"My heart beats for the people of DC and in my 17 years of service here I have a track record of caring and creating solutions.."
Why I'm Running
For too long I have heard the complaints and grumbles from everyday people in Washington DC. I hear other people talking about how financially stable the city is and how well we are doing. We are not well until the city works for everyone regardless of class, race, sex, and gender. I’m running to empower people to take their lives back and to create bridges to be a more equitable DC for everyone. This is our time, and we can’t wait for anyone else to save us. My heart beats for the people of DC and in my 17 years of service here I have a track record of caring and creating solutions. I talk to the people of DC every day, who are so smart and brilliant, and they know we need something new and fresh with a heart for the people.
I am Trayon White.
I am the people’s champ and this is Our DC.
My Story
LEGISLATIVE CHANGEMAKER
Trayon White, Sr. is the Ward 8 City Councilmember, a staunch community advocate, and a native Washingtonian.
In 2016, Trayon was elected as the Councilmember to the District of Columbia’s 8th Ward. He was re-elected in 2020 and serves as the Chairperson for the Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs.
As the Ward 8 representative, Trayon passed numerous bills to promote the health, safety, and economic mobility of every D.C. resident. Trayon pushed to maximize the operating subsidy for city-owned United Medical Center—currently the only hospital in Southeast, D.C.—securing an additional $3.1 million annually. In a signature measure of leadership, Trayon championed a successful campaign to bring a new state-of-the-art hospital and outpatient care facility to the defunct St. Elizabeths East campus in Ward 8. The new facility will expand access to critical health and specialty services previously inaccessible for local residents. Recognizing the urgency to protect aging citizens, Trayon procured $11.4 million for a new senior wellness facility and successfully lobbied for construction to be completed 2 years earlier than initially proposed. Trayon also helped to launch the Dream Grants Fund to increase opportunities for growth for Ward 7 and 8 small business owners, historically excluded from such opportunities readily available in other parts of the city.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it unprecedented challenges requiring urgent, thoughtful leadership. In response, Trayon delivered 41,000 hot meals to seniors from March-June 2020. He distributed masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer across Ward 8. He also ensured residents were well-informed by hosting virtual town halls and meetings as well as providing daily COVID-19 newsletters to the community.
COMMUNITY CHANGEMAKER
Prior to being elected to the Council, Trayon served twice as a representative to the State Board of Education for Ward 8.
Throughout his time as an elected official as well as in the years prior, Trayon has been an active leader and visible fixture in the Ward 8 community. In 2015, Trayon created Manpower, a nonprofit organization that provides leadership training to young men in Ward 8. In 2008, Trayon founded HICKS, Inc. (Helping Inner City Kids Succeed), a nonprofit which creates activities for youth development in some of Washington’s toughest neighborhoods. He served as Executive Director of the organization until recently. Additionally, Councilmember White continues to support and advise programs and activities that focus on career placement, character development, work ethic, life skill development, civic engagement, spiritual development, and critical thinking.
During his time at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where he graduated magna cum laude, Trayon found himself habitually drawn to serve the city in which he was raised. Trayon made weekly trips home to coach little league football at Boys & Girls Club No. 11 & FBR for at-risk youth. He was also heavily involved in the nonprofit, “East of the River Clergy, Police and Community Partnership,” which created a platform for youth violence intervention in the community.
In recognition of his dedication to service, Trayon was awarded the President Barack Obama Volunteer Service Award in 2010.
EARLY YEARS
Trayon was raised in Washington, D.C. by his devoted grandmother, Jean Ann Roberts; Uncle Ronell White; and mother, Sherita White-Kennedy. They instilled in him a commitment to the service of others—a value that has persisted as his north star.
Trayon is a proud graduate of Southeast, D.C.’s Frank W. Ballou Senior High School.
Proven Track Record
A few of my legislative highlights as the Councilmember of Ward 8 include:
- $22.1 million operating subsidy for the city-owned United Medical Center in Southeast. Councilmember Trayon White successfully pushed to add $3.1 million to the subsidy
- $12.1 million in violence prevention efforts; $12.9 in capital improvements to the Infrastructure Academy
- Invested $4.5 million in legal support for tenants facing eviction who cannot afford an attorney
- $26 million in grants for housing for domestic violence victims, sexual assault survivor services, healthy relationship education, and hospital-based violence prevention programming
- $11.4 million for a new Senior Wellness Facility, as well as an expedited construction timeline to finish construction in FY2021 instead of FY2023
- $500,000 for the Wards 7 and 8 Entrepreneurship Program through the Dream Grants Fund
- $19.2 million for the Congress Heights Recreation Center to make an intergenerational hub with special facilities (bowling, movie projector) for families
- $200,000 for a grant for a social work school and returning citizen “peer navigator” partnership to provide reentry support to returning citizens sentenced as teenagers and young adults and released after decades of incarceration
