Welcome to Forum 360.

I'm your host, Leia’ Love, where we have a global outlook from a local view.

I am so excited today because it's not often we get to talk about the journeys, the behind the scenes of who we see representing us.

And today we have Representative Veronica Sims of Ohio House District 33, and she's going to talk about her political journey.

So welcome.

I'm honored to be here.

- I'm honored to be here.

Thank you for having me.

- Thank you.

So can you share a little bit about your background and what shaped your early years?

So I am a lifelong Akronite born and raised here in Akron, Ohio.

Grew up in the Summit Lake community.

I tell people I grew up in Summit Lake, but not quite the lake.

But, I am the fourth child of six born to my lovely parents.

You know, I don't know if I had language to say at that age that I wanted to be a public servant.

Of course, I had visions of one day being the president of the United States for as long as I can remember.

But I was always just very interested in community and how community works to make things better, how it works to lift each other up.

I think that was the grounding part– My mom was very active in the PTA.

She was all about the kids.

And so if you, if you weren't doing right by the kids, you're going have a problem with Elaine.

And so one of the things I really enjoyed, not at the time, but in hindsight, she was so actively engaged.

And, you know, we were witnesses to that so much they called her Mama Brown, which was, you know, like as a kid, like she's now your mother, she’s mine.

My dad— So my mom worked most of her career in the public school system.

My dad was a welder at Babcock and Wilcox.

So I had a very stable home and I would say that was very community focused.

I have three sisters and two brothers.

And so having, you know, that kind of make up, I always say we didn't have a whole lot of do, but there was lots of love.

And there was a focus on being excellent and giving your best.

So I think that's... - Would you say that you were always outspoken or did that kind of develop as you... - I think I was always outspoken.

My little sister, my youngest sister always had this little thing and she would say how they would call her, Miss Brown, you know, she's in the third grade, but I think part of that, she was so tenacious.

And I think I could say that for most of us.

They would call her Miss Brown And I knew that because I got the same thing.

I don't think they were saying it to be mean, but just acknowledging there was something about our tude that was a little different.

- Okay.

Well, tell me this.

Was there a moment or an experience in your childhood that planted this seed for public service or that even may be as you were going along, was there a moment that you can remember?

- I say this often and I know it almost seems like a coin phrase, but I was always in awe of the power of people who just decide they want differently to put their hands to the proverbial problem and push towards that thing.

And again, I saw that in the community that I lived in and saw it in my own parents.

I don't know if there was one thing.

I think there, if I'm honest, it's in my DNA.

So I came here with this.

I'm grateful for my upbringing because my parents exposed me to people that were like me.

And so, you know, it wasn't easy to turn me around because I, I don't speak the way you do, or I don't do things the way you should, you think I should do them.

So I would say those were keys to really setting in motion the... the me that I became.

So I was a criminal justice political science undergrad and mastered in public administration.

I think my push towards criminal justice was just watching family members who or people I knew in the neighborhood who somehow got caught up in the system.

And there were no real redemptive pathways back and I just couldn't believe that somebody could have an encounter, return to a community at 20, 21 years old and their life was over.

And so, that really sparked my interest in the whole justice.

But again,I think that it was in my DNA.

I came here allergic to injustice.

- I love that.

Allergic to injustice.

- Yeah, and so it's just a part of who I am.

- So tell me, what was your first public servant position and how did that even come about and go?

- I think anytime you're offering service, whether that's in a formal position as someone sanction or that you see something that needs to be righted or that you think that you can add some value to and you participate in that.

I think that's public service.

But I really got my official start as the Executive Director of Ohio legislative Black Caucus and that came from an encounter.

Dr.

Vernon Sykes at the time had met him, had some discussion— I can't tell you the full story.

It's a good story.

But time won’t permit that.

Who saw— I think really saw in me what my parents and siblings had already nurtured in me and was willing to give me a go at opportunities that would not necessarily, I don't believe would have been afforded me.

Who was more interested in seeing me develop what he saw than he was me having a whole lot of experience.

And I'd like to say the rest is proverbial history.

- So what challenges did you have as you prepared for this new leadership role?

- So, you know, I’ve had the privilege to serve on the Akron School Board, Akron City Council, served as the first black woman to serve as president of Summit County Council, both president and vice president.

And now here at the state level, I like to say, honestly... That I don't know if I necessarily prepared per se.

