Education
Masters in Social Work, Howard University; Bachelors in Social Work, Columbia College
Qualifications
Rashida has served for the past 10 years as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner representing Columbia Heights and Lower Georgia Avenue. She is a social worker who has dedicated her career to early childhood development, in the public and private sectors.
Website
rashidaforward1.com
Federal Overreach
DC faces unprecedented attacks on its autonomy, from ICE raids to attempts to federalize the MPD. I will champion legislation to close loopholes in the Sanctuary Values Act, strictly prohibiting local cooperation with ICE. I’ll secure budget resources for legal defense funds and know-your-rights training, while using oversight hearings to hold agencies accountable for protecting our residents rather than enabling federal persecution.
Affordable Childcare
Drawing on my experience at OSSE, I will fight for dedicated revenue streams to fully fund this program. To ensure equity, I will guarantee livable wages for early educators through the Pay Equity Fund, expand capacity via facility grants, and eliminate bureaucracy.
Yes. As an ANC I voted consistently in support of Statehood and in opposition to federal overreach. That included (1) opposition to Congressional interference with 16 bills to roll back DC laws and (2) support for the adoption of the DC budget without Congressional interference as well as (3) resolutions affirming Sanctuary City status. Joining Statehood actions with Free DC has been a particularly meaningful way to be in community with other Ward 1 residents. My 7 years as a registered federal lobbyist gave me experience navigating Capitol Hill, building relationships with congressional staff, and understanding how to influence federal policy even from disadvantaged positions. I will leverage these skills to advocate for DC Statehood.
As Councilmember, I’ll fight for a diverse housing mix across Ward 1 to ensure all residents thrive regardless of income. I will promote zoning adjustments to increase unit supply and lower prices, while advocating for a stronger Comprehensive Plan—building on my success with the Bruce Monroe and Howard University developments.
I will fiercely protect programs like rental assistance, TOPA, and HPAP, which are critical anti-displacement programs.. Finally, I’ll advance "Housing First" policies with wraparound services for our unhoused neighbors and dismantle systemic barriers that displace Black and brown residents or prevent seniors from aging in place.
Safety and opportunity are inextricable. Our residents need pathways to employment, mentorship, and hope—not just surveillance. I will champion investments in subsidized jobs for opportunity youth, expanded after-school programming, and trauma-informed violence prevention. I believe in a community policing model, but I also know that true safety emerges from social cohesion, a lesson I learned while helping transform Georgia Avenue into a thriving hub. We activated vacant spaces with block parties, filled storefronts with local businesses, and replaced blight with public art. By building relationships across our diverse community and investing in residents' livelihoods, we create the stability necessary to prevent crime before it starts.
I will fight to protect Black youth from criminalization and replace the school-to-prison pipeline with pathways to opportunity. Sealing youth records to prevent barriers to housing and employment, mandating rehabilitation-focused alternatives to incarceration, and opposing policies that target youth in public spaces. I will champion investments in subsidized employment, expanded after-school programming, and career technical education to connect youth with living-wage careers. I also support trauma-informed violence prevention for those most at risk. Finally, I will establish a fully-staffed youth defender office to ensure every young person has adequate representation. These strategies promote engagement rather than incarceration.
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With my background in child welfare and juvenile justice, I have seen how incarceration tears families apart and traps youth in systems instead of fostering healing. Jubilee Housing in Ward 1 is a powerful model for change. Their new KEB building exemplifies my four priorities for returning citizens by offering: 1. Housing with full wraparound supports 2. Mental health services 3. Peer support and mentoring 4. An innovative green jobs program at their neighboring aquaponics farm.
I am proud this exists in Ward 1 and will fight to replicate this model citywide. Support must begin while residents are still incarcerated, providing the hope and concrete tools necessary to succeed upon their return. By investing in these proven strategies, we can build a more supportive, safer District.
Education
Studied art history, Music and ballet.
Qualifications
Performing artist/ arts instructor.
Website
in process
Self determinstion and autonomy through DC Statehood and the eradication of the multiple levels of racial disparities that along with envitonmental toxins plague the district. I intend to achieve both objectives by advocating for a participatory democracy utilizing the inherent skills, talents and goodwill of the DC community.
Yes. Provide funding for the Statehoid delegation.
Promote legislation recognizing housing as a human right. Provide more social service resources and oversight and collaborate with ANCs and Community village resources to look out for and assist in the well being of our more vulnerable residents.
Lack of autonomy and self determination.
Strengthen communities through intercultural intergenerational activities that break down prevalent alienation, aggression and depression.
Provide alternative programs, activites to incarceration. Listen to the youth and include strategies and remedies which they contribute to along with intergenerational support and collaboration.
