Julio Esperias

Julio was born, raised, and still lives in South Los Angeles. He attended Normandie Avenue Elementary and Foshay Learning Center. During his first two years of college, Julio was a pre-med student. But upon taking a class lectured by political activist Angela Davis at U.C. Santa Cruz, a life-changing seed was planted, which caused him to change his major from medicine to advocacy/community work.

After graduating from U.C. Santa Cruz with B.A. in Legal Studies, Julio returned home. He began his professional career with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project under the tutelage of Antonio Gonzalez. Julio gained valuable insight into the importance of increasing the participation of Latinos in the American democratic process. After that, he went on to work for NALEO Educational Fund, where his duties included recruitment of the nation’s Latino elected and appointed officials. In this capacity, Julio played an essential role in shaping the most prominent national network of Latino leaders devoted to shaping and improving American society.

Before taking the role of Communications Manager with Community Coalition, Julio has spent the last six years working in public affairs and communications, developing outreach and awareness strategies for Fortune 500 companies, foundations, and government agencies targeting the Latino community. Julio also has experience creating campaign messaging and pitching mainstream and Spanish-language media to garner earned media opportunities. Julio has also served as a council aide to a Los Angeles City Councilmember and been a political organizer for a labor union. Currently, he is an Executive Board Member of the California Democratic Party and serves on the Los Angeles County Democratic Party Committee.

Fun Fact: In 1994, while at Foshay Learning Center, the Prince of Wales stopped by the school for a visit, and Julio was part of a fortunate group of students to meet the future King of Britain. He loves to travel, and in 2016, he traveled on one of the first direct flights from the U.S. to Cuba in over 50 years.