Kevin Acebo Named 2021 Trailblazer

Kevin M. Acebo is President and Owner of Acebo and Associates, a consulting company focused on strategic public policy advice and representation for corporate and public clients on matters before local, state and federal governments. Acebo and Associates also provides strategic political campaign advice to state and local candidates as well as local ballot initiatives.

Prior to establishing Acebo and Associates, Kevin’s 30+ year public service career included:   Deputy Mayor for the City of Los Angeles; Statewide Political Director for the California Democratic Party; Assistant Chief of Staff for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky; Principal Legislative Consultant for California Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown, Jr; and, Campaign Consultant for the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee.  Kevin also was elected as President of the Los Angeles Asian Democratic Caucus and State Chair of the California State Democratic Party’s Asian Pacific Caucus.

Kevin also served in Washington, DC, as research assistant for both the White House Commission on the Review of the Federal Impact Aid Program and the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.  Returning to Los Angeles from the Nation’s capitol Kevin worked as a budget and program planner for the United Way of Los Angeles.

Acebo’s public service career started with two Los Angeles area Asian Pacific American community-based, non-profit organizations:  Youth Counselor for Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, Inc. (SIPA), and as a social work fellow with the Asian American Mental Health Training Center mentoring under the legendary Pilipino American community leader, Alfred Mendoza, Jr.

Kevin served twice — in 2001 and 2011 — as Chair and a General Member of the Los Angeles County Boundary Review Committee, a public member body charged with gathering public testimony, implementing an extensive community outreach effort and developing redistricting recommendations for each of the offices of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with each district representing close to 2 million residents. He also served as a consultant to the 1990 reapportionment of California’s congressional and legislative districts.

Today, Acebo sits as a Member of the Los Angeles Commission on Mental Health, responsible for advising the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Director of the Department of Mental Health on various aspects of local mental health programs.

Kevin Acebo also is a Principal Officer the American Opportunity Fund Political Action Committee, supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) candidates and candidates who representative the voices of the AAPI community; Votamos, Inc., a non-profit voter registration and education 501(c)3 organization targeting California Latino, Asian, and  Pacific Islander communities; and, the Asian American Victory Political Action Committee PAC, a non-partisan PAC to support AAPI candidates for running for state and local office in California and candidates who represent the needs and issues of the AAPI community.

Kevin graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California’s School of Pubic Affairs and returned during his tenure as Los Angeles City Deputy Mayor as an Assistant Adjunct Professor.