AIMEE ALLISON

She the People

Founder & President

@aimeeallison

Aimee Allison is the founder and president of She the People, a national network elevating the political voice and power of women of color. By bringing together the nation’s top women of color candidates, strategists, and movement leaders, Ms. Allison was one of the primary architects for the electoral successes in 2018 that made it the “year of women of color in politics.”

In April 2019, she convened the first presidential forum for women of color, reaching a quarter of the American population on social media and inspiring thousands of articles and news segments. A democratic innovator and visionary, Ms. Allison leads national efforts to build inclusive, multiracial coalitions led by women of color. In addition, she leverages media, research and analysis to expand the electorate and support leaders who advocate for racial, economic and gender justice.

A thought leader, a speaker, and a writer, Ms. Allison has been featured at NetRoots, Women’s March, Politicon, Harvard University, Stanford University and SXSW. She was featured in Politico’s 2019 Powerlist. In the early 1990’s, Ms. Allison was one of the first women of color to be honorably discharged from the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector and works today to support courageous, moral leadership.

She is building a political home for a million women of color, nationally and in battleground states. Aimee Allison holds a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University. Author of Army of None, she has written for the New York Times, The Hill, Teen Vouge and ESSENCE Magazine and has appeared in hundreds of outlets including MSNBC, CNN, the Washington Post, Associated Press and PBS.

SHENA ASHLEY

Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, The Urban Institute

Vice President, Nonprofits and Philanthropy

@shenarashley

Shena Ashley, PhD is a vice president at the Urban Institute where Ashley leads the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy’s policy research and programmatic initiatives through visionary leadership and strong financial management while maintaining an active portfolio of rigorous academic scholarship. For more than 20 years, the center has been a critical resource for credible, nonpartisan, and accessible data and insights on nonprofit and philanthropic activity in society. In addition to policy research, the center provides technical assistance and philanthropic advisory services to advance more effective and equitable nonprofit and philanthropic practice. Dr. Ashley has held previous faculty positions teaching nonprofit management at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and at Georgia State university.

CATHY CHA

Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund

President

@cathycha

Cathy Cha is president of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Under her leadership, the Fund is exploring innovative approaches to advancing equality and justice so every person has opportunities to thrive and to live life with dignity and hope.

Cathy’s work is driven by a career-long commitment to improving the lives of aspiring communities facing discrimination and poverty. Her collaboration-focused approach with funders, movements, nonprofits, and government has helped spark wide-ranging social impact, including California’s rise to the top among states in advancing pro-immigrant policies.

Today, the Haas, Jr. Fund is broadening its commitment to helping people achieve their dreams by advancing immigrant rights and LGBT equality, promoting a fair and representative democracy, and ensuring that college is affordable for low-income students and families. Cathy was named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2019.

SONJA DIAZ

Latino Policy & Politics Initiative

Founding Director

Sonja Diaz is the Founding Executive Director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, a comprehensive think tank that addresses the most critical domestic policy challenges facing communities of color in states and localities across the U.S. Diaz served as policy counsel to U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris during her first and second terms as California attorney general and directed voter protection programs for Democratic candidates in Virginia during the 2016 election.

Diaz has also managed domestic policy portfolios at three California nonprofits, clerked in the White House’s Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama, and supported litigation efforts at MALDEF, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and California’s Bureau of Children’s Justice. Diaz received her J.D. from UC Berkeley’s School of Law, holds an M.P.P. from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a B.A. in politics from UC Santa Cruz.

DR. MARK GHALY MD, MPH

Health and Human Services Agency

Secretary

Dr. Mark Ghaly was appointed Secretary of the California Health and Human Services by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019. In this role, Dr. Ghaly will oversee California’s largest Agency which includes many key departments that are integral to supporting the implementation of the Governor’s vision to expand health coverage and access to all Californians. Dr. Ghaly will work across State government, along with County, City, and private sector partners, to ensure the most vulnerable Californians have access to the resources and services they need to lead healthy, happy, and productive lives.

Before joining Governor Newsom’s team, Dr. Ghaly worked for 15 years in County health leadership roles in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In San Francisco, he was Medical Director of the Southeast Health Center, a public health clinic located in the Bayview Hunters Point community. In addition to having a large primary care pediatrics practice, Dr. Ghaly led the clinic’s transition to the patient-centered medical home model of care, expanded specialty care and diagnostics services, and addressed issues such as teen health, youth violence, food security, and environmental health issues.

