NYC

Operations Manager, Communications and Government Relations

PHYSICIAN AFFILIATE GROUP OF NEW YORK

Rachel Kagan’s interest in politics began as an intern in state Sen. Liz Krueger’s office in high school. It was during her first summer working in her office that then-Gov. George Pataki vetoed a bill that would have raised the minimum wage in New York – a veto that the state Senate later overruled. To Kagan, the experience vividly illustrated the importance of state and local politics.

“I love the idea that even when big change happens on the national level, it’s always up to the states and localities to really implement that change,” Kagan said.

Kagan went on to work in the state Senate and the state attorney general’s office before attending law school. She eventually worked in the New York City Council, where she helped support and craft criminal justice legislation, such as exploring nonmonetary forms of bail.

Now at Physician Affiliate Group of New York, Kagan ensures that doctors and health care professionals employed at New York City’s public hospitals through the organization get the support they need to continue to aid patients.

“Throughout it all, I’ve done a lot of criminal justice, a lot of economic justice, and I think of my role here as being an extension of that because of the people that we serve,” she says. “There’s so much work that I’ve done in the past that is relevant to assisting vulnerable communities that our hospitals and providers are working to help.” – K.D.

DEANDRA KHAN

Political Coordinator

32BJ SEIU

Deandra Khan learned the value of work and fighting against subpar working conditions by watching her parents toil long hours for meager wages.

“My opinions on labor were shaped by seeing my parents come to this country with barely any money, no real plan – they worked their asses off,” Khan says.

Khan’s family immigrated to Richmond Hill from Trinidad in 1991 and later moved to Bellerose. Her father was a building engineer, and her mother worked as a patternmaker and technical designer.

After graduating from Townsend Harris High School in Queens – which she described as a “school for nerds” where she learned how to think critically – Khan attended Hunter College just in time to hold a degree during the Great Recession. “I really wanted a job after Hunter but had a very rude awakening,” Khan says.

She then got her master’s in social work at Hunter and landed at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she helped teenagers stage a die-in on Staten Island to protest the police killing of Eric Garner.

The work was rewarding, but Khan wanted to tackle issues underlying poverty. Soon, she joined 32BJ SEIU and its efforts to help airport workers get health insurance. The urgency of the pandemic helped get the bill signed into law on New Year’s Eve 2020. Her efforts even spurred her father to join a union, giving them an opportunity to talk shop more often.

“I only wish they had that experience much sooner,” Khan says. “To be part of a union is to be part of a family.” – A.S.