Chelsea Boilard

Peer Leader, Lowell High School

"Have you met Chelsea? Dude. I've known Chels since the early 2000s, when she was an Urban Pioneer staff at Coleman Advocates for Youth Making A Change. She's someone who's been consistent in learning about herself while fighting injustice and uplifting the voice of youth and disenfranchised communities of color. One key piece of that has been around city budget advocacy, with Chelsea advocating and passing that power on, training people of color, youth, and service providers. Today, she's Chief of Staff for Sueprvisor Sandra Lee Fewer, advocating from within the system."

Born and raised in San Francisco and a product of the city’s public schools, Chelsea Boilard is committed to being in service to, and addressing injustices for, the people of San Francisco. She comes out of youth development and youth organizing work, and has extensive experience in political education and training, coalition-building, and campaign strategy. Chelsea has worked for several non-profit organizations including BAYAC AmeriCorps, Japanese Community Youth Council, YouthSpace, the SF Urban Service Project and the YMCA of San Francisco, and founded a racial justice training program for white youth called Y-Step.

For eight years, Chelsea led policy and organizing campaigns for Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, focusing on the city budget, progressive tax policy and racial equity in the public schools. She also oversaw the organization’s electoral work. In 2015 she left Coleman Advocates to focus on getting her Master’s degree in Political Science at SF State University while also teaching in SF State’s Metro Academy. In 2016, Chelsea agreed to run Sandra Lee Fewer’s successful campaign for District 1 Supervisor, and joined her staff after Fewer was elected. She is currently a Legislative Aide in Supervisor Fewer’s office focusing on issues of economic and racial justice, and resides in the Richmond District (which Fewer represents), with her husband and baby daughter.

Chelsea has served on the Boards of Directors for Dolores Street Community Services, San Francisco Rising Action Fund and San Francisco Tenants and Families. She is a member of LeftRoots, and has also been adjunct faculty at San Francisco State University and University of San Francisco.

"I remember vividly learning about wealth inequality with Peer Resources. I was a student at Lowell High School, and while I knew that inequality existed, that poverty impacted some communities more than others, and that such inequality caused deep harm, this workshop was the first time I had been given a framework, tools and language with which to describe it, and consider my own role and privilege in this country’s economic system. This moment—that I remember so clearly more than 20 years later—marked an awakening for me, and Peer Resources deserves some of the credit for my early political development.

"More than workshops, Peer Resources was a space for young people to support each other and build our resiliencies. Through Peers I was taught co-counseling, and built trusting relationships that helped ground me through some questionable decision-making during my high school years. Many of the lessons learned through Peer Resources have guided me on my path, and helped provide a foundation for my commitment to social justice, and building the power of and supporting the leadership of marginalized and impacted communities. I have gotten the opportunity to engage in inspiring work for many years to advance the causes of economic and racial justice and look forward to many more years of this work, alongside so many others."

Chelsea Boilard