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Grayson Sciacqua (He/Him) is a 17-year old Environmental and LGBTQ+ Rights activist seeking a better future for Youth. As a Queer youth from San Diego, they are a proud member of Our Time To Act, serving as the Director of Operations and People and the Collaborative Learning Chair of the Civic Youth Action Network (CYAN). < Back Grayson Sciacqua Director of Operations and People & CYAN Advisor Grayson Sciacqua (He/Him) is a 17-year old Environmental and LGBTQ+ Rights activist seeking a better future for Youth. As a Queer youth from San Diego, they are a proud member of Our Time To Act, serving as the Director of Operations and People and the Collaborative Learning Chair of the Civic Youth Action Network (CYAN). grayson.sciacqua@ourtimetoact.org

< Back OTTA United celebrates three new board directors, two youth and one youth ally Sunday, October 9, 2022 Our Time to Act United After confirmation at our October 9th Board Meeting, OTTA United is honored to welcome three new volunteers to our Board of Directors: Leana Cortez, Former OTTA United Advocacy Director & Clean4Kids Board Member Abbey Reuter , Former OTTA United Advocacy Director & current Community Representative for County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher Scott Warren , Co-founder and former CEO of Generation Citizen & current Youth Civic/Political Engagement and Leadership Specialist at USAID These individuals bring incredible lived experiences, unique perspectives, and the right mindset to our organization. Together, with their diversity and skills, we are better equipped to tackle our mission to "organize powerful youth for an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future." Next Previous

< Back OP-ED: The San Diego redistricting process protected the status quo. We need change Monday, December 13, 2021 Aidan Lin, Executive Director For the past few months, students of UC San Diego have made a historic push to move council districts in the City of San Diego's 2020-21 redistricting process. They have shared their perspective, in actions ranging from digital submissions of maps to vocal public comments in hour-long meetings. Throughout the process as a student and leader myself, I've witnessed and experienced firsthand the disregard, apathy, and sometimes malice directed toward my peers for sharing their perspectives. For some, it emboldens them to speak up louder. But for others, it disincentivizes them from participating in the first place. Many groups of diverse individuals share this experience in the city. Often, the voices of wealthy, single-family homeowners prevail in systems designed to cater to their participation; not to mention the fact that many youths are BIPOC and from underrepresented communities. This is the status quo in San Diego, and it requires an enormous amount of momentum to overcome. As I highlight in my opinion piece for the Voice of San Diego , this came into play in very tangible ways: Instead of a new persons of color majority district consisting of Clairemont, Linda Vista, and Serra Mesa, the commission voted to maintain the status quo by giving the coastal region two districts. By splitting our campus, they diluted student voting power and reduced the likelihood of our needs being taken seriously. Their adopted map also lowered Asian American and Pacific Islander percentages in District 6 and Latino/a percentages in District 9, relative to the collaboration map they rejected. We must take action to dismantle the system that prevent real, important change from occurring. Three reform ideas that we proposed included: Detach the appointments from specific City Council seats. Many independent redistricting commissions do not tie commissioners to existing seats, including the county and state. Rather than ensuring geographic representation, this pushed commissioners to defend their personal districts as if they were elected politicians and resist any changes to the status quo. Change the Appointing Authority. Retired judges may sound like a good idea, but a system with selection bias toward older people and attorneys has generated major negative repercussions for communities of color. We need an appointment authority that is both independent and representative of the community and its values. Require representation on the commission. We will never achieve districts that reflect local communities unless the commissioners drawing them also reflect the community. New requirements should be added to ensure renters, students, and Black, indigenous and people of color are adequately represented on the commission itself. As we call for reform, we ask for your support. Join our newsletter to stay in the loop and reach out if you are inspired to get involved. voiceofsandiego.org The Redistricting Process Favored the Status Quo, Again. That Needs to Change. These commissioners simply do not reflect the diversity of San Diego, nor the experiences of most residents, and repeatedly proved themselves incapable of putting aside their own biases for the good of the city. Next Previous

