Joanna Amador
Project Manager

Joe Acosta
Office Administrator

Victor Griego, Jr.
President

As its founder, Victor Griego has led the DSO organization on a pathway to high visibility in the Latino community through involvement in political and community campaigns that focus on the mobilization of residents, volunteers, organizers and community leaders.

To his associates, Mr. Griego is known as a creative leader and strategic thinker who is directly engaged in DSO's many government and community relations assignments. To every DSO project, he brings his extensive knowledge of California communities and long-standing relationships with leaders in government, business and labor.

A nationally recognized political strategist, facilitator and organizer with 25 years of successful experience in political, grassroots and community organizing, Mr. Griego has been an instrumental catalyst in planning and conducting various community involvement projects, including union wage and benefit issues, voter registration drives, public education campaigns and in the elections of local, state and federal candidates.

Mr. Griego's reputation as an astute political and community organizer is the result of years of notable success in coordinating community leaders, neighborhoods and organizations in their efforts to influence public policy decisions. He has been an advisor on more than 50 local, state and federal elections and ballot measures.

Professional affiliations:

Adjunct Professor, Occidental College
Visiting Lecturer, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)
Visiting Lecturer, Los Angeles Trade Tech College (LATTC)
Faculty Advisor, Southwest Voter Registration Academy
USC Business Expansion Network
Member, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Member, Latino Business Association
U.S. Hispanic Congressional Caucus Fellow
Founding Member, Cesar E. Chavez Foundation
Board Member, Coalition for Clean Air
Board Member, Queens Care
Board Member, Community Health Alliance, Pasadena

Before forming DSO in 1991, Mr. Griego was the staff director of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 11, and an organizer in the United Farmworkers Union, AFL-CIO. He was also the executive director of Center for Participation in Democracy, where he targeted traditionally underrepresented people statewide, encouraged voter registration and citizenship courses and worked to register more than 350,000 new voters.

As the chief of staff for California State Assemblyman Richard Alatorre, Mr. Griego represented the Assemblyman at functions, researched critical issues and was responsible for overseeing all operations of Mr. Alatorre's district office. Mr. Griego also worked as an organizer for the Industrial Areas Foundation, the Quality Education Project and the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project.

Mr. Griego's most recent project is the production of a cable television show that highlights the positive relationships between African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles County. Contrary to the negative reporting often seen on television, this show effectively illustrates that positive relationships between these two communities abound throughout Southern California.

Mr. Griego grew up in Boyle Heights and currently is a resident of South Pasadena. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Whittier College and is currently pursuing a doctorate in political science at Claremont Graduate University.

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