OLIVER, CHELSEA

Meet the Candidate

Running For:

State Representative

District:

Political Affiliation:

Democrat

Age:

Occupation:

Marketing

Education: (click to expand)

Biographical Info: (click to expand)

On a typical Northwestern Pennsylvania snowy day, Chelsea moved from Pittsburgh to Corry at the beginning of the New Year in 2014. Fresh out of graduate school and ready for new opportunities, this formally self-proclaimed “city girl” was about to have a huge change of heart for the kind of place she wanted to call home and begin her journey of transformation into a truly impactful leader for her new community. Within days of moving to Corry, Chelsea reached out to various local organizations to see where she could volunteer and get involved. The first to respond was the Corry Higher Education Council. She was asked to begin a series of various social media courses and began teaching Blogging for Beginners. Over the years she also led Social Media for Small Business and Nonprofits and Selling Handmade on Etsy. Her favorite courses to teach however, were the countless one-on-one Intro to Facebook and Instagram lessons. These sessions catered mostly to seniors hoping to connect online with their grandchildren. Chelsea, a firm advocate for digital literacy, opened her schedule as much as possible each semester to provide this service. Soon after beginning as an instructor with the Corry Hi-Ed she was asked to join the board of directors of Impact Corry, then a 9-person working board. At the time, still in 2014, she became the token millennial member with an out-of-town perspective and about five years later, she was the board Chairwoman. During her time on Impact Corry’s board, Chelsea also joined the board of directors for the Corry Area Arts Council and the Corry Higher Education Council. Since joining the Corry Hi-Ed board, she has been added to the leadership team for their 21st Century Girls Program which aims to motivate 7th & 8th grade girls to pursue nontraditional STEM and male-dominated career fields, a cause very near and dear to her heart. Chelsea specifically serves this group by providing the keynote address and activity, Girls Guide to Grit: A Confidence Building Workshop and team-building exercises during the week. Within the Corry community no matter where she is involved, Chelsea is most known for two things; authoring a weekly column, Mindful Millennial, with The Corry Journal for years, and her work as the Marketing Specialist at Corry Federal Credit Union. With CFCU, she most-notably spearheaded their 60 Acts of Kindness anniversary campaign in 2018, established and ran their annual Financial Reality Fair for junior and senior high school students in Corry, Union City, and Clymer, created their annual Teacher of the Year Award, gifting teachers funding and financial literacy support for their classrooms, and led the credit union in gaining unprecedented growth and earning multiple local, state, and national awards in marketing and community events during her tenure. And still, she wasn’t even close to being done serving her community and the small town she had begun to love. In 2019, Chelsea co-founded the Corry Young Professionals Network, an organization she still leads today, to equip and empower young adults to organize and lead events and network together to nurture the future growth of Corry and its many local nonprofit organizations. During the pandemic the following year, Chelsea was honored by the Corry Area Chamber of Commerce with their Volunteer of the Year award and became a member of the Corry Strategic Plan steering committee, focusing in the areas of Improving and Linking Our Green Spaces, Balancing the City’s Budget, and the Rail + Trail Park. Chelsea also recruited seven other members to serve on various committees within Corry’s Strategic Plan to further progress this initiative and create more community leaders. Because of her involvement throughout the community and her vision for the future of Corry, in August 2020, Chelsea became Councilwoman on Corry’s City Council as the Director of Parks and Public Properties where she served until December 2021. Also during 2021, Chelsea was selected to join the Jefferson Educational Society’s Civic Leadership Academy. Over the course of the 8-month program, she and her cohort traveled to each municipality in Erie County to learn about what the communities are working on, the challenges they face, and what they currently have to offer. The group also journeyed to Harrisburg to meet with our current elected officials and have conversations about Erie County. Specifically, the cohort compiled a 70-page research paper full of the current state and recommendations for The Future of Work in Erie County, focusing on how the county can become a leader in the areas of education, infrastructure, industry, placemaking, and quality of life. Chelsea further served her cohort as one of the presenters of the group’s action project at the Jefferson post-graduation in March 2022. The cumulation of these experiences and Chelsea’s empathy-first approach have equipped her to fully recognize her next steps; bridging her passions for helping others, community development, and politics to make a greater difference in the area and specifically for our rural communities and small towns of Erie County. A place she once never heard of has not only become her home, but also a place where she sees so much potential and so many opportunities for growth and revitalization. She has the experience of bringing together different groups of people to work for the common good, facilitating positive growth and change, and the courage to be the voice of our district at the state level. Chelsea knows her life of service to our area has only begun and looks forward to further serving as our next State Representative.

Why are you running for office? (click to expand)

Survey

Response Legend

YYes
NNo
UUndecided
−Declined to Respond/Undecided, Position Unknown/Unclear
*Comment
†Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question	Response	Comments/Notes
1. Should education funding be directed to families through a voucher, scholarship, or education savings account so that parents can send their children to the school of their choice, including non-public schools?	N*	There is no evidence that charter schools produce better results than public schools. I will support our students and educators by allocating funding directly into public schools.
2. Should marijuana be legalized for recreational use?	Y*	Pennsylvania loses out on millions in tax revenue that could be used to better our schools, infrastructure, and healthcare. All areas where we lack adequate funding.
3. Should the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act be amended to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” which would require public schools and other public facilities to open up restrooms and locker rooms to members of the opposite sex?	Y*	We are overdue for passing laws that explicitly protect the LGBTQ+ community. This would directly allow for discrimination against LGBTQ+ for employment and housing opportunities.
4. Should Pennsylvania enter into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which would include a new carbon tax on electricity producers?	Y*	This opportunity reduces pollution and health problems, creates jobs, and saves consumers in energy costs.
5. Should increases in state government spending be limited to the rate of inflation plus population growth?	-*	PA is currently sitting on billions that we could invest in our local communities and businesses who are still struggling to bounce back after COVID.
6. Should our state constitution be amended to prevent taxpayer funding for elective abortions?	N*	Public funding in PA is currently only available for abortions in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest. This is healthcare for women and girls.
7. Should all voters be required to show identification before voting?	N*	Every American has the right to vote as outlined in the Constitution. I support every effort to improve accessibility for everyone.
8. Should the state reduce police funding to increase funding for social services?	N*	We must find ways to increase funding for both to ensure police are supported with mental health professionals when responding to mental health related crisis calls.
9. Should public schools be prohibited from allowing males who identify as females to compete in girls’ sports?	N*	More school sports should either be completely co-ed and/or allow for inclusivity of trans kids.
10. Should schools have to post curriculum online for review by parents and taxpayers?	Y*	Decisions should be left to professional educators, but the public has a right to know and voice opinions on what their tax money goes towards.
11. Should Pennsylvania municipalities be permitted to require a vaccine passport?	N
12. Should the gasoline tax be permanently reduced?	N*	Oil companies are taking advantage of hard-working American families. They should pay their fair share so we can alleviate the burden from our citizens.
13. Should schools be required to notify parents of any sexually explicit content in books or instructional materials?	−