It is with great pleasure we announce that on March 5, 2024, Leaders of Color Washington D.C. alum Mario Enriquez advanced to a runoff election for Stockton City Council District 4! 

Mario remains committed to ensuring all children have the right and ability to safely study and receive a quality education. He is dedicated to working in partnership with the local school district in order to ensure all youth in the District have the necessary tools to succeed.

Mario is a proud resident and committed advocate for Stockton and the Central Valley. Mario is running for Stockton City Council because he knows the importance of working with and for the community in creating effective solutions. Mario is the proud son of immigrant parents, a first-generation college student, and a public servant who is prepared to bring fresh, new ideas to help tackle our biggest issues in our community.

He’s held on to my Central Valley roots and pursued various opportunities in part due to the sacrifices that his mother made for him to pursue the American Dream. When Mario was in middle school, his mom gave him a newspaper clipping about the Lathrop Youth Advisory Commission, a group he eventually led as president. Since then, Mario has created a strong record of public service, elevating diverse voices and amplifying young leaders. Mario recently joined the Victory Institute as Director of Constituent Engagement in Washington, D.C. There he trained and supported LGBTQ+ individuals around the world to run for elected office - and win!

In 2010 after graduating from University of the Pacific, Mario moved to Washington to work for Unidos US (formerly National Council of La Raza), the nation’s largest Latinx civil rights organization focusing on building a pipeline of Latinx youth leadership. In 2013, he was selected as a National Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – the nation’s oldest leadership development program. Coro focused on exposing young professionals in the nonprofit, government, and business sectors and acquired their decades-long training on consensus-building and adaptive leadership.

In 2016, Mario completed his graduate studies at the University of Southern California, ranked as a top 10 public policy school. Eager to learn the policy-making process, he returned to Washington where he was selected as a Post-Graduate Fellow for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Mario’s unique lived experience allows him to bring best practices and solutions right back home to Stockton. In his current professional role, Mario serves as the Director of the Center for Identity & Inclusion and a professor in leadership at the University of the Pacific - his alma mater. 

Mario is ready to bring a bold, fresh perspective to the region and to the people of Stockton and District 4.

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