My faith has always been very important to me.

And I’ve always, always as long as I can remember try to listen to that voice in the call of my life.

I think what allowed me to be in this place called here, that I had the unmitigated gall to believe what the voice was saying and follow it.

And so, you know, I've been an extremely blessed and that I've never been very apologetic about that because it's the truth.

- Okay.

We kind of ran over that a little bit quick.

Tell me each position that you said you just had in order until now.

- I served on the Akron School Board.

I served as a city councilwoman at large in Akron City.

I served as the fifth county council, fifth district both as vice president and president before I went for two times before I went to the Ohio Legislature now serving in the higher legislature.

- Congratulations.

- Yes.

- So you just mentioned Doctor Vernon Sykes.

Did you have any others who helped guide you along the way?

- I think, you know, again, I go back to my upbringing in the community that I lived in, you know, and the exposure of my parents.

You know, there are always women specifically in my life who may not have been living in the public view, but they were creating good space in their homes and in the communities that they lived.

And they were tenacious and they were focused.

And really women that... That I wanted to emulate, some part of their life.

And I think I bring all of those things with me, even now.

Did I have a mentor?

Not one.

But I will use that language around where there are people that I watched, I would say yes, both male and female that inspired what I am today.

I honestly believe that we are all born with a purpose.

I believe that we all are trees.

I believe that we all start from a seed and how we develop, how we flourish, whether we reach our full bloom, it’s contingent.

It’s contingent on where we're planted, the soil around us.

How we're watered, if we're watered.

And when those things do not happen in the way that they should, they can really tour our growth.

I have been blessed again to be planted in some good gardens.

I mean, I'd say even you, watching you and the way that you inspire and gesture in the world in which you operate, you know what I mean?

I really do count it a privilege to be here talking to you.

I've always admired you and I don't think I've ever hesitated just to say that.

And I think it's so, it's not any necessarily that people who have... Who have walked this journey before who said, hey, why don't you come along with me?

It was people who saw, you know, things that I didn't see.

Who... Who helped me along.

You know, I think of, you know, I think about those people who have walked them through journeys like, you know, like a Barbara Sykes.

Like a Linda Omobien.

Margo was kind of like, not— Well, yeah, she was before me, but, I mean, you know, to see people like, you know, to have a county executive that’s a woman who are breaking barriers.

I mean, there's just women all around us, but I have to say, too, but it hasn't again, been necessarily those people it's the every day people, every day people.

Who are passionate about what they are passionate about especially those who would dare look beyond their own immediate need to see the needs of other people.

I grew up in the— You know, I was a part of the community action movement, you know, the maximum feasible participation of the poor to make sure that we're not letting things happen to them, but that things are happening with them, that they have a voice in.

How do we move from this place of insufficiency to having enough.

- I like that, the voice.

And if you are just tuning in, we are talking to Representative Veronica Sims of Ohio House district 33 about her political journey.

So and being a voice for people, have you had any defining moments along your career that you felt like, I really made an impact for somebody who is voiceless?

- Oh yeah.

I think that's my whole life.

And, you know, I don't necessarily tally it.

I just know it when it's happening because it's happening every day, you know.

- Do you have any recent stories or?

- Just any, you know, I think the thing that... That probably tugs on my heart the most is when I can't get people, you know, the resources that they need.

Sometimes... There's one thing.

I think it's just being intentional to remember there are people who live differently than you.

Doesn't make them better than you and it doesn't make them less than you.

And to be sensitive enough to know, although it's not a prioritized need for you, it's a need for them and then it makes a difference in their lives.

I don't care whether it's, I need to get food or I need a letter of recommendation from someone or that my child is in the penitentiary.

They've been ill, I haven’t been— Trying to make those connections to bring a sense of, you know, I do see you.

I do represent you.

But I also have to add to their peace and their confidence and systems that sometimes, they're not as confident in.

To be able to play a role and represent that connection, you know, I think is priceless.

And going back again, I don't tally it.

It just happens every day.

- That's good to know.

What do you think people misunderstand most about the work that you do?

Or the work that public servants, politicians, everyone does?

- I think today, I think people assume a lot because social media is so much more plentiful.

Scuse me.

I think we underestimate what people understand.

Right?

They may not know all of the integral pieces that happen on a day to day, but they understand a lot more.

Do we need to do a lot more to help them better understand so that they're participants in the process?

