Lifelong neighbor, 15-year educator, and 25th Ward candidate for Alderwoman Aida Flores launched her campaign to protect the heart of this community, fight for our neighbors, and effectively deliver on the day-to-day needs of every single neighbor.

On June 25, 2026, neighbors filled Casa Michoacán. Elders, students, working families, people who have lived here forty years, and new neighbors from across Pilsen, Little Village, and University Village came together.

The launch was a living art exhibit. Youth performed live music and poetry. Along the walls hung Akito Tsuda’s 1990s photography, capturing the exact Mexican-immigrant families and streets that built Pilsen. Tsuda’s photos surrounding a room full of elders and youth showed exactly whose history built this neighborhood, and what is worth protecting today.

When Aida spoke, she shared her family’s story.

Her parents crossed the border from Guerrero, Mexico. Her grandfather worked as a paletero. Her father was an undocumented immigrant working three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads, until earning his residency and union card changed their trajectory. He paved Chicago streets, and to this day, he drives past them and says, "Look, mija! I did that."

Growing up on 17th and Loomis, Aida experienced how economic inequity impacts working families. At 14, she became a teen mom. The neighborhood stepped up. That village of teachers, family, and public resources helped her graduate from Benito Juárez High School, make it to Georgetown, and earn her master's at Harvard.

For the next 15 years, Aida paid that debt back to the community as a public school teacher and principal. She expanded pre-K, built cluster classrooms for students with disabilities, and grew dual-language programs. During crises, she transformed her school into a vaccine site for 500 families and mobilized parents to build solidarity sidewalks protecting immigrant families from federal agents.

Now, she is bringing that exact operational focus to City Hall. Her first 100 days will start by building an effective, responsive ward office dedicated to active outreach—knocking on doors to inform and empower neighbors right on their blocks. That is the foundation required to deliver essential services, promote housing and affordability for all, and create safe, healthy communities. It is the infrastructure needed to champion strong public schools, fight ICE to protect our families, and protect small businesses and local wealth.

Vote for Aida Flores for 25th Ward Alderwoman on February 23, 2027.