Authors
Health Access California is a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups. This article has also been published on the Health Access Blog
Khalil Abdullah reports for New America Media, the country's first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2,000 ethnic news organizations.
Manal J. Aboelata is Program Director at Prevention Institute, a national non-profit dedicated to achieving equitable health and safety outcomes through primary prevention. She coordinates The Strategic Alliance for Healthy Eating and Activity Environments.
Ana Acton is executive director for FREED Center for Independent Living. E-mail her at ana@freed.org or call 742-4474.
Jan Adams has done a multitude of things in progressive California politics since 1973. She blogs at Happening Here where this article first appeared.
Tom Adams was the past President, Board of Directors, California League of Conservation Voters.
Orson Aguilar is Executive Director of the Greenlining Institute, a multi-ethnic coalition - originally founded to combat "redlining" by banks and create reinvestment into low-income communities - of nearly forty community-based, faith-based, and civil rights/immigrants rights groups.
Dan Aiello, is the Sacramento reporter for the California Progress Report.
Lisa Marie Alatorre is a member of Critical Resistance, and a part of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a statewide alliance of over 40 organizations seeking to control prison spending by reducing the number of people in prison and the number of prisons in the state.
Kim Albanese, Co-founder, 21st Century TEA Party for Criminal Justice Reform
Leticia Alejandrez is Executive Director of California Family Resource Association, a statewide membership association of organizations and individuals that serve children and families. Our purpose is to advocate for the programs, policies and resources that help families and communities thrive and succeed. We also focus on building the capacity of our member organizations and linking them to one another. For more information, visit www.californiafamilyresource.org. California Family Resource Association is also a member of the Health and Human Services Network of California.
Assemblymember Luis Alejo represents California’s 28th district
F. King Alexander has served as the President of Cal State Long Beach since 2006. He had previously served as President at Murray State in Kentucky from 2001 to 2006.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) uses the power of public information to protect public health and the environment. They seek to protect the most vulnerable segments of the human population—children, babies, and infants in the womb—from health problems attributed to a wide array of toxic contaminants and to replace federal policies, including government subsidies that damage the environment and natural resources, with policies that invest in conservation and sustainable development.
Sylvia A. Allegretto PhD is a labor economist at the UC Berkeley Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics. She received her Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder and worked for several years at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC.
Jorge Amaro is the Communications Manager for Equality California (EQCA). EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people.
Tom Ammiano is a long-term leader in San Francisco who was recently elected to Represent the 13th District in the Assembly.
Dylan Anderson is a member of the United Farm Workers Internet Communications team.
Dr. Wayne Andersen is the best-selling author of Dr. A’s Habits of Health and Living a Longer, Healthier Life: The Companion Guide to Dr. A’s Habits of Health.www.drwaynescottandersen.com
Preschool California is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to increase access to high-quality preschool for all of California’s children, starting with those who need it most. It brings together K-12 educators, business leaders, parents, labor, law enforcement, early care and education providers, faith-based institutions, community leaders and others to achieve this goal.
John August is Executive Director for the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership.
Tommi Avicolli Mecca is co-editor of Avanti Popolo: Italians Sailing Beyond Columbus, and editor of Smash the Church, Smash the State: The Early Years of Gay Liberation, which has been nominated for both an American Library Association and a Lambda Literary award. His website is www.avicollimecca.com.
Lee Baca is the sheriff of Los Angeles County.
Dan Bacher is an editor of The Fish Sniffer, described as "The #1 Newspaper in the World Dedicated Entirely to Fishermen."
David Bacon is a veteran labor photojournalist. For more articles and images, see David Bacon's website. His most recent book Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants is available at Beacon Press.
Carmen Balber is a Consumer Advocate with Consumer Watchdog, a nationally recognized consumer group that has been fighting corrupt corporations and crooked politicians since 1985.
Mark Baldassare is the President and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. The PPIC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research.
Bob Balgenorth is the president of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents approximately 350,000 workers in 186 private sector building trades local unions and regional councils.
Marcelo Ballve is a Contributing Editor at New America Media. Marcelo writes on immigration, national affairs and Latin America. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Baltimore Sun, among others.
Rebecca Band (formerly Rebecca Greenberg) works for the California Labor Federation.