DR. SANDRA R. HERNÁNDEZ, MD

California Health Care Foundation

President & Chief Executive Officer

@srhernandezmd

Sandra R. Hernández, MD, is president and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation. Prior to joining CHCF, Hernández was CEO of The San Francisco Foundation, which she led for 16 years. Hernández previously served as director of public health for the City and County of San Francisco. Hernández also cochaired San Francisco’s Universal Healthcare Council, which designed Healthy San Francisco. It was the first time a local government in the US attempted to provide health care for all of its constituents.

In February 2018, Hernández was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the Covered California board of directors. In December 2019, Hernández was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Healthy California for All Commission, which is charged with developing a plan to help California achieve a health care delivery system that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system. She also serves on the UC Regents Health Services Committee and the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Health Advisory Board. Hernández practiced at San Francisco General Hospital in the HIV/AIDS Clinic from 1984 to 2016 and was an assistant clinical professor at the UCSF School of Medicine.

Hernández is a graduate of Yale University, the Tufts School of Medicine, and the certificate program for senior executives in state and local government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

KATHLEEN KELLY JANUS

Office of Governor Gavin Newsom

Senior Advisor on Social Innovation

@kkellyjanus

Kathleen Kelly Janus is the Senior Advisor on Social Innovation to Governor Gavin Newsom. As a social entrepreneur, author and lecturer at Stanford University’s Program on Social Entrepreneurship, she is an expert on philanthropy, millennial engagement and scaling early stage organizations. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Quartz, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Tech Crunch and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her book – Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up and Make a Difference – is a playbook for nonprofit organizations based on a five-year research project interviewing hundreds of top-performing social innovators.

An attorney, Kathleen has spearheaded numerous social justice initiatives. Kathleen is a co-founder of Spark – a network of over 10,000 millennial donors – which seeks to advance gender equality by engaging the next generation in accessible forms of philanthropy. As a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School, Kathleen helped launch and direct Stanford Law School’s international human rights clinics in Namibia and South Africa. She has also served as pro bono counsel at Covington and Burling and a litigation associate at Thelen Reid & Priest.

A graduate of Berkeley Law School, Kathleen also graduated with highest honors from U.C. Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco with her husband Ted. Kathleen is a certified yoga instructor, which comes in handy when juggling their three young children.

LEA J.E. AUSTIN, ED.D.

Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, UC Berkeley

Director

@ljeaustin

Lea J.E. Austin is Director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley. Dr. Austin conducts research and analysis focused on early childhood educators and has more than 15 years of extensive experience in the areas of workforce development, racial equity, early childhood leadership competencies and curricula, and public policy and administration. Dr. Austin has a specific interest in working to secure access and opportunities to leadership and decision-making roles for early educators of color, spurred by her work with Mills College in Oakland, California, and First 5 Alameda County (California), where she developed leadership programs in higher education and community settings and implemented a professional development initiative focused on attainment of college education.

Dr. Austin is a co-author of numerous research and policy papers focused on the preparation, working conditions, and compensation of early educators, including Breaking the Silence on Early Care and Education Costs (2019), At the Wage Floor (2018) the Early Childhood Workforce Index (2018), and What does good child care reform look like? (2017).

KATIE BETHELL

PL+US: Paid Leave for the United States

Executive Director

@KatieBethell

Katie Bethell founded PL+US in 2016 to win paid family and Medical Leave in the U.S. Previously, Bethell was part of the founding team at MomsRising.org and ran the North American Campaigns team at Change.org. In 2014, Bethell was named one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business," and in 2018 she was named one of the World's Best Leaders by Fortune Magazine.

AMBER CHRIST, JD

Justice in Aging

Directing Attorney

@amberstweet

Amber Christ is the Directing Attorney of Justice in Aging’s Health Team, and is based in the Los Angeles office. Christ develops and implements projects and initiatives that improve access to health care and long-term services and supports for low-income older adults across the country. Christ is a lecturer at UCLA School of Law teaching Public Interest for the externship program. Prior to joining Justice in Aging in 2013, Christ worked for Legal Aid of Western Missouri in Kansas City. Christ is admitted to the California, Missouri, and Illinois bars and is a 2006 graduate of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

EUNISSES HERNANDEZ

La Defensa

Executive Director

@EunissesH

Eunisses Hernandez is a policy advocate and campaign strategist with over 5 years of experience in working with local and state legislators, system actors, and communities most devastated by criminalization, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration. As a native of Los Angeles, the daughter of immigrants, and loved one of people with mental health needs and substance use disorders, Hernandez knows the detrimental impacts that criminalization has on immigrants and communities of color.

