Meet Ada
Ada has dedicated her life to fighting for working families across Southern California.
From advocating for workers' rights as the Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11 to uplifting the voices and needs of Southern California voters, Ada is committed to making the California Dream accessible to everyone.
Pursuing the California Dream
Ada Briceño’s story is the embodiment of the California dream. Born in Nicaragua under a hostile dictatorship that threatened their lives, Ada and her family left when she was just seven years old to build a better life in California. Like so many other immigrants, they struggled to get by. Ada began working at just 14 years old, making $3 an hour to help support her family. At 18, she became a hotel desk clerk and joined the union, which would change the trajectory of her life.
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Fighting for Working Families as a Labor Leader
Ada rose quickly to union leadership, and at age 26, she became the first Latina President of her union. Today, Ada serves as Co-President of UNITE-HERE Local 11, representing more than 32,000 hotel workers in Los Angeles County, Orange County and Arizona where she has empowered thousands of hotel housekeepers and dishwashers to find their voice and helped lead a year-long hotel strike—the largest hotel strike in U.S. history—resulting in the largest wage increase ensuring hotel workers earn enough to live in the communities they have built. This historic strike set a new standard for all hospitality workers in Local 11’s jurisdiction, both union and non-union.
In cities across Southern California, Ada has driven groundbreaking policy campaigns to continue improving working people's lives. In 2024, Ada led the passage of Measure RW, a minimum wage increase for hundreds of low-wage workers in Long Beach. She was also instrumental in passing laws to protect workers from sexual assault and human trafficking. Under Ada’s leadership, her union helped pass funding to build thousands of new affordable housing units and protect renters from being displaced while ensuring financial accountability and transparency throughout the project.
During the COVID pandemic, when up to 90% of hospitality workers lost their jobs, Ada was a driving force in passing state legislation sponsored by Local 11 to ensure a right for these workers to return to their jobs when the pandemic ended, saving the jobs of hundreds of thousands workers. Each of these legislative victories has become a model for state and local government leaders around the country in their efforts to make the American economy work for everyone.
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Building a Movement for Change
In 2019, Ada was elected Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, where she’s led efforts to achieve dozens of landmark victories, secured a historic Democratic majority on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, led voter registration and voter protection efforts resulting in a Democratic voter registration advantage for the first time, and has built the most diverse and inclusive Democratic Party Orange County has ever seen. As Chair, she encouraged and supported women running for office and uplifted under-represented voices, including immigrants, the working poor, and communities of color. And in 2020, Ada was elected as a Democratic National Committee Member representing California.
While the nation swung right in the 2024 elections, Ada played a critical role in securing Democratic victories in Orange County. Her efforts as Chair led to Kamala Harris winning Orange County, as well as helped Democrats win five of the six Congressional races in the area. Notably, Democrats elected Dave Min to retain Katie Porter’s seat, and defeated Republican Michelle Steel with the election of Derek Tran.
Previously, Ada served as a board member of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Orange and San Bernardino Counties and currently serves as a member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Environmental Justice Advisory Committee and County Commissioner on the OC Human Relations Commission.
Now, Ada is running for California State Assembly to put her experience and drive to work for our district—fighting for liveable wages, lowering the cost of living, and expanding the middle class, while investing in education and job training programs to ensure all Californians have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. In the Assembly, she’ll defend access to abortion and other lifesaving reproductive healthcare services, advocate for universal healthcare for all, and enact innovative solutions to safeguard our residents, neighborhoods, and businesses against the devastating impacts of the climate crisis.
Ada has lived in Orange County for more than 30 years and calls Cypress home.
