Sam Lyons

Sam Lyons is from Los Angeles, CA and is currently studying Psychology at UCSD. Their journey in economic and social justice began when they grew up in a low-income, single-parent household, which allowed them to see a glimpse of what economic injustice looks like. Having a medical disability, Sam is also constantly having to face skyrocketing costs of healthcare; they fight to make medications and treatments available to all. In addition to this, Sam uses their personal experience to recognize and fight the growing disenfranchisement of transgender people – advocating not only for social acceptance but also for legal protections and insurance benefits. These ideologies are all interconnected, and Sam has been able to work at the UCSD Women’s Center as a Social Justice Peer Educator to engage with the San Diego community about these issues. They will continue to do this work during the 2017-2018 school year as well as a Social Justice Educator at the UCSD LGBT Resource Center. Sam will be graduating Spring 2018, and hopes to use their degree to take their activism to a more personal level by becoming a License Clinical Social Worker to work with LGBTQ+ youth.