Among the hustle and bustle of the Starbucks on Yakima Ave. in Yakima, Wash., Giovanni Severino, 25, sits behind a carefully arranged table. The tablecloth, proudly displaying the Latino Community Fund of Washington logo and colors, holds voting registration cards, free masks and snacks, free for anyone going into the store for their morning coffee.

Giovanni’s work now is more than just community organizing. As the lead policy organizer, Giovanni advocates for bills that were introduced by the organization’s partners and community members. This past legislative session, Giovanni’s work was instrumental in advocating for bills such as Senate Bill 5022, a law that hopes to reduce plastic pollution and improve recycling in Washington.

Giovanni Severino, LCF lead policy organizer, tables outside Starbucks in Yakima, Wash. on Friday, July 9, 2021. 

Among the hustle and bustle of the Starbucks on Yakima Ave. in Yakima, Wash., Giovanni Severino, 25, sits behind a carefully arranged table. The tablecloth, proudly displaying the Latino Community Fund of Washington logo and colors, holds voting registration cards, free masks and snacks, free for anyone going into the store for their morning coffee. 

Giovanni, the current lead policy organizer for LCF has been with the organization for the past three years, but he hasn’t always worked as lead policy organizer. 

“I originally worked with our Alianza Leadership Program,” he said. “My role was to increase Alianza membership and engage youth to participate in community events.” 

The Alianza Leadership Program is LCF’s youth engagement program that focuses on organizing youth across the state to engage in their communities through a leadership-building curriculum and civic engagement events.

Giovanni’s work now is more than just community organizing. As the lead policy organizer, Giovanni advocates for bills that were introduced by the organization’s partners and community members. This past legislative session, Giovanni’s work was instrumental in advocating for bills such as Senate Bill 5022, a law that hopes to reduce plastic pollution and improve recycling in Washington. 

“We want to limit the amount of plastic waste that we produce and want to encourage alternative forms of packaging that are friendlier to the environment.”

His work also involves finding opportunities to engage community members in the testification process during the legislative session. 

“Testifying is literally one to three minutes of just saying why or why not they should support a bill,” he said. “It's fairly easy. For example, you can tell your mom ‘No, I don't want to wear that’ and explain the reason why within three minutes — it’s the same with legislators.” 

But to Giovanni, some of the most important work he does is when he gets to work with the community directly. 

While the legislation isn’t in session, Giovanni explained that his work involves being a part of conversations that create potential legislative bills that they may introduce in the upcoming year and encouraging people to make their voices heard through the voting process. 

“That's the first step. When someone votes, they get curious to know: ‘OK, now that I voted for this person, and if they win, what will they do?’” He said. “So it engages them in that way and then also gives me an opportunity to hear from the ground any concerns that the community members may have.” 

According to Giovanni, Yakima is very important for voter registration because there is a high number of unregistered eligible voters who are on average people of color. 

“We have a high population of individuals that aren't voicing their opinions when they can,” Giovanni said. “And it's either because they don't want to or because they don't know how to. And that's what I'm here to do today: to educate and register them. It's really easy and takes one minute to fill it out.”

Giovanni encourages everyone to make their voice heard whether through legislative work, by talking to their community or simply voting. 

“All of these things are important and whether we will like it or not, they're going to affect our lives in one way or another. So you might as well speak out before rather than afterward”

About Giovanni Severino: Giovanni Severino is a passionate activist and is an advocate for social justice. He was born and raised in South Los Angeles, CA. While he lived in LA, he participated in multiple marches such as The May Day March, and the Occupy LA March. His family moved to Yakima, WA when he was 17 years of age. Since then, he has engaged in community efforts to improve the livelihood for marginalized communities in the area. He attended Yakima Valley College where he earned an Associate's in Arts and served as the ASYVC Director of Student Programs 2015-2016. He is a recent graduate from Central Washington University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Political Science. He served as the ASCWU Student Body President 2017-2018, and as a Co-Chair for MEChA de CWU. He is excited to be part of the Latino Community Fund to ensure that all communities get the representation they deserve.

Want to get involved? Email Giovanni Severino [email protected] to learn more!