Jesse Turner

Community-minded service-worker and longtime activist rooted in Oakland, CA. I have been involved and in service to many intersectional social justice movements in Oakland and internationally and bring these experiences and the awareness derived from these experiences into all aspects of my professional and personal representation.

• Volunteer and Consent Monitor in various Sex-positive and Queer-centric spaces. November 2022-Present. I am a frequent volunteer and community member in Queer spaces that host safer play events in the Bay Area. I assist as a "Party Angel" and help move the community to collectively hold care and informed consent.
• Delegate for various international Solidarity Visitation Trips. Traveled with 3 different delegations human-rights defenders to 3 countries in a solidarity effort to connect with and support human rights and health workers across sectors such as peasant organizers, farmers, fisherfolk, and LQBTQ+ community members
• Community Security, Oakland, CA, 2015- Present. Have been present as a marshall, security member, and police liaison for various activist movements in Oakland, implementing the skills of discipline, vigilance, establishing compassionate boundaries, de-escalation, and communication skills
• Happy Art by Luis, Oakland, CA, 2019- November 2024, Penpal and advocate with Luis Esquivel, a survivor of 19 years of solitary confinement in California. Luis started an art business from incarceration and I helped him sell his pieces, raise legal funds, and advertise his services. He was a key organizer in the 2011 and 2013 CDCR Hunger Strikes and drafted the treaty among inmates to end hostilities and strike collectively.
• Feed My Sheep Ministry, Oakland, CA, 2015-02, 2021-06, Cook, prepare, and distribute meals to unhoused neighbors.
• Homeless Advocacy Working Group, Oakland, CA, 2015- 2022. Capacities I’ve served in this role include: eviction defense in encampments facing closure with no housing options; policy analysis and advocacy; food support in helping provide grocery boxes and hot meals to residents; responding to general crises faced in encampment communities; night-watch/security support for vulnerable communities or communities facing fear of outside forces
• New Revelation Community Church, Breakfast Server, Oakland, CA, August 2018- January 2020. Cooked, coordinated, served and welcomed guests to community breakfast program every week that was served to our unhoused and hungry neighbors.
• Agape Fellowship Community Church, Community Minister, Oakland, CA, 2016-2019. Assisted with LGBTQ and prisoner-adjacent, interfaith ministerial work and developed service opportunities to best serve the community.
• Oakland Education Association Teacher’s Strike, District 3 Coordinator for Bread for Education, Oakland, CA, November 2018- February 2019. Coordinated with the Bread for Ed initiative to establish a food supply for all families in West Oakland whose children would not be attending school but were in need of food support. Helped organize pastors, chefs, community organizers, educators, teachers, parents, and students to achieve this goal.