Our Team - Juan Luis Santana
Staff
Biography
JUAN LUIS SANTANA
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Juan was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. He emigrated to Washington DC in 2007. He was a student at the Latin American Youth Center’s DC chapter to earn his GED certificate. A few years later, Juan became a subcontracted employee at a union site in the State Department.
Juan then became a brigade member at the airport workers union’s Fight for $15 campaign in Ronald Reagan National Airport (2015) and Dulles International Airport (2016). He advocated for airport workers rights (fair treatment, job security, healthcare, sick leave, e.t.c.) for the next seven years. He successfully pushed the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to enact a living wage policy, taking 15,000 airport workers from a wage as low as $/3hr to over $15/hr. From a lead organizer at SEIU 32BJ to YPP’s new community organizer, he hopes to make a direct impact in Montgomery County by leveraging his extensive experiences and skills in YPP’s Youth Organizing campaign.