USC junior is LA’s youngest elected official
Triston Ezidore works for the Culver City Unified School District Board of Education.
By EVA HARTMAN
Triston Ezidore isn’t boastful.
“I don’t really ever talk about it, I kind of like to keep my head down when I’m in class,” the junior majoring in political science said.
But a quick Google search of his name reveals a wildly different picture of the USC student than one might find walking down Trousdale Parkway. Ezidore, as a member of the Culver City Unified School District Board of Education, is the youngest elected official in Los Angeles County.
Balancing student life and serving a district of more than 6,800 students across nine schools doesn’t come easily: Ezidore’s car is often full of suits and sneakers to allow him to switch between roles. His passion for equitable education and service makes the hassle well worth it.
“I have a belief that all politics is local,” Ezidore said. “I had an impact-driven mindset, and I wanted to deliver for our community that gave so much to me, and I think it was my job to return the favor and serve the community that served me.”
Ezidore was elected to the Culver City School Board just a year and a half after he graduated from Culver City High School, and he now serves on the District’s Equity Advisory Committee, Restorative Practice’s Committee, Positive Behavior and Intervention’s Support Committee, and the Sexual Assault and Misconduct Reform Committee.
His largest achievement yet has been the implementation of a Black Student Achievement Plan, he said, but the inspiration behind it didn’t come from far away. Culver City Unified was one of the only school districts on L.A.’s Westside without policies focusing on the specific needs of Black students following the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement — a gap Ezidore set out to fill.
“We didn’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Ezidore said. “It was something that I believed in and something that I ran on. The first day after we’d been sworn in, I asked for us to agendize a real conversation about a Black Student Achievement Plan.”
The first tangible successes from Ezidore’s plan came to fruition over the summer through a literacy camp for Black third graders, which engaged students across the district in targeted reading interventions.
“The Department of Education is telling us that students who are in third grade are having a hard time reading, and we realized that third grade is actually where we need to target [literacy interventions] because it’s actually in fourth grade that you stop learning to read, and start reading to learn,” Ezidore said. “We realized that our Black students didn’t know how to read … and [the issue isn’t] caught until fourth grade, when it’s too late.”
Triston Ezidore said he has faced criticism for his age and race, such as protestors who allege that he should have never been allowed to run. (Photo courtesy Triston Ezidore)
The camp’s initiative — with the goal of catching Black students who have fallen through the cracks before their reading skills become a hindrance to their future education — was a massive success, helping kids catch up to their peers while also providing free childcare for parents. A Black children’s book author stopped by to read her work to students, and the effects of seeing a role model in literacy were immediate.
“For Black students to see a Black woman author come in and talk about what it’s like to read a book; it was fascinating for me,” Ezidore said. “I was walking campus and talking to some kids and they were talking about wanting to write a book, because they felt so inspired by the author who came in to speak for them.”
Ezidore’s term hasn’t been without his challenges. The Los Angeles Times reported on the backlash he’s faced for his age and race, including protestors who allege that he should have never been allowed to run and was spending time “smoking weed” instead of serving the district. Ezidore doesn’t let it faze him.
“You know, it happens,” Ezidore said. “I can’t let this distract me from the issues of circumstance and consequence that we’re dealing with: the students and the district.”
Pedro Noguera, the dean of the Rossier School of Education, became acquainted with Ezidore after the latter reached out to him when he came to USC, and expressed that what he’s doing is courageous, yet uncharted.
“Triston is showing us a great example of civic leadership,” Noguera said. “What I worry about is it takes a lot of time and he’s a student, so balancing the demands of the school board with the demands of being a full-time student at USC will be challenging. He can do it, but he’s going to have to be very organized and disciplined.”
Despite his misgivings, Noguera sees Ezidore’s identity as a young Black student as his greatest strength, allowing him to make decisions informed by his own experience.
“What’s good about someone like him on the board is that he was recently a student, and he’s in touch with what the students experience,” Noguera said. “It’s almost like having a current student on the board, and it’s great for any board to hear the student’s perspective.”
Naseem Nowroozi, a junior studying political science who’s worked in political organizing previously with organizations such as Rock the Vote, was thrilled to see more representation for Gen Z in elected office.
“Not only do we need [young] voters, we need youth candidates,” Nowroozi said. “We are obviously the future, and so I think it’s absolutely awesome that he was elected and I’m sure he’s going to do awesome things.”
Ezidore’s next project on the school board is tackling his district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan, which will address the long-term needs of English learners, students with disabilities, foster youth, unhoused students and students with Individualized Education Plans. And, of course, trying to make it to USC club meetings on time.
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