers. Our current State Senator has blocked legislation protecting our health by holding corporations accountable for the climate crisis. I will be different. We have one of the highest childhood asthma rates caused by poor air quality. I will focus on ensuring communities most affected by pollution get the necessary clean-up efforts. I will work to bring public health dollars to address asthma. I will work with our state parks to identify areas in park-poor communities for potential open-space opportunities. I will work with labor to identify opportunities to transition workers toward careers in cleaner energy. My mom, a house cleaner, would walk a long way to get to the nearest bus stop. Too many bus stops don’t have shelters, and with record-breaking hot summers on the horizon, the lack of shade is unhealthy. Some of these bus stops don’t have walkable pathways to access them. It’s all connected to environmental justice, and I will fight to provide more public transportation access and adequate maintenance to the existing options.

Economy/jobs

We need to do more to ensure every person benefits from our booming economy. I will focus on creating more opportunities to gain vocational and technical skills that lead to good-paying jobs. In my experience working with youth through leading the Mayor’s Youth Council and mentoring LGBTQ+ youth, the lack of access to higher education resources is a significant barrier. While unions and entities like utility companies have apprenticeships and free training, youth don’t know they exist. At the same time, many first-generation students in this district have shared how they struggle to find ways to help pay for college. This lack of direct insight into available resources deters some from higher education, hindering access to well-paying jobs. The entertainment industry is a vital economic driver for our area. I will work to keep filming production in California and work with entertainment unions to build a pipeline of behind-the-camera talent with our area schools, colleges, and apprenticeship programs. I will lead on policies that uplift women, including increasing affordable childcare. We know we cannot simply create jobs with a livable wage. We need to look at this through an intersectional lens. Even with higher education, women are stepping away from their good-paying jobs because of the lack of affordable childcare. I will also help small businesses and entrepreneurs access relief funds and new streams of capital. This district has a massive number of small businesses owners, minority-owned businesses, with a good percentage of them having limited English proficiency. These businesses are not connected with local Chambers of BIDs. Ensuring a way to bring awareness of available relief to them in their language is vital.

Close the Gap California is committed to building on progressive women’s historic momentum by recruiting them statewide and achieving equality in California by 2028. Join us!

About Close the Gap California

Close the Gap California (CTGCA) is a statewide campaign launched in 2013 to close the gender gap in the California Legislature by 2028. By recruiting accomplished, progressive women in targeted districts and preparing them to launch competitive campaigns, CTGCA is changing the face of the Legislature one cycle at a time.

One in every four women in the Legislature is a CTGCA Recruit. Our Recruits are committed to reproductive justice, quality public education, and combatting poverty, and nine of 10 serving today are women of color.