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Provide them with jobs, training and therapy in a city developong into an arts state affirming access to training in an arts economy as a means of constructively reentering society with a renewed sense of purpose.
Website
www.miguelward1.com
Affordability is at the core of my vision for Ward 1. I am the most pro-housing candidate in this race because I believe housing is a human right. Yet we can’t guarantee access to housing that doesn’t exist. As a Councilmember, I will build both affordable and market rate housing while protecting tenant’s rights.
Public safety is a top priority for my campaign. As a Councilmember, I will work to ensure constituents feel safe biking to work in the morning and walking home at night. I will stitch together our protected bike lanes to ensure comprehensive coverage. I will bring back accountability to MPD to restore the trust that was severed by the federal takeover and protect our immigrant neighbors from masked agents on our streets.
YES. I am proud to have the strongest record of anyone in this race when it comes to fighting for DC’s statehood and autonomy. I founded the ANC Home Rule caucus, conducted oversight of MPD’s collaboration with ICE, and currently lead Know-Your-Rights trainings in Spanish with Free DC. I am also proud to be a member of Senator Jain’s Statehood Advisory Council.
There are two key steps to plan for statehood. First, our Statehood Initiatives Agency should lead updating the 2016 draft state constitution. Second, the DC Council should ensure that the Statehood Initiatives Agency’s New Columbia Statehood Commission is sufficiently funded and staffed to plan for major institutional changes under statehood. I will fund these efforts.
As a Councilmember, I will focus on implementing key elements from the Homeward DC 2.0 plan, which identifies that housing is the solution to homelessness. These provisions are promising, but there has been a lack of proper implementation.
First, we need to overcome barriers to permit and finance Permanently Supportive Housing (PSH) with supportive services needed to enable tenants who have previously experienced homelessness to stay stably housed.
Second, we need to increase the speed and efficiency of the housing lease-up process for PSH units.
Third, I will support moving away from the congregate shelter model to non-congregate shelter (transitional housing) with access to supportive services for unhoused individuals and families.
The best public safety strategy is to prevent crime before it happens. As a Commissioner, I have worked to preserve funding for Violence Interrupter programs. As a Councilmember, I will bolster VI programs, while insisting that investments be based on rigorous research and data analysis.
I will protect the District’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). I will support creating more subsidized affordable homes with supportive services, expanding our stock of rent-stabilized homes, and providing sufficient rental assistance. I will also support ensuring access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and restoring the DC Healthcare Alliance to support families with low incomes.
The best intervention is to prevent youth from unnecessarily interacting with the justice system. That’s why, instead of youth curfews, I will work to reactivate the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council and advance programming co-led by youth, including with schools, rec centers, DC agencies, and entertainment businesses.
I will work to direct MPD’s enforcement toward the adults who plan and promote unlicensed gatherings, as well as those who sell alcohol illegally at such events.
For youth who are already involved in the justice system, I will ensure they receive proper programming to continue their education and improve the physical conditions of detention centers, like reducing overcrowding and treating mold.
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DC’s unique legal system creates a loophole that leads to family separation and creates significant barriers to plan and implement re-entry to community programs. We must lobby Congressional offices to advocate for placing DC residents within a reasonable distance from the city.
I will use my oversight and legislative authority to fight for humane conditions at DC-operated correctional facilities. We must address persisting issues, like rotten food, staffing shortages, and punitive use of solitary confinement. I will also champion ensuring sufficient access to services needed to ensure successful re-entry and reintegration into communities for DC justice-involved residents, including legal aid, vocational training, substance abuse treatment, and mental health care. I will support the “Housing First” model, with no preconditions to accessing safe and affordable homes.
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Education
1981 Graduate Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Qualifications
Long time homeless, housing, community services advocate. Founded Calvary Shelter for Homeless Women in 1983. Served on Mayor's Williams Library Task Force that called for modernization of the city's branch and Central Library. Advocate for the modernization of DC public Schools. Has served as a DC State Sports Commissioner helping to bring new sports offerings such as lacrosse and ultimate frisbee to DC Public Schools. Long time Executive Director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregataion. A leading advocate for a Living Downtown helped to bring thousands of units of new housing to downtown along with retail, arts and historic preservation.
Website
www.terrylynchfordc.com
Safety in the Ward ...there are entrenched drug trafficking locations we need to close down as we are losing young men and women there. They can be closed down - by police walking the beat, getting to know residents and store owners and being visible - getting them out of their SUVS, by effective parking enforcement that moves out the traffickers, by working with the building owners where drug trafficking has been located, and cleaning the public space - removing trash, and graffiti. Secondly improving schools - we have to have first class staff, better maintenance of the buildings and robust afterschool activites. Our schools in Ward 1 need to be outstanding to serve our youth and their families,
Yes. We must work with our families, friends, contacts, alumni groups, professional groups around the country to urge voting in the mid-terms. We need Ward 1 residents to be voter activists as the key for DC Statehood is having the results needed in the mid-terms. As well the city must improve its own management - it needs to plow snow and pretreat streets before storms, it needs to reduce violence, it must have a cleaner, greener and safer record to show that we fully can manage our affairs and deserve statehood.
