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Randy Parraz

about the author

Randy Parraz is an organizer,social entrepreneur, author, founder of various social justice organizations and currently co-founder and President of the Organizing Institute for Democracy.

Randy has spent the past 26 years engaged in the work of building power and moving people into action. Randy’s introduction to social justice began when he observed his father, Deputy Sheriff John Parraz, organize the Latino Peace Officers Association in the 1970s to combat discrimination in the recruitment, hiring and retention of Latino officers.

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Randy’s understanding of organizing and framework for building power has been heavily influenced by Ernie Cortes of the Industrial Areas Foundation and Marshall Ganz, a former UFW organizer who worked closely with Cesar Chavez for 16 years.

Randy took courses on organizing from both Cortes and Ganz while pursuing his Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. It