01/06/2021
Meet Sabina Nussipov! She is running to be your 2021 President of Sacramento County Young Democrats.
I immigrated to the United States from Kazakhstan in 1999 with my mom and sister after the end of the Soviet Union. My dad came 3 years prior to claim asylum and set up a life here before we joined him. I was only 5 years old when we left everything we knew to reunite with my dad, he moved to the US when I was 2 so it was like meeting a complete stranger. We share a story with many immigrants, full of heartbreak, poverty, hard work, sacrifice, and finally, stability. The price is high for all of us and the challenges leave lasting scars but are also the source of our strength.
The reason I share this is to explain where my motivation stems from. When we talk about immigration policy, family separation, access to social service, access to mental health resources, access to quality healthcare, rent control, English language services, these are not just policy talking points, it’s personal. These policies are lifelines for many families like my own.
After college, I moved back in with my parents and worked at the mall while volunteering at a refugee resettlement agency. It was mid-2016 and I still believed we would have our first female president, blissfully unaware of what was to come. Shortly after, I started working at the refugee resettlement agency and Trump became the 44th President of the United States. Refugees were pushed through the pipeline at an increasing rate those last few months before inauguration, and good thing they were, because one of his first Executive Orders was the egregious Muslim Ban. In 2016, approximately 84,000 refugees were resettled, just 4 years later, this number would dwindle to 11,000.
The Muslim Ban is what finally spurred me into action. I was asked to put together an advocacy team so I organized a group of volunteers and community leaders and we started setting up meetings, writing letters, and advocating against the ban. I went to my first SCYD meeting during this time to seek guidance because I had no idea what advocacy even meant or if I was doing it right. A few incredible people stepped up and offered me support and I finally felt like something in me woke up. I realized that the country my parents idealized was built on very fragile ground and it is up to us to fight for the future we hope to see. My parents voted for the first time in 2018.
Today, I am more confident, ready to lead young dems to step up in their communities, and continue fighting for our marginalized and underrepresented communities. We have a lot of rebuilding to do and young dems need to be at the forefront of these efforts.
Current Occupation: Government Affairs Manager for Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. I’m proud of the work I do to protect tribal sovereignty and indigenous rights. As an immigrant, I know this country that offered my family safety and opportunity also has a dark history and continues to be hostile to BIPOC. I’m still learning much of this hidden history and recently Hassan Minaj said it best when he said, "When you become an American citizen you don't just get to own the country's excellence. You have to own its failures. That is the deal."
What SCYD means to you: SCYD gave me the tools, resources, and community to be able to advocate for a better world. It gave me the strength to push myself into positions of leadership both professionally and personally. As a young immigrant, I didn’t know I could be in spaces where people were making these big decisions, it’s because of SCYD and the people I met here that I started speaking up and pushing back. We have to continue being a safe, accessible, welcoming place for other young people who want to learn these skills and go forward to push progress and change. That is why our motto is “amplifying voices of young Sacramentans”. We want to hear your voice, we are strong together, and we will push towards a more just and equitable future for all.
SCYD Goals: I have many ideas of what we could accomplish, I have seen what has worked in the past four years and in what areas we need to improve. I also want to uplift the goals of my slate members, we have had extensive conversations about each of their goals and together we have created a platform I am proud of. The past three weeks you have read each of their bios and I will do everything I can to support them and the goals they have set forth.
My overarching goals are:
- Become better allies and use our platform to uplift the voices of our community activists and organizers
- Advocate for more progressive policies in areas like housing, criminal justice, and environmental justice
- Provide trainings, mentorships, and job opportunities
- Clear and timely communication
- Opportunities for members to take on leadership roles
Hobbies: Painting, hiking, camping, reading, lounging on the couch with my pup
Quirks: I am trilingual and have a crooked arm!
Pets: Remi, my lil baby pup!
