Meet The Candidate: Alyia Gaskins For Alexandria City Council

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alyia Gaskins, a senior program officer at Melville Charitable Trust, is one of 13 candidates seeking election to the Alexandria City Council in the 2021 primary.

On June 8, a Democratic primary will be held for Alexandria mayor and City Council, along with statewide races like governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and House of Delegates. Voters will choose up to six candidates in the City Council race, determining who will be on the ballot for the November general election.

Gaskins, who now works at a national philanthropic organization, also has experience as a public health professional and urban planner. She has a consulting business called CitiesRX to help communities promote physical, social, and economic health. Locally, she has been involved with the Virginia Transportation Commission, Virginia Fair Housing Board, Agenda Alexandria Board, the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce Government Relationship Committee, Hunger Free Alexandria Steering Committee, and more. Gaskins lives in the West End with her husband, Greg, son, Ezekiel, and beagle, Riley.

For more information about the election in Alexandria, visit www.alexandriava.gov/Elections.

Learn more about Alyia Gaskins and why she is running for Alexandria City Council in 2021:

Age (as of Election Day)

32

Position sought (mayor, city council, school board, etc.)

City Council

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Greg Gaskins (husband), Ezekiel Gaskins (son), and Riley (beagle)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

no

Education

Alyia attended Vanderbilt University, where she majored in medicine, health, and society, and later went to the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a master’s degree in public health. She has also recently honed her policy chops with a master’s in urban planning at Georgetown and earned a Professional Certificate in Municipal Finance from the University of Chicago. She is an Emerge Virginia and the New Leaders Council graduate.

Occupation

Alyia has spent the past decade as a public health professional and urban planner working with cities across the country. She is currently a Senior Program Officer at a National Philanthropic Organization.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

N/A

Campaign website

www.alyiaforalexandria.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m committed to building a healthier, equitable, and more just Alexandria. Alexandrians deserve someone who will listen, elevate our collective vision, and manage the city in a way that ensures that all decisions consider the impact on and future of all our residents, not just those who already have power and resources. I’m running to bring a desperately needed public health perspective to our City Council at a time when so many are struggling with the devastating impacts of the current pandemic, give every child in Alexandria the opportunity to reach their full potential, and guarantee that we invest in our infrastructure (e.g. sidewalks, stormwater, broadband, and housing).

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

COVID-19 is the most urgent issue facing Alexandria today. While the pandemic has impacted all our lives, our Black and brown communities have been disproportionately affected and existing inequities have been exacerbated. Meeting the needs of small businesses and families who have been affected by COVID-19 must be our top priority. The post-COVID economic recovery presents a powerful opportunity to create an economy that works for all of us. As a member of Council I will work with empathy and urgency. Some of my ideas include increasing the capacity of our public health workforce to provide services in neighborhoods; expanding the eviction prevention efforts of the Alexandria Eviction Prevention Partnership; extending tax relief and other favorable regulatory changes to support small businesses, and increasing the number of child care seats for children 0-4 so that every child will have access to safe, high-quality child care. I am committed to meeting our residents where they are to listen to their concerns, learn from their experiences, and empower them to work with our city’s leadership to enact solutions that prioritize health and equity.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My story and my experience set me apart from the other candidates in the race. I was raised by a single mom, who worked two jobs, yet still struggled to make ends meet. Each month, we would need to make difficult tradeoffs between food, rent, and medications. These experiences led me to pursue a career of serving others so that no family would have to struggle like we did. I know how stable jobs, good schools, and safe housing positively affect health, and how to advance policies and programs to ensure all families have these critical resources. I have worked in a variety of roles as a public health and urban planning professional to advance solutions to cities’ most pressing issues. I worked on hunger policy at D.C. Hunger Solutions, on the health team at the National League of Cities, and managed an affordable housing investment program at the Center for Community Investment. I am currently a Senior Program Officer at a national philanthropic organization and help communities create places that promote the physical, social, and economic health of people through my consulting business, CitiesRX. My experiences leading in cities paired with my certificate in municipal finance has catalyzed a deep understanding and appreciation for the intricacies of how cities work. I also have a proven track record of service in Alexandria and Virginia, serving on the Virginia Transportation Commission, Virginia Fair Housing Board, Agenda Alexandria Board, the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce Government Relationship Committee, Hunger Free Alexandria Steering Committee, my local church, and more. I will be able to leverage my personal and professional experiences to lead with empathy and to get results for our community.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

Alexandria is fortunate to have an amazing, dedicated public health workforce that responded quickly and creatively. In the early days of the vaccine roll out, through my conversations with Alexandrians, I heard that some had really good experiences, whereas others had a more difficult experience getting the vaccine. That suggested to me that there were parts of the process that were working and other parts that needed to be adjusted, adapted and expanded. I know that my peers in public health were exhausted and overwhelmed and did not have the capacity to analyze the system. As a Council Member, I would have worked to engage universities and private partners to help us create feedback loops and gather the data we needed to identify pain points in the system and create a stronger infrastructure. An equitable response is very important to me. I was glad to see the city translating resources and outreach into additional languages. But I would have wanted us to take things a step further. For example, we have lots of child care workers, especially in low-income communities, who provide care at home. Despite watching lots of kids , often kids of essential workers, they did not have the documentation to prove that they qualified for the vaccine when child care workers were approved. As a Council Member, I would have worked closely with community groups and informal networks to figure out how we address equity issues like this.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Instead of rebuilding the status quo, I believe it is essential to seize this moment to build a more resilient and inclusive Alexandria with pathways to prosperity for everyone. The principal issues that define my campaign are: expanding opportunities for participation and co-decision making so that residents can shape decisions that impact their lives, countering the impacts of climate change on our community, protecting and preserving affordable housing, supporting our small business recovery and ensuring the success of every child in our community.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

At the National League of Cities, I established the Learning Collaborative on Health Disparities to assist cities in creating a roadmap to address barriers to good health. The Collaborative initiated and advanced conversations on the root causes of health disparities with more than twenty mayors, councilmembers, and senior administrators, including Republicans and Democrats. To advance the goals of The Collaborative required me to support both liberal and conservative participants in confronting issues of individual bias and structural racism. I succeeded in getting each city to create a blueprint for addressing health disparities. For example, one city committed to developing a tool to assess the equity impacts of their budget allocations. I also oversaw day-to-day operations of Let 's Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) including managing relationships with senior officials in the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and providing direct technical assistance on policy and built environment changes for health equity. More than 500 cities, towns and counties participated in LMCTC and over 3,000 policies to promote healthy eating and active living were passed. This is evidence that I can develop and execute the strategy for large-scale initiatives, understand the nuances of many complex issues at once, and mobilize and inspire others to collective action. For my work I was recognized as a Next City Vanguard and appointed to numerous boards such as the American Planning Association Healthy Communities Collaborative, Women of Color in Community Development, Prevention Connections, and the National Safe Routes to School Active Transportation Diversity Task Force.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be brave enough to say what’s true. Be strong enough to really be you. Be grateful enough to appreciate it all.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

The most important thing about me is my approach. There will always be new issues that arise. I know that the people who are affected by a problem are most likely to know what’s needed to fix it. This is why I have spent my campaign reaching out and meeting people, families and children, singles and elders, those who are already thriving and those who need a hand up from all corners of our City and across all races, ethnicities, gender identities, abilities and incomes. No matter the issue, I am prepared to reach out, ask questions, hear all perspectives, and review the data. I will then work with the community to marshal our collective imagination to figure out next steps, implement a plan, and get results.