Joseph Sweiss

Joseph Sweiss is a Bay Area native and advocate for San Francisco’s vulnerable communities. He currently works in public policy around climate action and sustainability, and previously served as the Deputy Press Secretary at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. In between his service to the City, Mr. Sweiss supported then Ranking Member (now Chair) of the House Financial Services Committee, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, on a variety of high-profile civil liberties, human rights, and complex communications projects in Capitol Hill. He is the Co-Founder and President of the Arab-American Democratic Club, which aims to improve local civic representation for San Francisco’s immigrant, monolingual, and ethnic communities. Additionally, as the Policy Co-Chair of Alice (one of the nation’s oldest LGBT focused Democratic clubs), Mr. Sweiss helps steer the Board and its membership’s policy platform and legislative priorities for the year and beyond. He also serves on the Board of a local merchant association that primarily serves San Francisco’s immigrant, ethnic, LGBT, and female-owned businesses. He has promoted bilateral relations and cross-cultural exchanges in the Middle East, including Israel (San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Delegation) and Jordan. Mr. Sweiss has a B.A. in international studies and human rights from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in conflict resolution and energy development from Georgetown University. Mr. Sweiss was sworn into the Human Rights Commission in 2018, and from 2020 to 2023 served as the Commission’s Vice Chair.