My name is Katie Bansil. I’m an immigrant, a negotiator, and a fighter. I’ve sat across the table from powerful people, and I know how to make them pay their fair share so working families can have a shot at a decent life.
My father immigrated from the Philippines to Woodbridge, NJ when I was eight years old, hoping to make a better life for our family, and my mom and I followed in the early 2000s. When I got to Rutgers at 15, I used that world-class public education to study Economics, Communication, and Finance. I went on to get my master's at Harvard University, where I focused on sustainability and the pathways to building a more resilient future. I built a career in corporate finance and was proud to provide stability for my family. But when I got into positions of leadership, I saw levels of greed and corruption that no sane person could ignore. For millions of Americans, the dream of a decent life that my family chased has become an inescapable nightmare of constant struggle. In the richest nation in the history of the world, it doesn’t have to be this way.
These companies and their billionaire CEOs love to boast about record-high stock prices and revenues. But when they’re asked to cover high quality healthcare, pay their workers a living wage, or mitigate their carbon emissions, they act like they’re on the brink of bankruptcy. I’ve dealt with oligarchs directly. I’m not afraid to force them to pay up. And I believe we have a moral obligation to do so. At a time when young people are struggling to find good jobs and affordable homes, when parents have to compromise so much to afford childcare, and when our seniors are watching the Social Security and Medicare they worked so hard for in their careers continue to shrink, we need leaders who are prepared to fight.
It's time to fight for New Jersey, not the oligarchs.
