MEET DESMON

Currently, Yancy is the Senior Director of Organizing and Advocacy for the
Inner-City Muslim Action Network.
 

Before joining the South Side organization, this son of a Chicago police
officer served as co-founder and spokesperson for the Grassroots
Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) and the Empowering
Communities for Public Safety Coalitions, which successfully pushed the
city of Chicago to create the Community Commission on Public Safety
and Accountability. This new commission, launched in 2022, was created
in response to the killing of Laquan McDonald, the subsequent cover-up,
and the nearly $1 billion paid to victims of police misconduct since 2004.

 

Yancy’s grassroots community organizing career has included successful
campaigns in support of raising the minimum wage, expanding voter
access, increasing resources for senior citizens and people with
disabilities, and access to childcare resources for working families. He
intends to build on these successes and bring them to 5th Ward residents.

As a long-time resident of South Shore and father of an 8-year-old son,
Yancy is familiar with the 5th Ward’s resources and opportunities. As a

community organizer, he understands what it takes to increase community
engagement and develop and maintain strategic relationships with
community stakeholders. As an alderperson, he is looking forward to using
his skills and relationships to address public safety, and economic
development, as well as advocating for resources that will enhance the
lives of the 5th Ward’s 50,000 residents in South Shore, Greater Grand
Crossing, Jackson Park Highlands, Woodlawn, and Hyde Park
communities.