Meet Our New Officers

PRESIDENT
Michael Avant is a Patient Transporter from UCSD.
Michael was born and raised in East St Louis, Illinois. He comes from a long and strong line of union fighters. Both his parents were in unions. In 1990, he and his family moved from East St. Louis to San Diego, California and he’s lived there ever since. He’s a proud father of six — in whom he hopes to instill the importance of community and standing up for what is right. Living so close to the border, Michael enjoys Mexican culture and has picked up some Spanish.  He hopes to continue to lead our union forward and continue to tear down the ceiling of what’s considered possible for workers to achieve.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Kathryn Lybarger is a Gardener from UCB. 
Kathryn took her first union job at San Francisco State University in 1999, and has been a gardener at UC Berkeley since 2001. She is the daughter of a unionized civil servant and a unionized public health nurse, Lybarger learned the importance of leading by example in the fight for working families at an early age and has not stopped since. In 2011 Lybarger was elected President of 3299 and in 2023 has stepped into the role of VP as she prepares to run for State Senate in District 7!

SECRETARY-TREASURER
Monica De Leon is a HUSC III at UCI.
Monica is AFSCME 3299’s Treasurer. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, but moved to Orange County at the age of 21. She was raised in a single-parent household because her father, who is Guatemalan, was deported when she was ten years old. She and her mom had no other choice but to begin a new life. It wasn’t until she was 25 that she once again was reintroduced to her father and began rebuilding their relationship. She is a proud Mexican-Guatemalan mother of two children and a cute chihuahua named Peanut. For her being a leader of our union means staying grounded and connected to the members. And most importantly, she will take a selfie with you if you come up and say hi.