Max Vargas

Max is an innovative leader and strategic advocate committed to equity, justice, and liberation. As the Vice President of Economic Justice, Max leads LCF efforts to catalyze and grow the economic security, mobility, and power of the Latino community.

He brings a range of policy, legal, and community experience to LCF and previously served as Deputy Director of First 5 California, where he oversaw legislative, policy, and media initiatives supporting child care, paid family leave, and other essential needs for California families. Prior to that role, Max was Senior Policy Advisor to Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs where he supported legislation to address housing access, coordinated COVID-19 response measures, stewarded the expansion of after-school programs, managed climate justice initiatives, coordinated pilots for economic security and opportunity, and contributed to legal briefs in defense of immigrant families, an effective Census count, and health equity.

Max has also worked for the California State Senate, the State Assembly, local workforce development and transportation agencies, and the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS). He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of the Pacific and a J.D. from the McGeorge School of Law. Max is also an alumnus of the Rose Center’s Equitable Economic Development Fellowship and the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and serves on the board of Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte and the Stockton Public Schools Foundation.

Max is a former unaccompanied minor and political asylee from Peru whose personal story and career arc are rooted in reimagining the values and systems they uphold and for whom they uphold them. He is a loving father of three and husband to a proud Chicana and enjoys travel, wine tasting, hip hop, and salsa dancing.