Rep. Rick Krajewski's Biography
Rick Krajewski was elected to serve as the state representative of the 188th Legislative District in 2020.
Krajewski is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Electrical Engineering and co-founded a campus group for mixed race students.
After he graduated in 2013, Krajewski worked as a software engineer and taught volunteer programming classes at Huey Elementary School in West Philadelphia before it was closed down and replaced by a charter school, giving him a firsthand look into the problems facing our public education system.
In 2016, he became a community organizer with Reclaim Philadelphia, fighting to put working class people at the forefront. He eventually left his engineering job to commit to community organizing full time, becoming a staff organizer in 2017. In his role as Lead Mass Liberation Organizer, he was the West Philadelphia organizer for the election of Larry Krasner as District Attorney. He was part of the movement to bring participatory defense to Philadelphia, to serve as a resource for community members who have loved ones facing the criminal justice system. In 2018, he was part of the team that brought a participatory defense hub to Southwest Philadelphia.
As a working class multi-racial Black man raised in poverty by a single mother who taught him he’d have to fight for what he needed because no one else was going to do it for him, Krajewski believes courage and community are fundamental for everyone to thrive. As an organizer, he knows people power is necessary to transform systems for the better.
His priorities include making West and Southwest Philly housing affordable, working to transform the criminal justice system – including ending cash bail, death by incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline and reimagining public safety – making public education accessible to all, preserving our environment with a Green New Deal, protecting workers and labor unions, and working to ensure that the needs of all people, especially those most vulnerable, are met.
Krajewski lives in Walnut Hill with his cat, Sriracha. He likes to spend his spare time woodworking, going on bike rides, and cooking. He makes a mean peach pie.