Rising Stars: Loyal Terry, Assembly Fellow, office of Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

Loyal Terry, Assembly Fellow for Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), attends our virtual interview adorned in a cowboy hat and a green tie with bandana designs, sporting his own twist to country attire as he prepares for Ag Day at the Capitol. For Terry, authenticity is key.

In his work, Terry takes inspiration from the lived experiences of his late father, his aunts and uncles, and himself. Terry approaches policy from a holistic perspective, having experienced how housing, transportation, health, and more intersect to impact working-class people.

“Public service is not just intellectually stimulating for me; it’s based on lived experience that I still go through today,” says Terry. “Even just in the time that I was here, I’ve been housing insecure. Some people in the building and even the Majority Leader herself are supporting me, even bringing more food into the office for me.”

Terry struggles to pinpoint one place to call home, as he faced homelessness for much of his youth. Instead, he feels connected to the broader community of Los Angeles.

“I remember being in a motel room, sharing a kids’ cuisine with my siblings, not knowing when I would see my parents or when they would come back home,” says Terry. “I consider LA my home all together, because I have different friends and chosen family throughout the city.”

Terry’s uncle, whom he considers a father figure, served as a role model for Terry during his adolescence. Just after Terry completed fifth grade, his uncle passed away. Terry’s uncle still serves as a guiding light for him, a shining example of a public servant.

“That was a man that till his dying day showed me unconditional love, and showed me what it meant to care about someone who is not your blood and want the best for them, knowing that you may never receive the benefits yourself,” says Terry. “I take that with me every day to work and choose to work for people that I feel best represent that as well.”

By high school, Terry taught himself how to tie a tie and how to shave, along with various other essential skills. He attended Harvard-Westlake, one of the top high schools in California, on a football scholarship, where he was finally able to focus on his academics and his passions. Because he was preoccupied with moves, familial losses, and caring for his siblings, he did not discover that he had learning disabilities until midway through high school.

Terry struggles to pinpoint one place to call home, as he faced homelessness for much of his youth. Instead, he feels connected to the broader community of Los Angeles.

“I didn’t know I was reading in the 13th percentile,” says Terry. “But I knew I could speak. I knew I could contribute in the classroom with the ideas that I had.”

And contribute he did. Terry served as class prefect his senior year and planned to attend a Division I college for football, but breaking three bones in his left foot at the beginning of the season derailed this trajectory.

Undeterred, Terry welcomed Iowa’s Grinnell College as a new and different environment, where he continued to play football as he grew increasingly involved in public service. He worked in LA City Council President Paul Krekorian’s office and in Rep. Adam Schiff’s office (D-Burbank), and he served as President of Grinnell’s Student Government Association.

This accumulation of experience was put to test for Terry when his friend faced a racially motivated death threat. This incident sparked a surge of explicit racism in Grinnell, Iowa, and it galvanized Terry to unite with other students to form a mutual aid fund for Black students on campus.

Anne Harris, President of Grinnell College, commends Terry’s initiative. “His leadership while a student here at Grinnell was transformational in building coalitions and partnerships both on campus and off,” says Harris. “He asks penetrating questions, listens closely, researches deeply, imagines solutions, inspires commitment, collaborates to identify and build the best path forward, and takes action—always for the greater good.”

The following summer, Terry worked in Vice President Kamala Harris’s office, where he was part of a team that was more diverse than most he’s encountered in the state legislature. All three of his supervisors were Black women, but he was one of the only Black men in that space. Unfortunately, this is something of a norm for Terry, and even now he is the only Black man across the Sacramento fellowship programs.

With the burden of representation on his shoulders, Terry strives to maintain his authenticity. A good example came during a brief conversation he has with President Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients, in which he asked Zients if he had ever tried the legendary L.A. soul food restaurant Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles.

“That was a question I wanted to ask him not because I didn’t value his policy experience, but because I refuse to code switch within these spaces,” says Terry. “I’m a Black man with locks and a nose ring, and if I’m going to tell my sisters that they can be whatever they want to be and dress however they want to dress, and the value of their words will carry, knowing damn well that it’s going to be more difficult for them, then I cannot switch in those spaces.”

