Candidates for FDP Chair
Carolina Ampudia
Biography
Carolina Ampudia, M.D., is the Immediate past President and current Chair of the legislative committee of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida. She has been tracking legislation since 2018 for her union and local DPCF chapter and since 2019 for the state caucus. She moderates discussion in the Florida Democratic legislative priorities, trains democrats from different groups inside and outside the party, informs members and the entire democratic community, and organizes responses with elected officials and the people at large.
Carolina is a U.S. naturalized doctor born in Quito – Ecuador, and obtained her medical degree in Mexico. Professionally, she contributed to clinical research locally at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the state and received recognition for her “Outstanding Performance.” She currently works at a cancer hospital in early drug development. During the first 10 years after moving to the United States, Carolina also taught premedical sciences as an adjunct for Broward College. There, she led the formation of the adjunct faculty union and became a leader for adjunct professors statewide. Elected by her peers, she was the “Point-Person” in bargaining for their first contract. This battle for fair pay, better working conditions, job security, and dignity continues today. This unionization drive at BC led her to become a labor organizer for a few years. Her team’s work helped pass Amendment 2, raising the State’s minimum wage and demonstrating that campaigning on progressive issues is how we connect to the people.
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the organizing challenges it represented, she joined the groups turning these into opportunities to build with social media and other technology. With those, she participated in organizing campaigns remotely in Florida, Texas, Georgia, and West Virginia. Her experience with the most impoverished workers in the State and the country continues to shape her activism work, and she brings their perspective and the urgency of their issues.
Dr. Ampudia has training in leadership development, Bargaining for the Common Good, campaign development, public narrative, parliamentary procedure, and bylaws.
In her political and community role, Dr. Ampudia was president of the Broward PDA chapter, SE Florida Coordinator for PDA, VP for People for Democratic Party Reform, a board member in the Democratic Labor Caucus of South Florida, and a member of the steering committee that started the Broward Chapter of DSA. She now sits on the advisory board of the Florida Poor People’s Campaign, Labor Community Alliance of South Florida, and other state and national groups. With friends, founded the “Healthcare is an Act of Love,” the informal organization linked to 4 out of the 5 Democratic congressional cosponsorships for the new Medicare for All bill—the only 4 in the entire State!
Carolina infuses integrity, formality, professionalism, passion, and commitment into all her work; she adds the knowledge and strength of the voices and views of the community she has served for a long time –the working class, especially the poor and marginalized. Dr. Ampudia’s goals include broadening the ideology inclusion in the Florida Democratic Party, challenging us to look forward, evolve, invest and boost all voices. Her plans include ways to keep the party solvent in a participatory, grassroots environment so we can keep our values intact. As an advocate of the little d democracy, Carolina will boost shared governance, intra-party communications, and membership empowerment. Transforming the FDP into an organization that serves all democrats and the community, identifying and uplifting leaders already working on the issues that matter to everyday people, and bringing about change and opportunities for progress for all.