Absolutely.

I think by and large, people are pretty informed.

Is it always the right resource?

No.

But they are trying because they want to know.

So, but I think sometimes they, they think that, you know, that Congress and, you know, the state legislators are saying, right?

So, you know, we'll get all kind of calls about federal government or I'm sure they get calls about us.

And so, I don’t... I think those are confusing things.

- What would you say to define that for people for today?

The U.S.

Congress and... You just reminded me that we have local, we have state and we have federal and just kind of lay those things out, so what happens— They almost mirror one another.

You know, we have a court system.

We have a we have it administrative system.

We have a legislative body at the local level which is your city councils, your mayor, or your township leaders, and then your court systems.

And those just trying to help them understand that that happens at every level of government.

- I think one of the things I always get confused about is which court can overturn another court?

And I'm like, well, what is that?

So.

- Yeah, that’s a job for some judge.

- Yeah, yeah.

But those are just some of the thoughts that I have sometimes I get confused about.

Okay, so what should young people know about navigating the political process and space if this is what they want to do?

- One of the things I want to say, I am so very inspired by this generation.

They know a lot.

What I believe for us all if we're going to really and truly make good public policy, we have to think more intergenerational.

You know?

People often ask me the question, what can I do if I don't want to run for public office?

I often respond by saying, grow where it is that you're planted.

It's enough, really.

And even if you're not seeking a public office, figure out how you can engage organizationally.

Please.

If you're not participating in an organization, do that.

One, it connects you to information and helps you to engage better around those things that are important to you.

So you don't feel the anxiety of not knowing.

Now, should you know of this whole thing?

I remember, Holy Spirit just sharing with me is, everything you need to know you can know if you're willing to do what it takes to know it.

But, everything you want to know is something that you need to know, right?

And so know the different, right?

Because it can be very, very stressful.

I'd say even if you're living in a community and you don't want to run for public office but, you’re a small business person.

I mean, engage in some of the legislative processes at the local level and at the state and federal level.

Attend city council, find out when you know certain committees are meeting and go there and learn.

And if you're anything, get a PTA, you know?

A membership, you know what I mean?

We all live in school districts.

Find that school that you want to do some support in their cluster and just get a membership and become a part of that.

That's good to know.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing our community today?

- There is I think often, a lingering sense of hopelessness or, when will things get better?

When will, you know, our material conditions, change.

But by the same token, I also see this hope that just rings eternal among every generation.

So I think there's a combination of those days where there's a lot of people feeling overwhelmed and not being able to really feel as if they can see their way forward.

But there's still an undergirding sense of hope I think that we really need to nurture so that it continues to spread.

- And then what would you hope your legacy would be when people look back at your journey?

- People talk about a legacy.

I really don't, you know, I've been so incredibly blessed.

I say this, I keep saying it because it's true.

And, you know, I've been married for 30 years.

I have a daughter and I have my first granddaughter.

I never really think about a legacy, you know, to me, because I don't, you know, I don't necessarily see myself as that kind of deal, right?

But if people... If there were things I want people to remember is that I really cared.

And that, you know, I wasn't afraid to speak truth.

Even... It cost to me if it was that important.

That no matter and I share with you the opportunities that I've had to matriculate through this whole elective official cycle that I stay connected to community.

And that meant something to me.

You know, what's evident in the work that I did.

- One last question.

Do you have any resources for people who want to get involved or for the youth that want to get involved?

I know you said the organizations, are there any other resources that they should be looking at?

- I think that we have to kind of flip the switch a little bit and, and stop having, you know, young people look for us and figure out how we look for them.

You know, there are a lot of incredible organizations, you know, and there's a lot of incredible opportunity to expose young people to, you know.

I was on the trail walk just the other day and just realized as a young person, I didn't even know these resources exist.

And I can only imagine how exposure can spark something in a young person that they didn't even know that's in there because that’s all part of the growth cycle.

That's a part of how you become who you are is the exposures that actually trigger something in you.

Really.

It's not we came here as as empty boxes with no purpose.

That's not true.

It's like prego I say.

It's like in there.

It just needs to be exposed to that connector that really sets a spark and to some small fire or a blaze.

And so just figuring out better ways of how not only that young people connect to us, but how we do a better job connecting to them.

- Thank you so much for your time.

- Thank you so much for having me.

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