These experiences inform Hernandez's analysis and policy development. Hernandez has been a leader in helping develop and implement sentencing reforms and sentence enhancement abolition policies. Hernandez 's efforts have led to the repeal and reform some of the most devastating tough on crime policies in California. Most recently, Hernandez has been a leader in the JusticeLA jail fight that stopped a $3.5 billion dollar jail plan in Los Angeles County. Hernandez has extensive experience in developing and implementing alternatives to incarceration. Most recently, she was appointed as a voting member to the Los Angeles County Alternatives to Incarceration Work Group and Co-chair of the Community Based System of Care AD HOC.

Hernandez is an alum of the Women’s Policy Institute Local Government and State Policy fellowship programs. In 2017, Hernandez was named one of the 40 Under 40 Emerging Civic Leaders by the Empowerment Congress and the Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas. Hernandez holds a BA in Criminal Justice from California State University, Long Beach and currently resides in Los Angeles.

CHRISTOPHER HOENE

California Budget & Policy Center

Executive Director

@ChrisWHoene

Christopher Hoene became the Budget Center’s executive director in October 2012, bringing to the organization 15 years of leadership in state and local policy research and analysis. Hoene leads the strategic direction of the organization, acts as primary spokesperson, and works with the board of directors and community partners to implement our vision and mission. Prior to joining the Budget Center, Hoene was director of the Center for Research and Innovation at the National League of Cities in Washington, DC, leading efforts to analyze trends in local and state government and promote constructive policy action on issues including public finance, economic development, housing, poverty reduction, infrastructure, and governance. Hoene also previously worked for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, DC, and the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco. Hoene holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science of the College of Idaho. In 2011, in recognition of his service to the state and local community, Hoene was elected as a Fellow into the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).

ANDREA ILOULIAN

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Senior Program Officer

@andreailoulian

Andrea Iloulian manages the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s domestic grantmaking in the area of chronic homelessness. In partnership with the public, philanthropic, nonprofit, and private sector stakeholders at work on this urgent issue, the Hilton Foundation aims to eliminate chronic homelessness in Los Angeles County. Prior to joining the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Iloulian worked in commercial property management, where she served as property manager of Class A high rise office buildings in the downtown and Miracle Mile areas of Los Angeles.

Iloulian also previously held positions with TreePeople, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s PLACE Program, and served as a senior consultant at MAXIMUS. Iloulian holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy and a bachelor’s degree in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.

ELIZABETH KNEEBONE

Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley

Research Director

Elizabeth Kneebone provides strategic leadership in designing, managing, and implementing the Terner Center for Housing Innovation’s research portfolio and agenda. Kneebone's research expertise includes the geography of poverty in the U.S., and how the built environment, housing, and land use policies shape access to economic opportunity. Before joining the Center, Kneebone was a Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, where she led the program's work on urban and suburban poverty and co-authored the book Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. Kneebone holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and a bachelor’s degree in history from Indiana University.

SALINA MAE

Salina Mae Mindfulness Coaching and Consulting

Yoga Teacher, Mentor, Advocate

Salina Mae (she/her/hers), is a Bay Area born and raised community leader with over 15 years experience serving California schools both as a K-12 classroom teacher and as a mindfulness coach and consultant. With a focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, Mae received her Masters in Education and California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential at the Claremont Graduate University in 2006. Mae specializes in building creative, inspired, and socially awake trainings and curricula that lead to action in the areas of mindfulness, social justice, and systems change. Mae is a certified yoga teacher, a dedicated mentor, and advocate for LGBTQI+ youth.

ANDREA MARCUM

Yogaworks

Yoga Teacher

Andrea Marcum is an author and yoga teacher who leads retreats and workshops around the world in both intimate and conference hall settings. Marcum has a unique ease and familiarity about her, weaving accessible philosophy into the poses appropriate for a variety of experience levels. Marcum loves guiding the most unassuming newbies to yoga and mindfulness and works with everyone from athletes (Matt Kemp, LA Dodgers – NFL Network) to global brands (lululemon, Equinox, NBCUniversal, Well +Good) to celebrities and everything in between. Marcum's critically acclaimed book Close to Om is available from St Martin’s Press/Macmillan. Based in LA, Marcum teaches at Yogaworks and you can practice with her from anywhere on the Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Udaya and Gaia online platforms. andreamarcum.com

HILLARY MOGLEN

RALLY

Principal

@hillarymoglen

Hillary Moglen is a Principal at RALLY, providing high-level strategy and communications guidance across an array of accounts. With a robust background in policy and law, Moglen is adept at simplifying complex advocacy challenges and transforming them into actionable, results-focused campaigns.

