PUBLIC SERVANT. IMMIGRANT. SINGLE MOM. COMMUNITY LEADER.
Venus is fighting to lower the cost of living for working families in San Diego.
from the community,
For the Community
Venus Molina’s path to leadership is rooted in overcoming barriers that so many families in District 8 know well. By middle school, Venus had been labeled an “at-risk” youth. She was an immigrant from Tijuana, and English was not her first language. Growing up, she faced the challenges of navigating a new country, a new school system, and limited resources.
Her trajectory changed because of one moment of belief and opportunity. A school guidance counselor recognized her potential and helped place her in the inaugural class of MANA de San Diego’s “Hermanitas” program. Through MANA, Venus was mentored by Latina leaders like Mayor Mary Salas and Elisa Sánchez, who helped guide her and show her what leadership and service looked like. With their support—and her own determination—Venus became the first in her family to go to college at the University of San Diego.
The Sherman Heights Community Center was her first workplace, but it quickly became something much deeper: a place of safety, belonging, and strength. It was there that Venus learned lasting lessons about service, responsibility, and the power of community care. Those experiences never left her. They shaped her heart and set her on a lifelong path of service—one focused on giving back to the communities that raised her and fighting for the people of District 8 who continue to make San Diego strong.
The impact of the MANA program and her childhood in Sherman Heights has guided her career and Venus has dedicated herself to community empowerment.
In her career, Venus has worked for three City Councilmembers and helped advance major initiatives that strengthened communities and supported working families—like the Small Business Ordinance, the Midway Rising Housing Development, and the re-imagining and restoration of the Skyline Hills Branch Library. Her work focused on what matters most: expanding housing, lowering costs, and connecting residents to the resources they need to thrive.
Venus has also spent years leading nonprofits and major community organizations, including as President of the Board of Directors for MANA de San Diego and Chair of the Board at the City Heights Community Development Corporation. In these roles, she helped open doors for hundreds of young women to graduate high school and pursue college, supported small businesses in City Heights, and helped more than 100 families access rental assistance during times of crisis.
Venus’s commitment comes from lived experience. She became a single mother in her late 20s and, like many families in District 8, had to buy her baby’s first formula with food stamps as she tried to make ends meet. She knows firsthand what it means to stretch every dollar and fight for stability. With the support of her community in Sherman Heights and city resources, she was able to move forward and she has spent her life making sure others can do the same.
That experience drives her work today. As a city leader, she helped create the Smart Money Summit to give working families tools for financial literacy, credit repair, and budgeting. As Councilmember, Venus will continue fighting to bring down the cost of living, expand opportunity, and ensure working-class families have more money in their pockets for rent, groceries, and a better future.
