Long Beach School Board Member Erik Miller Announces His Re-Election Campaign for Area 2
Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Board Member Erik Miller announces his re-election campaign to continue representing Area 2. Mr. Miller was first elected to the board in 2020 and is seeking a second 4-year term. He brings nearly two decades of experience in the private and non-profit sectors to the local governing school board.
“My family is like a lot of families in Long Beach: fun-loving, close knit and working class. I am running for re-election because I want all students to have what I had as a child: schools with caring adults who attentively help them achieve their goals,” stated Long Beach School Board Erik Miller. “Our school district has a strong graduation rate, however many of our students still struggle with challenges at home and in our neighborhoods, which inevitably effect their ability to focus and succeed in the classroom. This is why I want to continue my work on the school board, in order to ensure our schools are high quality learning environments for all of our children.”
During Board Member Miller’s first term on the Board of Education, he championed the Black Student Achievement Initiative to combat the academic achievement gap between Black students and their peers, led the adoption of the school district’s innovative Environmental Sustainability policy, supported the revival of LBUSD’s Camp High Hill outdoor education camp for fifth graders, and worked for the passage of the $1.7 billion health, safety and student achievement bond measure in November 2022.
Erik Miller was born and raised in Long Beach. He is the son of Navy Veteran, Gilbert Miller, and Verizon Account Representative, Penny Jones-Miller. The former All-Moore League Football Player graduated from LBUSD and went on to be the first in his family to go to college, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Woodbury University.
Professionally, School Board Member Miller began his career as an Architectural Designer. After four years in the architecture field, he transitioned his project management skills to a career in the non-profit sector. For the past 14 years he has managed multiple nonprofit organizations around causes like: education, workforce development, homelessness, veteran’s affairs, and serving people with disabilities. Erik is most proud of the 6 years he spent at Operation Jumpstart where he helped low-resourced, first-generation students from west, central, and north Long Beach “Get in, Stay In, and Graduate” from four-year universities. He formerly served as the Executive Director of U.S. VETS Long Beach, a national non-profit organization that provides housing, employment opportunities and health services to homeless veterans. Erik currently works as the Executive Director of the Rancho Los Amigos Foundation in Downey, CA.
As a product of LBUSD and the parent of a district student, Erik has a personal interest in the preservation and improvement of our public educational system.
A partial list of Board Member Miller’s re-election endorsements includes the following:
· Robert Garcia – US Congressman
· Lena Gonzalez – State Senator
· Rex Richardson – Long Beach Mayor
· Cindy Allen – Long Beach Vice Mayor
· Mary Zendejas – Long Beach Councilwoman
· Dr. Joni Ricks-Oddie – Long Beach Councilwoman
· Dr. Suely Saro – Long Beach Councilwoman
· Al Austin – Long Beach Councilmember
· Diana Craighead – Chair, Long Beach Unified School Board
· Doug Otto – Vice Chair, Long Beach Unified School Board member
· Dr. Juan Benitez – Long Beach Unified School Board member
· Herlinda Chico – President, Long Beach Community College District Board
· Vivian Malauulu – Vice President, Long Beach Community College District Board
· Uduak-Joe Ntuk – Trustee, Long Beach Community College District Board
The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has earned a national and international reputation as one of America’s finest school systems. LBUSD is the fourth largest school district in California with more than 65,000 students. The LBUSD School Board Area 2 includes portions of West Long Beach, Central Long Beach and the City of Signal Hill. It includes eighteen different school campuses, including Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and Long Beach Polytechnic High Schools. Board member Miller is seeking his second term on the LBUSD School Board. The election will take place on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
To learn more about Erik Miller’s re-election campaign, visit: www.erikmillerlbusd.com
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About Erik Miller
Erik Miller is a member of the Long Beach Unified School District school board representing Area 2.
Since 2022, Board Member Miller has been the Executive Director of the Rancho Los Amigos Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that raises funds for programs, services and equipment to support the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center patients and their families. The Foundation’s mission is to help pediatric and adult patients, whose lives have been forever changed through disabling injuries or illnesses, experience the Restoration of Health, the Rebuilding of Lives, and the Revitalization of Hope. He formerly served as the Executive Director of U.S. VETS Long Beach, a national initiative that provides housing, employment opportunities and health services to homeless veterans. US VETS Long Beach is a multi-million-dollar nonprofit that serves over 5,000 people annually, the Long Beach site is the largest homeless veteran housing facility on the west coast.
Erik began his career as an Architectural Designer with Steinberg Architects in Los Angeles where he learned to manage major construction projects and work with large budgets. He took these project management skills to the non-profit sector 12 years ago where he started as a Director of Operation Jumpstart, a Long Beach based mentoring organization focused on mentoring and education. From 2017-2020, he also served as the Executive Director of PVJOBS, a non-profit which works to place at-risk and disadvantaged youth, adults, and veterans in career-track employment opportunities in the construction and other high road industries. In response to the gang and gun violence crisis in Central and West Long Beach, Erik joined the Long Beach GRIP (Gang Reduction Intervention and Prevention) Taskforce where he served as Chairman from 2012-2014. As the chair, Erik worked to implement a federal grant focused on youth programs that have reduced violence throughout the City of Long Beach.
Erik lives in the Cal Heights neighborhood of Long Beach with his wife, Rachel, and their daughter, who attends kindergarten in the Long Beach Unified School District.
Established in 1885 with fewer than a dozen students meeting in a borrowed tent, LBUSD now educates more than 65,000 students in 84 public schools located in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, and Avalon on Catalina Island. With a team of more than 12,000 full-time and part-time employees, the school district is the largest employer in Long Beach. The fourth largest school district in California, LBUSD serves one of the most diverse large cities in the United States, and dozens of languages are spoken by local students.
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Authorized by Erik Miller for School Board 2024, FPPC ID #1416452
249 E. Ocean Blvd. Suite 814
Long Beach, CA 90802
Phone: (562) 485-9894
Email: teamerikmiller4lbusd@gmail.com
