Alberto Olivas-Reyes has been involved in numerous community organizations, both nationally and in his state of Arizona, as well as held several different positions in the government of Arizona. He was formerly on the board of the get-out-the-vote organization Democracy Works, and currently is the executive director of the Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service.

Career

Alberto Olivas-Reyes has worked in leadership positions at numerous non-profit and government organizations in Arizona and nationally. These include executive director of the Center for Civic Participation in the Maricopa Community College district, the vice-president of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, director of the Arizona Governor’s Office for Equal Opportunity, outreach director for the Arizona Secretary of State, and on the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs. ¹

Olivas-Reyes has previously been on the board of the National Civic League and KidsVoting Arizona, a non-profit that works to increase voter education and turnout. He is currently on the board of the Court Leadership Institute of Arizona for the Arizona Supreme Court. ²

On the national level, Olivas-Reyes is on the board of Public Agenda, an ostensibly non-partisan organization that works in education, healthcare, and criminal justice policy. ³

Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service

Alberto Olivas-Reyes is the executive director of the Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service. The center is named after former U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ), who was the first Mexican-American congressman from Arizona. The center works to promote political and civic engagement among Arizona State University students, and is affiliated with the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement run by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. The center runs various programs, such as a public service leadership academy, internship funding, and a program to shadow Arizona legislators. The center also promotes the use of TurboVote, a project of Democracy Works, a non-profit where Olivas-Reyes was a board member. ^{4 5 6}

Democracy Works

From November 2016 until March 2019, Olivas-Reyes was on the board of directors and worked on the finance committee of the non-profit Democracy Works. Democracy Works, which claims to be a non-partisan organization, seeks to increase voter turnout by facilitating voter registration and providing information about mail-in voting, polling locations, and state rules and regulations. The main initiative of Democracy Works is TurboVote, which guides users through the voter registration process, helps with mail-in or absentee ballot requests, and sends text and email reminders about upcoming elections. TurboVote has been used in conjunction with large companies such as Facebook and Twitter to increase voter registration and turnout. Democracy Works is a cofounder of the Civic Alliance, a group of non-profits and large companies that seek to increase voter turnout to 80 percent. Democracy works also runs How to Vote, a resource that provides information regarding voter registration and voting rules for all 50 states in both English and Spanish. The information from How to Vote is utilized by Google when users search for voting information. ^{7 8 9}

Political Contributions

Olivas-Reyes has made numerous contributions to left-of-center candidates and groups, often in small amounts. He has regularly contributed to the left-of-center PAC ActBlue and supported the 2020 campaign of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and the 2018 campaign of Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ). ¹⁰

1. ASU.edu. “Alberto Olivas.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/7290.
2. ASU.edu. “Alberto Olivas.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/7290.
3. “Board of Directors | Public Agenda.” Public Agenda. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.publicagenda.org/about/board-of-directors/.
4. Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. “Congressman Ed Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service,” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://publicservice.asu.edu/pastor.
5. Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. “Congressman Ed Pastor.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://publicservice.asu.edu/pastorbio.
6. Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. “Vote!” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://publicservice.asu.edu/content/vote.
7. Democracy Works. “Tools for Voters.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.democracy.works/tools-for-voters.
8. Democracy Works. “TurboVote About.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.democracy.works/turbovote-about.
9. Civic Alliance. “Civic Alliance.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://civic-alliance.netlify.app.
10. FEC.gov. “Alberto Olivas Individual Contributions.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Alberto+Olivas&min_date=01%2F01%2F1990&max_date=12%2F31%2F2022.