Henry Perez, Board Member, currently serves as the Executive Director of InnerCity Struggle where he
leads a community-based organization that is building a movement of residents from the
Eastside of Los Angeles to fight for racial equity and justice and improved living
conditions and life opportunities for the most vulnerable communities in Los Angeles.

Henry began his activism as an undergraduate student at the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1995. At that time, Affirmative Action, which helped
underrepresented students like Henry enter higher education, was under attack. In
1996, California put Proposition 209, the measure to eliminate Affirmative Action, on the
ballot. Henry was part of the UCLA student activist leadership that rallied other students
and influential leaders to oppose this proposition. The No on 209 campaign introduced
Henry to the importance of organizing, engaging marginalized voters and building
electoral power to impact the outcomes in elections for the benefit of low-income
communities of color. The movement to defend Affirmative Action also highlighted for
Henry the significance of higher education for low-income communities of color and the
barriers that these communities face in reaching that goal.

Henry continued his student activism at UCLA, working on issue of college access and
college retention, until he earned his Bachelors of Arts degree in 2000. Afterwards, he
served as the Director of the UCLA Student Retention Center’s MEChA Calmecac
project for two years, assisting Chicana/o and Latina/o students graduate from the
university. Henry went on to attend the UCLA Graduate School of Education and
Information Studies where he earned his Masters degree in 2003 with a focus on
Latina/o Critical Race Theory (Lat Crit).

Henry joined InnerCity Struggle in 2005 as the organization’s first full-time Coordinator
of Familias Unidas (FaU). As coordinator of FaU he led the outreach, recruitment and
leadership development of hundreds of Eastside parents and residents, building a solid
base of adults that continue to be a voice for change in the Eastside. Since 2009, Henry
has led InnerCity Struggle’s focus on Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE). His
leadership in IVE has led to ICS engaging tens of thousands of Eastside voters and
winning their support for progressive ballot measures. More recently, Henry has played
the lead role in developing ICS’ strategy around Housing Justice to protect tenants and
prevent displacement of East Los Angeles’ most vulnerable residents.

Henry is a leader in several local and statewide social justice alliances and coalitions
with deep knowledge around organizing, base building, leadership development, civic
engagement, k-12 public education, youth justice and housing justice.