MEET DANIELA
I am Daniela Velázquez
I have called the Shaw neighborhood my home for the last eight years. On any given day, I can be found admiring old, beautiful red brick buildings, exercising in Tower Grove Park, or deciding where to stop among the stores and restaurants that line South Grand.
Shaw is part of the new 6th ward. It is a diverse community filled with all the amenities that make a strong and vital neighborhood: walkable streets, open spaces and parks, bustling small businesses, and people of all ages and backgrounds who care about our city. As your next alderperson, I will work to protect what we cherish in our community while making it a stronger and more livable place for all. I am honored to be running to represent you at City Hall.
A St. Louis for All
I am a first-generation St. Louisan. My family arrived in St Louis from New York City, where my parents lived the immigrant experience while being citizens of our country. As transplants from Puerto Rico to New York and then to St. Louis, my family is a testament to the American Dream, and I am proud to be a child of that dream.
I learned the power of difference and advocacy at an early age.
Being “different” helped me develop a deep sense of empathy and an ability to understand people. I realized from a young age that all of my heroes were those who didn’t quite fit the mold: My late brother, who was deaf and legally blind, had an indomitable spirit as he explored the world around him. My mother, despite her lack of formal education, was a tireless advocate who worked to make streets safer and state policies more effective for those living with disabilities. The new 6th ward, where my brother attended the Missouri School for the Blind, is where I make my home and where I want to serve.
My background, experience, and skill set are the foundation for my ability to serve and lead Ward 6 in the newly consolidated Board of Aldermen. I have worked from low-tech to high-tech, with community-based coalitions, national organizations, and local neighborhood-based groups. I have served as a volunteer and deacon of my church and am a former board member of NARAL (now Pro-Choice Missouri).
As a proud graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism and journalist, I learned to listen to people from all walks of life and analyze issues from different points of view. During my tenure as the director of communications at the ACLU of Missouri, I used the power of storytelling to impact policy on issues ranging from voter’s rights to the criminal justice system.
When I staffed the Ferguson Commission, I saw the power of community involvement, insight, and instigation create a recommendation for a civilian oversight board for police departments. As a small business supporter, I served as a board member for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis.
For my entire career, I have been a coalition builder working to get things done. I have learned the power of listening to different perspectives and reaching out to the silent or lost voices to forge solutions that make a difference. I believe representation matters, and I am committed to representing the perspectives of all who call our city home.
