A researcher and community organizer at  CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy), a professional activist in political affairs, a Foothill alumni, a UC Berkeley graduate with a degree in Political Economy, and only 24 years old, Lucas Zucker is working hard to make a difference in the community.

As a professional activist and politics enthusiast, Zucker aims to help youth get involved in politics and reach their true potential. California is the lowest funded state for education, which makes it harder for students to pay for school, or get the best quality of education.

“The government can improve regarding youth’s lives by focusing on funding education, especially after years of budget cuts and rocketing tuitions,” Zucker said.

The path that led Zucker to who he is now began when he was invited to speak for a budget cuts rally and represent Foothill. After that, he was asked to speak at the Ventura County Democratic Party fundraiser, where he was recognized by many individuals and asked to work at a summer job. He then worked on a campaign to stop WalMart from opening in Ventura, remaining active in political affairs. Zucker also stayed involved in activism throughout college. Later in his life, many opportunities opened up to him, helping him make the impact on community that he is continuing to make today.

Zucker is now a researcher and community organizer at  CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy), and first volunteered for CAUSE in 8th grade.  

“I didn’t have much interaction with the organization for a while after that, but then my first summer back from college it was when the recession had just hit and it was impossible to find a paid job,” Zucker said. “So I thought ‘At least I can do an intern job,’ so I interned for CAUSE and then a couple of years later, CAUSE really expanded their internship program […] and they asked me to come back and do paid work, actually working to run their internship program […] and they liked the work I did that summer, and asked me to come on staff after I graduated, so here I am.”

Zucker has a blog named It Bends Toward Justice, which he started after he graduated college, where he writes about social movements for political change, electoral politics, and community organizing. He says that it is especially aimed at young people involved in activism or in a non-profit work.

Zucker has written a lot about nonprofits and community organizing, elections, and community service versus activism.

“I think a lot of people, after they graduate college, start their first jobs, and feel like they no longer have that kind of intellectual stimulation, not doing as much reading and writing, and I think that’s what makes most people want to go back to graduate school, but for me this [blog] was a way for me to still express that side of me, but also write in a more creative way.” Zucker explained.

Zucker, a 2008 Foothill graduate, expressed that his experience at Foothill had also helped him in achieving his goals and influenced him.

“There’s a great, kind of civic, education here. I mean, there is a great government teacher, and I think PAAC is a great club to get students involved in, so there’s a lot of opportunities here to get involved politically and obviously it’s just a really excellent school academically, so that helped me out as well,” he said. “But I would say that kind of intellectual and academic environment, where a lot of students are really involved definitely influenced me to be where I am right now.”

Honors world history, AP government & economics, and U.S. history teacher Cherie Eulau described Zucker’s work habits when he was her student.

“Oh my gosh, he was amazing. I could count on him to participate in everything. He was Robespierre and led the trial of King Louie his sophomore year and his senior year, he was one of the candidates for presidential elections and he was just amazing,” she said. “And he got our department social studies award for that year.”

Zucker was also one of the first members of PAAC and the president of the club for two years, and believes that PAAC helped him achieve his impact in the community.

“Literally, my entire job opportunities started from PAAC. Because I was the president of PAAC, I was asked to speak at the budget cuts rally to represent Foothill and then, from there was where I got my first actual political job, where I was paid to do political work.” Zucker said. “It’s like once you  kind of get rolling on your career it’s like one thing leads to another, to another as long as you’re actually able to seize those opportunities, but having those first few opportunities in your life is so important.”

On February 28, Zucker gave a lecture to  PAAC (Political Action and Awareness Club) members on how to really make a difference in the community, and how to achieve their goals, like he did.

“He’s passionate, which I think is a great personality trait. He’s also kind and while his passion has his own point of view, he’s still open-minded, he’s a fabulous speaker, he has a great sense of humor which I think goes a long way and  you know, if he’s giving a presentation, and I’ve heard him give many, he’s always appropriate,” Eulau said. “It’s fun, it moves along, he has a funny anecdote, but he also gets across his passion and point of view as well.”

Work, especially nonprofit work, can sometimes get tedious or tiring, but Zucker explained what made it worth it for him.

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Zucker’s former AP U.S. history and AP English teacher Richard Geib said, “By looking deep and trying to understand exactly what their beliefs are and working hard to go ahead and make real the vision they have of themselves in the future, students could reach their goals like Zucker did.”

 Zucker expressed his thoughts about how youth could unleash their potential, be involved politically, and make a difference.

“I think sometimes its hard to get involved in the big, national stuff and actually have a meaningful role, but you would be surprised at how much meaningful work and real leadership you can take on when you start at the local level and get involved in issues just here in the city of Ventura,” he said.