MEET MIA

Mia knows what it's like not to have a voice. That's why she is working so hard to represent yours. 

Mia Livas Porter is a mother, gun violence survivor, activist, community organizer, and a progressive Democrat running to represent the 52nd District for the California State Assembly. 

As the youngest of five children born to Filipino immigrants, Mia grew up watching her parents work hard to achieve their American Dream. They instilled in her the importance of giving back to her community and taking care of each other. She witnessed her father, a doctor, and her mom, a nurse, waive payments for those who couldn't afford office visits and make house calls to elderly patients who couldn't leave home. They raised her to prioritize people before profit.

Carrying on her parents' legacy, Mia raises her children to give back and stand up for their community. Together, they have delivered holiday meals to our unhoused neighbors, collected holiday gifts for patients at Children's Hospital, and fundraised for music and physical education programs for their Title 1 school. In 2019, they stood by their teachers during the LAUSD Teachers Strike, educating parents on why they should care and fight for improving public schools for all children.

When her beloved brother Junior died by gun suicide after a five-year battle with schizophrenia, her family suffered in silence. Shortly after that, Mia was devastated when she lost her classically-trained singing voice due to throat nodules. Mia stopped singing - the thing that brought her the most joy - for more than two decades. Repeatedly, her voice was stifled or stolen growing up. But it was the personal tragedy of losing her brother that drove Mia into activism and public service.

In 2018, after realizing that she was a survivor of gun violence herself, Mia became a state lead organizer working with survivors with Moms Demand Action and an Everytown for Gun Safety National Survivor Fellow Spokesperson. In that role, she channeled her grief and trauma into action by sharing her survivor story nationwide, spoke against Active Shooter Drills on national television, and shared her story at a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol.

Mia organized countless events to establish community among survivors, raise awareness and funding for gun violence prevention, establish partnerships with community and faith groups, and lobby public officials for action. She brought together six local chapters of Moms Demand Action for their 2018 Wear Orange event in downtown Los Angeles to help raise awareness about the toll of gun violence in America. In addition to her work with Moms Demand Action, Mia has also been a longtime activist for progressive causes. She has helped organize Momtivist's Bullets Over Broadway fundraisers that raised over $70,000 for organizations to help protect voter's rights.