Masks for Equity

22 people pose together for a photo with masks on in Golden Gate Park. They cover their eyes with their hands and stand on green grass with shrubs and trees behind them. Three people are kneeling, and the rest of the group is standing up.

Ways to get involved

  • Reach out to our organizers, Liza Mamedov (liza@sdaction.org) and Allegra Heath-Stout (allegra@sdaction.org)! We’d love to get to know you and connect you with other members!

  • Come to our meetings, where we plan our campaigns and work together for pandemic justice. We meet every other Tuesday, 11:30am-1pm, on Zoom. Reach out to Liza or Allegra for more details.

  • Join us for a masked park hang! We gather monthly, usually on a weekend afternoon, to socialize while wearing masks and staying safe. All are welcome for these casual gatherings. Follow SDA’s social media or email Liza to find out about the next event.

  • Keep an eye out for our action alerts on SDA’s social media and monthly newsletter!

Masks for Equity in the media (just a few examples!)

More details about our past and current work:

SDA’s Masks for Equity team formed in July 2022 around a campaign to bring back the mask mandate on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which had been in place since April 2020 and were set to expire. Thanks to our work, in coalition with many other groups, the BART Board did extend the mask mandate, though it unfortunately expired a few months later. Since then, Masks for Equity’s work has fallen mostly into two categories – fighting for the extension, restoration, and improvement of mask requirements, and educating and organizing against mask bans. Additionally, the team has organized mask distributions in partnership with allies such as Mask Bloc Sunset.


A group of SDA members advocating for COVID protections including mask requirements in healthcare and other essential places, clean air standards, and free testing and treatment. Since COVID disproportionally harms seniors, disabled, poor, and BIPOC people, we fight for masking as an issue of access and equity.

What we’re working on now:

  • Fighting for universal masking, with high-quality masks, in healthcare settings

  • Working to prevent mask bans in the Bay Area and beyond

  • Building Covid-safer community through our monthly park hangs

A large group of masked people outside on a street corner, including two in the foreground who are holding a sign that says “keep masks in healthcare.”

Fighting for the extension, restoration, and improvement of mask mandates

In addition to campaigns to require masking on public transit, Masks for Equity has also organized around masking in public buildings and in healthcare settings. In spring 2024, members organized for the continuation and improvement of the SF Department of Public Health’s (SFDPH) mask requirement in clinics, hospitals, and other congregate care settings. Through phone banking, letter writing, meetings with decision-makers, and an in-person rally, Masks for Equity built up public awareness of, and support for, the importance of masking as a disability justice issue and something that is crucial to keeping each other safe as many official bodies try to pretend that the pandemic is over. 

Above photo by Dan Ryan.

Graphic with ripped pieces of paper and a bullhorn on top of a red-orange background. Text reads: Fighting Mask Bans, Building Pandemic Solidarity.

Educating and organizing against mask bans

Amid increased repression on multiple fronts and mask bans being passed or threatened in states and counties across the country, it’s more important than ever to fight the criminalization of masks and strengthen the practices we need to keep each other safe. Masks for Equity held a Mask Ban Teach-In, where we heard from organizers across the country fighting against mask bans in their cities, explored political grounding for the moment, learned updated public health information about why we should all care about COVID and Long Covid, and discussed where to go from here. This work is ongoing, and if you are interested in getting involved, please contact Liza or Allegra.