Submit a tip
Do you have info to share with HuffPost reporters? Here’s how.
The Honorable Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (Ret.) served in the California Legislature for three terms and now builds forward leaning, next generation ideas and people through various institutions. A native Angeleno, Pilgrim School, Loyola Jesuit Preparatory High School, and Morehouse College graduate, Ridley-Thomas is dedicated to improving the lives in the Golden State through sound public policy, civil discourse, and civic engagement. Elected at 26 to serve the half-million people of South and West Los Angeles's 54th Assembly District, Ridley-Thomas focused on mental health, healthcare delivery systems, civil rights, voting rights, economic development, workforce development, aging, and human services policy. He authored 38 pieces of law and chaired the Committees on Revenue & Taxation, Elections & Redistricting, and Select Committees on Mental & Behavioral Health and Homelessness. Ridley-Thomas was a founding member of the California Millennial Legislative Caucus and Secretary-Treasurer of the California Legislative Black Caucus. Ridley-Thomas currently serves as Professor of the Practice of Public Policy and Social Work at the University of Southern California Sol Price and Suzanne Dworak-Peck Schools, Chief Strategist of the African American Voter Registration, Education, & Participation Project, and Director of the Policy, Research, & Practice Initiative of the United Ways of California.