I’m Kelsea Bond
I’m running for City Council because I love this city. But Atlanta’s become unaffordable for working people like you and me. Housing, utilities, and the overall cost of living are through the roof. It’s time to bring working people into City Hall, and build a more democratic, equitable, and green city for ALL.
I grew up in DeKalb County to a family of educators and public sector workers. My family taught me that working people deserve a government that provides good quality public services like education, healthcare, and transit. As I grew older, I started to see how my friends, family, and neighbors struggled to navigate these systems. We deserve better!
Our System Isn’t Working…
When I started high school at the peak of the Great Recession, I knew there was something fundamentally wrong with the way our economy worked. Family friends lost their jobs, and my family had to move out of the neighborhood we grew up in because of our landlord raising the rent. As I prepared for college, I grew anxious about growing income inequality, climate change, the inevitable piling up of student debt. These issues felt so large in scope, it didn’t seem like there was anything we could do to challenge them.
In college at the University of Georgia , the summer heat made my childhood asthma came back. Each time I needed to refill my costly inhaler prescription filled me with stress — I could barely cover it on my $7.25/hr dining hall income. I began to feel like our entire system — costly healthcare, low wages, high rent — was designed to keep people in precarity. In so many other countries across the globe, healthcare was a guarantee. Why didn’t Americans demand those same rights?
Soon, my questions were answered. In summer 2015, when I started grad school at Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Bernie Sanders announced his run for president — validating all the concerns I’d had for so long. He was right — all people deserve universal healthcare, free college, and housing as a human right! Inspired by these progressive ideals, and drenched in student debt, I began working full-time in education policy, and attending community political events whenever I could, despite my busy schedule.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard — causing mass unemployment and loss of health insurance for thousands. I was disgusted by our government’s lack of response. How could we leave so many people behind? Soon after, Black Lives Matter protests broke out across the globe, demanding racial justice and an end to racist police violence, and I knew I had to get involved. That summer, I joined the Democratic Socialists of America, because I realized the only way we could win large-scale reforms like Medicare for All, criminal justice reform, and a Green New Deal was through a mass movement of millions.
My Work in the Community…
In 2021, I organized support for Nabsico workers on the picket line striking for higher wages and respect on the job. Seeing them win their contract after such a long fight taught me what an integral role unions can play in building a more just economic system. Since then, I’ve played a leading role fighting for workers’ rights here in Atlanta — supporting union drives and strikes with Starbucks Workers United, the UPS Teamsters, Amazon workers, and Delta ramp workers at the Atlanta airport. In 2023, I helped introduce legislation to legalize public sector bargaining rights to the State legislature alongside my union, United Campus Workers, and also helped pass a City Council resolution in support of organizing Atlanta baristas. In office, I plan to continue uplifting the struggles of organized workers fighting for a living wage, and push for policies that improve the quality of life for working people.
I’ve also been on the front lines fighting for reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ rights. In 2022, when the right to a legal abortion was overturned in Georgia by right-wing law-makers, I worked with reproductive justice groups and Feminist Women’s Health Center to advocate for funding for abortion access and a statewide Reproductive Freedom Act. As a queer organizer in the South, I believe that all our struggles intersect. In 2023, I worked with the Atlanta North-Georgia Labor Council and local unions to organize the first ever labor contingent in the Atlanta Pride Parade, right here in the heart of Midtown. I believe LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, and labor rights are all part of the same fight to build a more democratic economic system for all!
Atlanta is a city full of culture, with a rich history of fighting for Civil Rights. We need to continue that legacy by fighting for affordable housing, workers’ rights, and a green future for everyone in this city. As a Democratic Socialist, I believe our government has a responsibility to meet these needs, and I’m ready to use every tool in the book to make Atlanta more affordable for working people like you and me. Please join me in the fight to build a more democratic, green future for all of Atlanta – not just the 1%.
