Charmaine Manansala is the Chief Advocacy Officer at Compassion & Choices. Charmaine is in charge of the federal and state teams to authorize, ensure access, and protect the full range of end-of-life options. Charmaine oversees the federal team that puts together C&C's priorities in the nation's capital. She was instrumental in California’s successful campaign to authorize medical aid in dying in the nation’s most populous state. Charmaine also led the teams that authorized medical aid in dying in the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, New Jersey, and New Mexico; passed medical aid in dying in the Delaware and Nevada legislatures; protected Montana and the District of Columbia from being repealed; and expanded medical aid in dying laws for increased access in Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
Prior to joining Compassion & Choices Charmaine served in the highest levels of government, as a presidential appointee in the Obama administration at the U.S. Department of Labor. During the Clinton administration, Charmaine was the very first staff hired for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
Charmaine also worked in Congress as a senior advisor to Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi focusing on Social Security, health care, labor, disabilities, and AAPIs. She also served as the AAPI Vote Director for the 2008 Obama for America campaign, California Area Political Director for the Services International Union and Vice President for the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum. Charmaine brings broad campaign and organizing experience, having worked on over two dozen candidate and issue campaigns.
