Margarita has more than 20 years of experience leading legislative, electoral and organizing campaigns at the national and state level as well as creating leadership development programs for labor and community organizations and members. Most recently, she was the States Campaign Director at the Strategic Victory Fund where she worked with state donor tables and communications hubs in key battleground states to ensure strategic investments in state partners leading pro-democracy campaigns. Previously, she was the National Legislative-Political Mobilization & Training Coordinator at the Communications Workers of America. She directed the union’s national legislative and political field mobilization. She co-founded the New Jersey Working Families Alliance and its c3 partner, the Grassroots Institute of New Jersey, where she led the state budget coalition; a diverse coalition of community, labor, environmental, and faith groups that helped win a tax increase on the wealthiest New Jerseyans. In addition, Margarita led comprehensive leadership development and training program for social justice organizations in New York and Florida at the Social Justice Leadership, and ran Latino outreach for Planned Parenthood of New York City’s comprehensive sex education in public schools campaign. Margarita started her organizing career at the New York Working Families Party electing the first city council member on a third party line and helping elect one of the first progressive District Attorneys as part of challenging the state’s draconian and punitive drug laws. Margarita was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, grew up in New York, and lives with her husband and two children in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
