FORMER BOARD MEMBER
Alex T. Tom is a second generation Chinese American born and raised in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Alex got politicized in high school youth programs in the Bay Area and spent nearly a decade organizing youth and college students in San Diego and the U.S./Mexico Border Region. He is currently the Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco and has played a leadership role in building CPA’s service, organizing, and civic engagement programs. Before becoming Executive Director, Alex served as the Campaign Coordinator where he built the CPA Worker Organizing Center and led campaigns to organize workers in the garment and restaurant industries, winning over a million dollars in back wages.
Alex has also played a key role in local and national movement building. On a local level, Alex serves on the Leadership Committee of the San Francisco Rising Alliance, a nine-member grassroots multiracial electoral movement building alliance. He serves on the Board of Directors of the School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL) and is on the Coordinating Committee of Grassroots Asians Risings, a new national initiative for grassroots Asian organizations. CPA launched Seeding Change: A Center for Asian American Movement Building, CPA’s national project that includes building a national pipeline for the next generation of organizers; creating an infrastructure for grassroots organizing; and building power and scale for our movements toward a vibrant social and economic justice movement. Alex has a BA in Political Science and Ethnic Studies with a minor in Education from the University of California, San Diego.