About Me

My name is Celida Soto. My friends call me Celi! I’m running to represent you in District 8. 

I moved to Birmingham after graduating college to create a greater sense of family and community for my two sons. Moving to Birmingham was the best decision I ever made.

After nearly two decades of working alongside our neighbors, listening and learning from their lived experiences, and struggling with them, we’ve learned that too often our priorities are ignored by the same officials that we work tirelessly to get elected into office, and this is unacceptable. 

Now is the time to put people over profits. Our focus must be in building access to nutritious foods. It must be in creating permanent affordable housing homeownership in our communities, emboldening our neighborhood associations, activating true public safety in our communities, and nurturing spaces for our most cherished residents, our youth and our elders. I hope you’ll join me in creating a safe, healthy, and equitable environment that prioritizes the visions and voices of District 8.

Celi Soto is a resident and homeowner in the Bush Hills Neighborhood, community development professional with over two decades of leadership experience, and an active leader in her community. 

Celi’s current affiliations include:

Hunger Advocacy Coordinator, Alabama Arise

Board President, SWEET Alabama

Board Member, Dynamite Hill-Smithfield Community Land Trust

Co-Founder, People’s Budget Birmingham

Co-Founder, Westside Blessing Day

Previous affiliations include:

Educational Liaison, UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center (MHRC)

Organized Bessemer Coalition and Fountain Heights Coalition while working for MHRC

Alabama Rally Against Injustice

Served on the Mayor’s 2018 Social Justice Transition Team

Division of Youth and Family Services, Department of Human Resources

Social Security Administration

Founded Puente, Inc.

U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce