Stevie Valles
Executive Director
Stevie Valles is a 2010 graduate of Oakwood University (HBCU) where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. Since graduating, he has committed his entire career to advocating for justice, equality, and freedom for ALL people.
Since Stevie became the Executive Director (ED) of Chicago Votes in 2017, the organization has started two new programs and has expanded it’s base to include young Chicagoans in juvenile detention centers, jails, prisons, high schools, colleges, and in Chicago’s creative community. Chicago Votes has had too many recent accomplishments to count, but he is exceptionally proud of the work CV did to pass two laws: Senate Bill 2090, which made the Cook County Jail the first jail in the country to serve as a polling location, and House Bill 2541, which requires that people being released from prison receive peer-led civic education courses.
Prior to joining Chicago Votes, he was the National Campaigns Director for the Bus Federation (now the Alliance for Youth Action). Stevie has also worked in the United States Senate, the Texas Legislature, and on a number of different campaigns, ranging from presidential to gubernatorial to affordable housing.
Stevie seeks to empower people through participation in the democratic process. He believes that society is in need of revolutionary change in order to end oppression in all it’s forms, and that this kind of change can be accomplished through organized efforts rooted in education, voting, advocacy, and accountability. Stevie hopes to impact society by empowering young Chicagoans to represent the interests of communities that are most oppressed. He believes that holistic participation in the democratic process is a means by which society can be changed.