Kayla Santosuosso does not eat pizza with a fork. Want a slice to eat while walking? Go to Elegante. Want to sit and eat some pizza? Find a table at Lombardo’s. Who was once a little girl sitting in her father’s pizza restaurant in Ohio, is now an organizer and activist fighting for change in Bay Ridge. She’s also Council Member Justin Brannan’s new deputy chief of staff.

Santosuosso (pronounced San-toh-soo-WOH-so) grew up in a small town in Ohio called Medina. During her childhood, it was mainly a farm town but has now converted into the suburbs. Santosuosso described it as a “mostly white, maybe socio-economically diverse, but not racially diverse at all, town in Northeastern, Ohio.”