Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1544915
Maya Suzuki Daniels CTA PEACE AND JUSTICE HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD Maya Suzuki Daniels is a 10th grade English and AP Language teacher at San Pedro High School and an educator, orga- nizer and leader whose work bridges the classroom, the union movement and the broader community. A member of United Teachers Los Angeles, Suzuki Daniels is recognized for her ability to inspire educators and students to pursue equity, justice and democratic participation. Her workshops at conferences and professional gatherings are known for being thoughtful, engaging and action-ori- ented, leaving participants with new understanding, practical resources and concrete strategies for organizing. Through creative and accessible approaches — such as using The Wave as a metaphor for collective organizing — she helps educators see how grassroots leadership can create mean- ingful impact. In the classroom, she encourages critical thinking and civic engagement, guiding students through discussions about social issues such as race, class, gender and immigra- tion across historical contexts. She structures her classroom to empower students to lead these conversations and sup- ports them as they develop the confidence and skills needed to engage with difficult topics in the world. Suzuki Daniels is the founding advisor of San Pedro High's Students Deserve chapter, where she supports students in organizing and advocacy. Students Deserve student leaders have spoken at events including a citywide "We Can't Wait" rally and a UTLA leadership conference. She has also helped organize youth-centered events, including a May Day art workshop and student panel exploring the intersections between Palestinian liberation and policing in Los Angeles. Beyond the classroom, Suzuki Daniels continues to build educator and community power. She was a founding orga- nizer of the Educator Defense Network, which supports educators facing harassment for their activism. In 2025, she co-founded the Harbor Area Peace Patrols, which organized daily community patrols throughout San Pedro, Wilmington and the Port of Los Angeles; these patrols con- tributed to ICE agents leaving their Terminal Island staging ground in early 2026. Through her leadership, Suzuki Daniels exemplifies the role educators can play as advocates for justice, solidarity and community empowerment. Robyn Lee Nixon HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD FOR LGBTQ+ ADVOCACY IN HONOR OF NANCY BAILEY Robyn Lee Nixon has been a tireless advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion as an educator and at every level of union leader- ship. Within the Capistrano Unified Education Association (CUEA), Nixon has served as a site representative, chap- ter treasurer for four years, alternate CTA State Council representative, and now as a State Council delegate for the past eight years. She led an initiative to train CUEA educators through an LGBTQ+ awareness day, helping make Capistrano Unified one of the first districts to adopt a non-discrimination policy protecting students and educators based on gender identity and expression. In 2013, she created an LGBTQ+ training conference at the local level, designed to build and mentor current and pro- spective LGBTQ+ members of CTA and CUEA. Nixon has represented CTA at the NEA Representative Assembly every year (save one) since 2016. As a member of State Council's Civil Rights in Education subcommittee, she authored a successful initiative that led the CTA president and executive committee to formally advocate for non-bi- nary and transgender educators through NEA to President Donald Trump in 2019. As co-chair of CTA's SOGIIAC (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Advisory Committee), she advocated for the creation of a transgender transition employment guidebook, laying the groundwork for its publication two years later in 2021. 33 S P R I N G 2 0 26