California
About This Hub
States, as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis observed are, “the laboratories of democracy.”
How each state formulates or articulates its idea of Democracy is dependent on its citizens and their politics. Over the last thirty years California has gone from a state of rich political discourse to a near one-party state that punishes dissent even within its ruling party.
AF and its presence in California are vital for restoring space for broad discussions, for opening up discourse and dissenting voices, encouraging civil society, and for once again giving space to the state to experiment with its democracy and not have it dictated to the people.
We do this by big tent organizing among young professionals and community organizations, in advocating for lowering barriers to entrepreneurship, building critical infrastructure to guard our state, and working to advance greater guarantees of our individual liberties.
And with your support, we can better do this, building partnership, providing space for discussion, and growing our movement across the state.
If you live in California and believe in the power of freedom to improve the lives of you and your communities, we’d love to have you join us! The AF-California Hub is a community and network for individuals who believe in the power of liberty, entrepreneurship, and innovation to promote positive social change.Sign up here for more info on future updates and events!
Upcoming Events
AF-California: LA Toy Drive and Happy Hour
Celebrate the season with your friends at AF-California. Our happy hour will feature the chance to mingle with friends old and new. Light appetizers will be served. Attendees who bring...
AF-California: Sacramento Toy Drive and Happy Hour
Celebrate the season with your friends at AF-California. Our happy hour will feature the chance to mingle with friends old and new. Light appetizers will be served. Attendees who bring...
Past Events
AF-California: International Day of Democracy Breakfast
Join your friends at AF-California for a bagel brunch celebrating the International Day of Democracy! As we enjoy a spread of locally-made bagels, spreads, and juices, we'll hear from featured...
AF-California: Climate Resilience in the American West Talk
Join us for an insightful virtual discussion on the critical issue of land use management in the American West, focusing on improving public lands and mitigating the increasingly disastrous wildfires...
AF-California: Screening of Good Fire, Bad Fire
Join us for an early evening gathering where we'll be screening the impactful short film Good Fire, Bad Fire recently put out by the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC)....
Hub Director
Aaron White
Aaron Castillo-White is the Acting Hub Director of AF-California. He is a Los Angeles-based consultant and Founding Executive Director of Kultur Mercado, an organization working to advance liberty and democracy through its diversity. He has worked in policy, fundraising, and programming across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Aaron holds bachelor's degrees in Politics and Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz where he founded Slugs for Liberty, and a Master's in Environmental Policy from Tel Aviv University. In his free time, he can be found translating from Yiddish or Spanish, making art with his wife or, out with friends at a park or trail.
Hub Leadership
Hannah Henriksen
Hannah Henriksen is the Hub Coordinator for AF-California, and the President of Respect America. She came into the liberty world by accident but now couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else. She has her Bachelor of Science from Texas Tech University and MBA from William Jessup University. When not working, she reads, plays video games, and goes on walks with her boyfriend and 2 dogs.