Organizer in Residence: Lac
A young leader from White Center is building youth power across Washington State.
By Nicole Reyes, Grassroots Engagement Organizer
Lac is a high school senior, at Evergreen High School, planning to attend the University of Washington Seattle. The first in his family to attend college pursuing a career in Public Affairs, “deeply rooted in the mission to ‘Educate for Life and Leadership.’”
It’s the month of May, the flowers are blooming, organizers are buzzing and the days are getting longer. Around this time of the year we are harnessing the power of the sun and refining our craft to achieve our ultimate goal: building long-lasting youth power in Washington State!
We’re usually known for our annual youth development programs such as our intensive Summer Fellowship Program, or our high school organizing bootcamp Bus Underground, but everyone experiences an organizing journey uniquely curated through their lived experiences and passions for building a better world. As we all know, there is no traditional path to being an organizer. That’s why I’m excited to introduce one of our Resident Organizers at the WA Bus, Lac Tran.
Like many of us, activism starts within our communities and the issues that impact our day-to-day lives. Lac spends most of his time at his school’s TRIO office, (taking our interview in the office as he explains) as a recipient of the TRIO program he saw how important it was to fund programs that support low-income and first generation families. Navigating higher education and government programs with his family developed his values and what he wants to achieve through organizing. Reaching out to working class students and families who never engaged with politics, to then support, show up and organize to keep funding for TRIO.
“Programs like TRIO are inherently political. Every year from 2016 up to now, Trump has zeroed out funding for TRIO programs across the nation. It’s one of the most important programs we have that supports students and their families to pursue higher education. Every high school student interacts monthly or daily with TRIO, so it was easy for me to organize my own communities. This isn’t a left or right issue, but a bi-partisan effort to fund education. We can talk about policy and facts, but what matters at the end of the day is connecting to people as people.”
“The organizing community is just this one huge giant map of organizations. It was really confusing for me to navigate until I made connections and found the Bus. I never really joined the WA Bus in an official capacity, I just went along with it. I made connections with local organizations and there I met Maria Abando, (Assistant Director of Making Connections Program) and then she introduced me to Bailey. My first ever event was Bus Bash 2025, but my work really started at the beginning of this year.”
“My time at the Bus has been shaped by connections. Digital communications is something I’m not the best at but connecting with the organizers at the Bus who provided me access to resources and connections inspired the work I’m doing this summer. It was nice because I was able to see how the Bus organizes and then mimic that style. I am still learning how I can create inclusive spaces as an organizer, Bus Underground and other events like the Seattle Mayoral Listening Sessions have been great examples.”
A panel of Washington Bus youth organizers speak at Party at the Capitol. (2026)
We organized alongside Lac and other youth organizers during the 2026 Legislative Session. He was at the forefront of engaging and empowering young people in King County to show up to meet with their legislators, testify in committees for the Millionaire’s Income Tax and Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, took on the role of being one of our Youth Spokespeople, a daunting task for most—but not for Lac. One of the first testimonies Lac organized at Olympia was the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. Later becoming a lobby meeting leader at Party at the Capitol (PATC), where he and a group of young people from Yakima met with their legislators and discussed important issues impacting their communities.
A group of young people pose in a Senate Committee Hearing Room with Senator Rebecca Saldaña. (2026)
“My favorite memory with the Bus was at PATC. I never really worked with people from Central and Eastern Washington. To come all the way out to Olympia, I saw how they dedicated so much time to lobby and talk about issues they personally were affected by. I was learning about what issues impacted (youth) in Yakima, learning that their legislative priorities weren't similar to mine. Banning ghosts and 3D printed guns was on the top of their list as gun violence was a big issue in their community. I've never really encountered the issue of 3D printed guns. I've had experience with lobbying with environmental groups like the Environmental Priorities Coalition. I was really nervous to be a lead, and it was nice to advocate and empower them and see the intersections of the issues we were all prioritizing.”
A group of Bus youth pose for a photo with Senator Noel Frame at the Millionaires Tax signing. (2026)
Before organizing with the WA Bus, Lac was already making local impacts within schools through TRIO and Salmon in Schools. At its most basic level (as Lac explains) this is a program where schools K-12 collaborate and accept the responsibilities of growing salmon, from hatching salmon roe during the winter and releasing fry at the beginning of spring. The first time he facilitated the program was at Evergreen High School, soon spreading the program to other schools in South King County.
