Irene Shin

I am the daughter of Korean immigrants and I worked my way through college waiting tables. When I was 16, my Dad was diagnosed with cancer and was met with an unaffordable and inaccessible healthcare system. So he flew to Korea. He landed in Seoul one morning and by the following morning he was in life-saving surgery for bladder cancer. I remember thinking that it shouldn’t be this hard to get medical care. It shouldn’t be easier for my dad to fly across the globe to get the surgery he needs than it is to get it here. I realized that it is the role of government to serve our communities and remove barriers to access – whether it’s access to affordable healthcare, access to the ballot box, or access to your elected officials – is what builds a healthy democracy.

That’s why I’ve dedicated my career to this and it’s why I’m running for office. I am now the Executive Director of a nonprofit that builds coalitions of organizations across the commonwealth to increase voting access, especially in BIPOC communities. I am running for Delegate to make our government more effective, especially for working families like mine.