Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, champion of the working American
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, the Robin Hood of Silicon Valley, is America's new Queen of Green
Deny working class Californians something they’re owed – health insurance, minimum wage, access to green space — and expect to hear from Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, the Robin Hood of Silicon Valley. In the ten years since she graduated from Cal State Northridge, this economic justice activist has done more for “everyday” Americans than most politicians do in a lifetime. She’s expanded access to health care for families across California, helped to raise the minimum wage twice — and just took over Green For All, a “clean energy economy” non-profit. Did we mention that she’s only 32?
It all began at Working Partnerships USA, where Ellis-Lamkins started her career fresh out of college. It was 1998, the dot-com bubble had officially formed, and Silicon Valley was popping. At least, it was for the haves and the have-dots. For everyone else, there was Working Partnerships (WP): “a coalition of community groups, labor, and faith organizations seeking to [address] the gap between the rich and poor in Silicon Valley.” Five years later, Ellis-Lamkins was running the organization — and creating one of the first Community Benefits Agreements in the country.