“The schools who have traditionally done this have historically been more wealthy, white areas. South King County is the most diverse region in the state most impacted by climate change and systematic inequalities. It's been interesting to work with folks who have never experienced this program and to show up as a leader for them. Whether it's showing up to take care of the salmon or teaching other students passionate about salmon recovery. The first advocacy work I did was with Senator Patty Murray, working towards securing about half a billion dollars for fish passage on the Howard Hansen Dam. Trump's HR1 bill zeroed out any budget to support salmon recovery initiatives, but we were able to keep it. When the Washington Department of Wildlife analyzed salmon runs within the Ravendale area, since the dam was built population levels decreased by 80%. That’s why when we were able to secure funding two years ago to build fish passages, populations have been increasing ever since.”
Students, youth, and community members pose for a photo at Lac’s Salmon Releasing Party (2026)
At a glance, you’ll realize that Lac is an organizer and community builder driven by climate justice, equity, and conservation. But as we continued to delve deeper on what inspires us as organizers we both connected on our shared experiences as first-generation migrants. Growing up in White Center he expressed the importance of the historical impacts of the Vietnam War and how this influenced migration patterns that brought Vietnamese refugees and migrants to the White Center, an unincorporated area of King County.
“Your lived experiences are your most powerful tool when organizing. I believe a lot of my journey and what I do today stems from my family. My dad's side of my family moved to Washington after fleeing after the Vietnam War. In elementary school, I actually attended one of the first ever Vietnamese Dual-Language programs on the west coast at White Center Heights Elementary, and there I was able to learn more about my family's migration story & how we all got here. Growing up, I'd also spent summers in Vietnam with my mom's side of the family in Can Tho, which is a huge municipality in Vietnam, and I lived in an area you could describe as a 'fishing village'. Can Tho is also surrounded by the huge Mekong River, and that river is kind of what brings that region to life and it's such a vital part of the communities that live around it, especially my family. The experience of seeing how important one single body of water (the Mekong) was in sustaining communities and life in my hometown.”
Which then leads me to ask, what inspires him as an organizer? He answered,
“One of my biggest inspirations in the work that I do today is the student group 'Union of Vietnamese in the U.S.' Today, they're incredibly unknown, and not much exists on the internet about them, but they were a small group of students in the Vietnamese Diaspora in Fullerton, California who wanted to see U.S. withdrawal and collected poetry from those living in the war, and collected oral history samples from Vietnamese communities & political prisoners in Vietnam who were suffering because of the war. That idea from this student group- that our stories and history are political, and that our community voices, stories, & lived experience can shift narratives, is what gives me the drive today to organize for a better world here in Seattle and back home. “
Staff, volunteers, and community supporters pose for a group photo in support of Tatiana Brown, a candidate for the 37th Legislative District’s open senate seat. (2026)
So what is Lac up to this summer? Well last month he announced that he’s running for WA Supreme Court, well eventually, in the future. He also said he’d be stepping into a new role as the Organizing Director for Tatiana Brown, a candidate running a campaign for State Senate LD 37th.
“I’m honored to join this incredible team and I’m looking forward to building this people-powered, community centered campaign!”
He hopes you’ll get engaged and involved with your neighbors and support funding causes and organizations you care about.
Author’s Note: Getting to build, learn and connect with young organizers has been one of my favorite things at the Bus. If you’re interested in chatting and sharing your story, or want to uplift someone else's story. Reach out to me at nicole.r@washingtonbus.org or schedule a meeting with me through here. Looking forward to amplifying more youth voices and staying in touch!
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At the Washington Bus, we believe young peoples’ perspectives deserve to be centered, uplifted, amplified, and celebrated. We’re building a political home led by young narrators centering youth narratives.
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The perspectives, beliefs, viewpoints, opinions, and other commentary expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect an official position or policies of the Washington Bus.
NICOLE REYES
Nicole Reyes (she/they) is the Grassroots Engagement Organizer for the Washington Bus. Nicole leads our education, events, and community engagement work at the Bus.
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