Now, at 23, Terry staffs the Majority Leader on public safety, agriculture, health and human services, and more. He monitors the bill vetting process, makes recommendations to the Leader, and has successfully pitched projects to the Leader such as a public recognition of Black farmers and wineries in California and policy which would expedite mental health services for high risk youth.

Terry also pitched AB 2237, which would provide continued mental health services for vulnerable youth when moving across county lines. This bill passed on April 9.

“I was that high risk youth, moving across counties,” says Terry. “As a fellow, I have been able to help pitch and work on the implementation of sound policy that will help so many people throughout the state, people like me, people like you.”

Terry also uses food as a means for community involvement. Food allows Terry to connect with people and to learn stories of food-service employees, which often go unheard.

“How many people take the time out of their day to ask them where they’re from, hear their story, and understand how they opened a restaurant against all odds in the capital community?” says Terry. “I’m no different from them. The only difference is someone invested in me in a different capacity.”

Terry discusses the privileges of being invested in as a young Black staffer, and he criticizes the fact that most successful young staffers have entered the building via the fellowship program.

“As California changes, not just the legislature, but the staff should be a reflection of the people we serve,” says Terry. “Most young Black staff aren’t able to enter in this way and stay here. We have people with master’s degrees in this program, which is great, but it’s not going to be a pipeline that gets people like the people that we serve into the building.”

Despite his career victories, Terry faces ongoing financial challenges and housing insecurity. Accepting the Assembly Fellows program meant sacrificing the opportunity for a higher-paying job, but serving California constituents and supporting his family was paramount.

“As a fellow, I have been able to help pitch and work on the implementation of sound policy that will help so many people throughout the state, people like me, people like you.”

Terry is a living example that the stereotypes many hold about housing insecurity are often unrealistic. “What if you try to go down the right path your whole life and you keep getting thrown curveballs, just by the nature of your existence?” he questions.

John Ferrera, Aguiar-Curry’s Chief of Staff, applauds Terry’s resilience as a staffer. “He’s one of the most gregarious and curious staffers I’ve ever seen,” says Ferrera. “He’s got a lot going on in his personal life and he’s still constantly wearing a smile, being positive and showing a hunger to learn.”

Before college, Terry promised himself that he would take his time and complete his undergraduate degree before returning to California to support his family. Unfortunately, fulfilling this promise has proved challenging, as in recent months, Terry has met siblings that he did not know existed, his biological mother was hospitalized, and his aunt was diagnosed with cancer.

“I’ve always been someone to try and put food on other people’s plate before I put food on mine,” says Terry. “I’m trying to continue to hustle, but it does get exhausting when you come here and you’re trying to do things the right way as an entry level fellow and running into continuous financial blockades, when I’m just asking to survive. Trying to do that has even become difficult.”

In navigating these challenges, Terry identifies therapy, community-building, and self-investment as his most important coping strategies. He jokes that he has better emotional literacy than most men. Terry never forgets his background and what brought him to Sacramento, and he encourages others to do the same.

“Remember your why,” Terry says. “People in this building can get jaded. For those few people that are able to keep that light and keep that perspective, you can see it in their work because they attack the day with the same energy every day. And that doesn’t mean being perfect every day, but just getting yourself up in the morning, going in with the best intentions and a willingness to learn has been something that’s helped me a lot.”

As for the future, Terry says that he would feel fortunate to stay in Aguiar-Curry’s office, but that he’s also been tapped by some organizations to run for down-ballot races. As long as he can continue to get his hands dirty in the work of supporting the working class, Terry remains fulfilled.

Peter Hanson, a mentor of Terry’s and a professor at Grinnell College, believes Terry has an impressive career ahead of him.

“He is squarely focused on trying to build a community that is more equitable and just, and in his very short time working in the Legislature, he has already been able to make progress toward those goals. California is extraordinarily lucky to have someone like him working in the Legislature,” Hanson says.