Toni Duran:
CLASS OF 1992
Parkway South High SchoolClass of 1992
Manchester, MO
Toni's Story
Toni is from Saint Louis, Missouri. Toni's schools include Parkway South High School
While still living in St. Louis, I was a graphic designer and often times did promo work for local bands. When I was 28, I started volunteering with the local Pride organization and before I knew it I was their Director of Public Relations - designing logos, advertising, and being the "face of Pride" when giving interviews. In 2007 I made the decision to move out west to be closer to my family. That's where I was bit by the social justice bug.
In 2008 I volunteered on the "Decline to Sign" campaign in hopes of stopping a referendum aimed to take away the existing right of LGBT Californians to marry the person they love. I then volunteered every day on the No On 8 campaign. It was a devastating loss, but it made me stronger. From there I continued the work towards marriage equality as a field rep for Equality California, the state's largest LGBT advocacy group. In 2009 I went to Maine to work on their marriage equality campaign. In 2010 we lost the funding for our marriage equality advocacy, but I stayed heavily involved with various social justice and advocacy groups in the LGBT community.
This social justice work then branched me off into politics and I...Expand for more
worked on my first political campaign in 2012, helping to elect Scott Peters to Congress. From there I worked in the Mayor's office, until Bob Filner resigned... Then worked for Interim Mayor Todd Gloria until I received a call from a woman I'd admired since I moved to San Diego. A couple of interviews later and in October of 2013 I started working as a Field Representative for then Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins. In May of 2014, she became the Speaker of the State Assembly... making her the first ever Speaker from San Diego - 3rd woman - and 2nd member of the LGBT community to hold the position. Oh, and the FIRST WOMAN in California to be the acting Governor - twice! Fast forward to 2016 and I’ve moved up to working for State Senator Atkins and just one year later, she becomes the Senate President Pro Tempore - making history once again as the first woman and first LGBTQ person to lead the Senate in our State’s history.
The past few years have given me a wonderful opportunity to be out in the community, build coalitions, strengthen relationships, and do work that I love and believe in. I was even voted "Woman of the Year" at the 2015 Nicky Awards and “Outstanding Female Personality” the following year. There's so much more to come.
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