I have committed to bring 5,000 new units to Ward 1. I helped to bring housing to downtown and will do the same for the Ward. The key is using public parcels to maximize social housing and affordable housing development. The city also needs to have use it or lose it rules so that long vacant buildings are required by the city for new mixed use development and mixed income housing.
The root cause is a lack of youth engagement programs. As a DC Sports Commissioner I have helped to expand athletic programs for DC youth. We need a much more robust offering of athletic / arts, and academic programs for our youth afterschool, on weekends and in the summer. We do not need more police - we need programs that succesfully engage our youth.
We need to strengthen the social services components that assist families of youth that are in the justice system. We need advocates that know the resources / programs and services that are available and to get best results for our youth and families.
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We need to fully modernize our jail / prison facilities first and foremost. We need to strengthen the GED / arts / work programs that are offered to those in prison. We need to determine how to best improve contact with those that are in jail with their families and lastly have robust individualied plans for those being released - aiding them to find work, housing and other supports necessary for successful returns.
Education
Bachelors Degree, Vanderbilt University
Website
aparnafordc.com
As Ward 1 Councilmember, my top two priorities will be making DC more affordable and defending our autonomy from a hostile federal government. To lower costs and make it easier for families to make ends meet in the District, I will work to expand rent control to cover more buildings, guarantee free universal childcare and protect the Pay Equity Fund, raise the minimum wage, and end the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers. To protect our communities from federal overreach, I will fight to close loopholes in the Sanctuary Values Act, establish an immigration public defender program, and end MPD collaboration with ICE so all residents can live safely and without fear.
Yes, I firmly believe DC should be a state. This past year has reinforced how desperately we need statehood, and as Councilmember, fighting for Statehood and defending Home Rule will be top priorities. The District already has the infrastructure to self-govern, and statehood would expand our ability to build a stronger, more just, and more affordable DC. To win statehood and protect our autonomy, I will partner closely with our Congressional delegation to lobby Congress and ensure DC’s interests are represented, while partnering with networks I have developed with national organizations like Working Families Party to make Statehood a priority for local, state, and federal lawmakers, and their constituents, from across the country.
Every person in DC deserves an affordable, safe, and dignified place to live. As a renter and tenant organizer, I have seen that for too many, that life is out of reach - rents are too high, older buildings need investment, and exclusionary zoning laws have kept DC from building the housing our population needs. To build more housing, I will fight to end exclusionary zoning to allow for multifamily buildings in every neighborhood, encourage higher density along transit corridors, and streamline our permitting process. To make sure rents are affordable, I will fight to expand rent control, invest in tools like the Housing Production Trust Fund, and work to ensure we adequately fund our voucher programs for targeted, deep affordability.
Crime in DC is driven by disinvestment, poverty, and lack of access to stable housing, jobs, and care. The safest communities are the ones with the most resources, so I will fight to equitably invest public resources across Ward 1 and the District - making sure every neighborhood has quality schools, dignified housing, good union jobs, and equal access to quality public services. To address root causes, I will expand violence interrupter programs in neighborhood hot spots, strengthen youth and workforce opportunities, and invest in housing stability. I will also work to fix our emergency response system, fund mental health and substance use first responders, and expand victim services to break cycles of violence and build lasting safety.
Improving outcomes for justice-involved youth starts with prevention and support. I will fight to ensure families have all they need to thrive to set youth up for success. I will work to make sure every school has mental health counselors, nurses, and after school programs. I will push to end pretrial detention for youth, oppose curfews that criminalize young people, especially youth of color, and invest in community alternatives. For youth in the care of DYRS, I will ensure access to quality education, nutritious food, and wraparound services like mental health care and job training. We should treat young people with dignity and provide real pathways to stability and success, not send the message their lives are over before they begin.
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For incarcerated DC residents, I will ensure DC Jail is safe and habitable by addressing dangerous conditions, understaffing, and poor health outcomes through a mix of budget intervention and rigorous oversight. I will also work to expand opportunity by investing in workforce development, education, and wraparound supports during for people currently incarcerated.
For those returning home, I will partner with the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens’ Affairs to ensure programs supporting these residents are fully funded and effective. I will also expand housing and job access by growing voucher programs, working to end housing discrimination, and investing in reentry-focused workforce development so returning residents can rebuild stable, dignified lives.
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