Hala Alaya is a risk taker. She is a candidate for Virginia’s House of Delegates District 51. Moved by her experience in the Women's March on Washington, she resigned from her federal job and submitted papers as a candidate. A local of minority-majority eastern Prince William County. She still lives there. Her father had both Salvadorian and North-African roots. Her mother was Irish and Lebanese. She began her working life as a single mother -- in service jobs; living without health insurance. She was eligible for Medicaid. “Medicaid saved my son’s life." Hala Ayala's way out was to join the Coast Guard. She joined in 2008. She was on a trajectory. She enrolled in an online program at the University of Phoenix and completed the requirements in two years. She earned promotions to become an INFORSEC Specialist (IT Security). She persisted and became a cyber specialist program analyst with the Department of Homeland Security. She quit that job to run for Delegate.

Kathy Tran and her parents fled Vietnam as boat refugees when she was just seven months old.* Although many other countries offered them asylum, they waited 13 months for the United States to accept their application. For Kathy’s family, this country has always represented hope, opportunity and freedom. She has devoted her career to ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. She began her civil service career at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2003. During her 12 years of service, she served in numerous leadership positions. She went on to work at the National Immigration Forum, one of the nation’s leading immigration advocacy organizations. There, she advocated for policies that prepare immigrants in the workforce to reach their full career potential.