< Back OP-ED: Students are making waves in redistricting. San Diego should listen Tuesday, November 2, 2021 Aidan Lin, Executive Director Students are the future of San Diego. So why does redistricting overlook them? Everyone has heard of the phrase "youth are the future," and it is frequently accompanied by the sentiment that leaders should hold the interests of youth at heart when making decisions. But, as I write in my opinion piece with the San Diego Union-Tribune , when students began to get involved with the City of San Diego's 2020-21 redistricting process, students were not treated as such: At the recent redistricting hearing, Commissioner Fred Kosmo said , “I’m impressed with the college students and their enthusiasm, but a lot of people who have families and jobs — they came out, too. ... You can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.” This tone-deaf statement implies that students are not employed or do not have families to support — and that affordable housing is not a basic need. Instead, the commission has demonstrated a preference for wealthy, single-family homeowners. Yet [student] voices have been drowned out at redistricting commission hearings. After dozens of students spoke out in special hearings for Districts 1 and 6, organized political insiders in La Jolla, including former council President Sherri Lightner, responded to our concerns by rallying to preserve the status quo exactly as it stands ... To date, the majority of commissioners have demonstrated far more concern for the feelings of these La Jollans than any other community. It is clear that students are not being treated as the stakeholders of the future––or even as community members––that they are often ascribed to be. San Diego Redistricting Commission, take note: students are far from done fighting. www.sandiegouniontribune.com Opinion: The redistricting process is ignoring the needs of UC San Diego students I have seen how my UC San Diego peers are ignored and viewed condescendingly. Next Previous

< Back New year, new faces. Meet some of the new leaders of our organization Saturday, January 9, 2021 Our Time to Act United Happy New Year and Welcome to 2021! Our Time To Act United is very much looking forward to another year of youth empowerment and working together to positively impact our communities. As we usher in a new year, we are also ushering in a new team. First we’d like to welcome our newest members of the Board, starting with Iris Leung as President and Ria Maheshwari as Vice President. Ms. Leung and Ms. Maheshwari did an extraordinary job last year leading the staff through a myriad of successes as Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director, respectively. Our Time To Act United is incredibly honored to welcome them to the board, and we have full confidence they will make 2021 an outstanding year for this organization. We’d also like to give a warm welcome to Anna Pierce, who will be a wonderful addition to the Strategy and Risk Committee. Congratulations to our new committee chairs: Allison Park as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance and Development Committee and Janice Park as Chair of the Strategy and Risk Committee. Thank you to all other board members as they continue to diligently serve Our Time To Act United. With the new year, we also have the pleasure of welcoming our new staff. Our Executive Director, Aidan Lin, is leading the staff this year. Mr. Lin has previously served as President of Our Time To Act United, and he is more than qualified for the job with the hard work and dedication he has shown throughout his years working with us. Another addition to the team is our Associate Executive Director, Ken Fesler. We know he’ll do a phenomenal job assisting Mr. Lin and leading the team. Our staff team currently consists of three members; Andrew Park, Apurv Gupta, and Suniska Patel will be working with us in 2021. Thank you for your continued support of Our Time To Act United. We look forward to the coming year! Next Previous

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THE LIBERATED PEEP Check back soon Once posts are published, you’ll see them here. Search Aathmika Radhachandran Jan 1 3 min Aathmika: Your Guide to Changing Your Community In a constantly changing world, it's important to fight for what you believe in. Our Time to Act United's (OTTA United) Board of... 39 0 comments 0 4 likes. Post not marked as liked 4 Michael Nguyen Dec 4, 2023 2 min Michael Nguyen: Chess at OTTA I was first introduced to chess in the eighth grade. I joined my school's chess club, which was ran by my math teacher, Mr. S. He taught... 30 0 comments 0 6 likes. Post not marked as liked 6 Benjamin Wang Dec 3, 2022 2 min Our First Annual Winter Gala... And You're Invited! It has been a busy year for Our Time to Act United (OTTA United). From advocating for equitable representation during the redistricting... 96 0 comments 0 9 likes. Post not marked as liked 9 ARTICLES