Joanne Barker is a citizen of the Lenape nation (the Delaware Tribe of Indians [Bartlesville, Oklahoma]). She earned her Ph.D. in June 2000 from the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she specialized in Native law and politics, women's/gender studies, and cultural studies. She is associate professor in the American Indian Studies Department at San Francisco State University. She has been the recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowship and the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. She has published articles in numerous journals. She is currently completing her book, Native Acts, contracted with Duke University Press.
Dr. Matt Barreto is an associate professor of political science at the University of Washington, and director of the Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (WISER). Matt also blogs for Latino Decisions, which provides political decision makers with independent data to facilitate critical decisions.
Restore the Delta is a grassroots campaign of residents and organizations committed to restoring the California Delta so that its waters are fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable.
Karen Bass is Speaker of the California Assembly.
Eric C. Bauman is Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.
Randy Bayne is Chair of the Amador County Democratic Party. This article originally appeared in The Bayne of Blogs and is published with the permission of the author.
Jim Beall represents Assembly District 24 which encompasses Saratoga, Campbell, and areas of San Jose, Santa Clara, and Los Gatos.
Caryn Becker is policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth by working to eliminate abusive financial practices.
David Beckman is the lead counsel and director of NRDC's national Water program.
Dr. Larry A. Bedard is a physician in Marin County, former president of American College of Emergency Physicians and former chair of CMA’s Corporate Practice of Medicine Advisory Committee.
Roger Belcourt, MD, MPH, is Board President of the Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association.
Martin J. Bennett teaches American history at Santa Rosa Junior College, serves as Co-Chair of the Living Wage Coalition of Sonoma County, and is a Research and Policy Analyst for UNITE HERE Local 2850.
Dr. Ami Bera is the democratic candidate running for Congress in California's 3rd district, and formerly a Dean of Admissions at U.C. Davis Medical School. A lifelong Californian, Dr. Bera and his wife, Janine, have lived in Elk Grove for the past 15 years and have a 12 year old daughter, Sydra.
Jamie Berenson, California Worker’s Compensation applicant’s attorney and leader of Injured Women After Reform, “iWAR.”
Nancy Berlin is Director of California Partnership. California Partnership is a statewide coalition of community-based groups, organizing and advocating for the programs and policies that reduce and end poverty. We are spear-heading campaigns to develop electoral power in low-income communities, give a voice to local communities in creating a more just state budget and building a movement for healthcare for everyone. For more information, please visit www.california-partnership.org
James Birkelund is an attorney at Cleantech Law Partners specializing in climate change, clean energy, and natural resource matters. He counsels nonprofit, government, and private entities on a broad range of litigation, administrative, and transactional issues.
Arlene Blum, PhD, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute, is a visiting scholar in chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley and has taught chemistry at Stanford, Wellesley, and U.C. Berkeley. She has written about toxics in Science, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
Samuel D. Bornstein is a 33 year Professor of Accounting and Taxation at Kean University, School of Business in Union, N.J., as well as a CPA and partner of Bornstein & Song CPAs & Consultants.
Robert L. Borosage is the founder and president of the Institute for America’s Future and co-director of its sister organization, the Campaign for America’s Future. The organizations were launched by 100 prominent Americans to develop the policies, message and issue campaigns to help forge an enduring majority for progressive change in America.
Mark Bowen is serving his first term on the Long Beach City College board, having been elected Trustee for Area 3 in April of 2006.
William Bradley is a California-based political analyst and writer for NewWestNotes.com.
Nan Brasmer is President of California Alliance of Retired Americans (CARA),a statewide nonprofit organization that unites retired workers and community groups to win social and economic justice, full civil rights, and a better, more secure future for ourselves, our families, and future generations. Nan and can be reached at n.brasmer@comcast.net
Shane Brinton is a member of the Arcata City Council and a California Democratic Party Delegate representing the 1st Assembly District. At 24, he is one of the youngest elected officials in the state. He can be reached at shanebrinton@gmail.com
Barry Broad is the Managing Partner in the law firm of Broad & Gusman, LLP, a firm he established in 1994. His firm specializes in government relations and administrative law. His clients include major labor organizations such as the Teamsters, International Longshore & Warehouse Union, United Food & Commercial Workers, UNITE-HERE, International Association of Machinists, and the Amalgamated Transit Union. He is currently Chair of the California Employment Training Panel and is a former member of the Industrial Welfare Commission. He also serves as an expert witness in wage and hour cases. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis. