YEO Policy Academies Clean Energy & Environmental Justice Pol. Academy | Page 42

YEO Bios
Matt Lesser
State Representative
Middletown, CT
State Representative Matt Lesser is serving his fourth term in the
Connecticut House of Representatives representing the City of
Middletown. In 2015, he was appointed co-chair of the General
Assembly’s Banking Committee. Lesser also co-chairs a subcommittee
of the Appropriations Committee and serves on the Government
Administration & Elections Committee. Lesser has been a principal
author of a number of important laws including Connecticut’s first in the nation Student Loan
Bill of Rights, a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing waste, and a major workplace safety law later
adopted as a national standard. Lesser has championed Middletown’s interests in the legislature,
significantly expanding funding for local roads and schools and securing millions of dollars to help
rebuild Middletown’s waterfront. He has been repeatedly named a champion by the Connecticut
League of Conservation Voters and served as a Marshall Memorial Fellow, a highly competitive
international leadership and exchange program.

Monique Limón
School Board Member
Santa Barbara, California

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Monique Limón serves as the assistant director of the McNair Scholars
Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is currently
serving in her second term on the Santa Barbara Unified School District
Board of Education. In addition to her local roles, she serves as a delegate
for the California School Boards Association and former board member
for the California Latino School Boards Association. In 2015, she was
named by California state Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson as one of 19th Senate District’s 2015
Women of the Year and was recognized by the local chapter of the California Teachers Association
with a Gold Award as an outstanding public official. She earned a B.A. from UC Berkeley and M.A. in
education from Columbia University.

Paul López
City Councilman
Denver, Colorado
Paul D. López, Denver City Councilman, is a homegrown champion for
Denver’s working families. While earning a degree at the University
of Colorado, López became a community organizer and went to work
in Denver’s poorest neighborhoods to protect affordable housing
and quality public health care. As a union organizer, López brought
thousands of Denver-area janitors and their families to the bargaining
table. Elected at age 28 in 2007 to West Denver’s District 3, López became the youngest Denver
city council member to ever take the oath of office. Utilizing a grassroots community organizing
style, Councilman López is regarded as a relentless fighter for social justice who defined the word
“community organizer” and is steadfastly redefining the role of “city councilman.”