Moglen has played a crucial role in helping to expand the firm’s footprint and grow the firm’s diverse talent pool. Moglen has assumed a leadership role within RALLY that allows her to contribute to the management areas she’s most passionate about: the professional development of staff and the shaping of the company’s culture.

PADMINI PARTHASARATHY

Walter & Elise Haas Fund

Senior Program Officer, Economic Security

Padmini Parthasarathy is a senior program officer for economic security at theWalter & Elise Haas Fund. Parthasarathy manages the Fund’s economic security grantmaking tohelp low-income adults and families achieve economic security and upward mobility. Prior to joining the Fund, Parthasarathy was a program director at The California Wellness Foundation, overseeing statewide grantmakingto advance the Affordable Care Act and health care reform, and promote employment and asset-building opportunities. Before that, Parthasarathy was a program manager for Kaiser Permanente, where she managed its nationwide Community Health Needs Assessment, and she worked for Contra Costa Health Services’ Family, Maternal and Child Health Programs, leading an initiative to incorporate asset building into maternal and child health programs. Parthasarathy serves on the Asset Funders Network’s national board of directors and Bay Area chapter steering committee, and she volunteers for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Parthasarathy is a 2020 Council on Foundations Career Pathways fellow. She also has beena fellow in Grantmakers in Health’s Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy, and she was an inaugural member of the Justice Funders’ Harmony Initiative leadership program. Parthasarathy earned her master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and social behavior, with a minor in sociology, from UC Irvine.

NONA RANDOIS, ESQ.

Alliance for Justice

California Director

@NonaAFJ

Nona Randois leads Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy work in California. Randois supervises AFJ’s California team and ensures that AFJ offers expert legal and capacity building training, resources, and technical assistance to empower nonprofits and foundations conducting advocacy in our state. Randois is a thought leader who directs advocacy efforts to protect nonprofit advocacy rights and builds relationships with key partners. Randois previously served as Directing Attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, where she and her team represented nonprofits in community economic development, land use, tax, real estate, and corporate matters.

Randois also has experience in policy advocacy, employment law, strategic planning, and organizational capacity building. Before working at Legal Aid, Randois was a litigator at the Los Angeles office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Randois earned her law degree from Georgetown and bachelors’ degrees in International Relations and French from the University of Southern California. She is on the board of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a member of the LA Council on Immigrant Integration, and served on the City of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board for over a decade. Randois has also taught Public Policy and Law at the University of Southern California.

JAZMIN SEGURA

Common Counsel Foundation

Program Officer

Jazmin Segura leads Common Counsel Foundation’s Fund for an Inclusive California, a collaborative fund designed to support organizing and community-driven solutions to address California’s housing crisis. Segura brings over twelve years of experience in immigrant rights and social justice movements in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. Segura has a passion for racial and social justice and a deep commitment to grassroots organizing, advocacy, and leadership development to bring about long-term systemic change. Most recently, Segura worked at The San Francisco Foundation, where Segura developed and launched the foundation’s first Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building, providing timely resources to grassroots organizations in the Bay Area. Before joining the foundation, Segura was the Policy Manager at Educators for Fair Consideration, where she developed its first advocacy platform and led a team of undocumented youth to pass a statewide bill making career licenses accessible to all Californians regardless of immigration status. Segura also worked at Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network, where Segura co-led a diverse coalition that secured the passage of one of the most progressive immigration detainer policies in the nation, which later became a catalyst for California’s Trust Act.


Segura’s commitment to building community power is inspired by her family’s immigration journey to the United States. Segura was born in Mexico City and migrated to the United States at the age of nine. Segura grew up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles and graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a Bachelor of Art’s Degree in Political Economy. Segura is a former commissioner for the Human Relations Commission of Santa Clara County.

MARSHALL STOWELL

Conrad N Hilton Foundation

Vice President of Communications

@Marshall_CNHF

Marshall Stowell oversees communications at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. In this role, Stowell develops strategic communications and advocacy initiatives that advance the mission of the Hilton Foundation, amplifies the organization’s programmatic goals, engages stakeholders and helps elevate the voices of people living in the affected communities we serve. Before joining the Foundation, Stowell spent 14 years at the global health organization Population Services International, where he led global communications and advocacy efforts across 50 countries in the areas of malaria, family planning, HIV, diarrheal disease, pneumonia and sanitation.