Finding Empowerment with UNAC/UHCP

July 2014

Growing up in Fort Myers, Florida, Lisa Alverson saw her mother, a 30-year nurse, face the same issues our members face, but without a union to protect her in a right-to-work state. Since taking a job with AFSCME’s Political Action department in San Diego, then working with UNAC/UHCP on contract for the last nine months, she’s seen how unions can help people come together and speak truth to power. That makes her want to continue in the labor movement. We hope she does, since Lisa is UNAC/UHCP’s newest Political Representative.

When Lisa graduated from University of Central Florida in Orlando with a major in Political Science and a minor in Legal Studies, she had big plans to be a lawyer. But it was 2009, and she saw older friends coming out of law school saddled with huge debt and begging for jobs. She’d already done political work, so she switched back onto that track. Her proudest victory was helping to elect Jacksonville, Florida’s first African-American mayor, Alvin Brown. Now in California, Lisa appreciates the change in climate and landscape. She’s discovered a love for hiking, and she also loves the beach, though she has yet to take up surfing.