Jaylen Cavil

Jaylen (he/him) is a community organizer and activist running for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 36. Jaylen’s commitment to social change includes working for various political campaigns, providing resources to underserved and marginalized community members through non-profit work, and leading the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement’s Advocacy team, which focuses on issues impacting Black Iowans at the local and state level.

Jaylen’s activism has taken shape on the ground at protests with community members as well as in the Iowa Statehouse advocating to lawmakers. At the capitol, Jaylen has pushed for legislation that would improve the quality of life for all residents, especially Black Iowans and other racial groups and marginalized people. Jaylen has spent his time advocating for increases in legislative support for public education, cannabis legalization, reproductive justice and is a strong advocate on decriminalization to better address the direct and basic needs of community members.

Jaylen, alongside community activists, was instrumental in pushing for an executive order in 2020 that granted voting access to tens of thousands of Iowans who were disenfranchised due to felony charges. He also worked towards the passing of A More Perfect Union; legislation intended to increase accountability within Iowa’s law enforcement. Jaylen will continue this activism as an elected official once in the statehouse.

Jaylen envisions an Iowa that prioritizes people over profits and enriches community members with solutions to improve their quality of life.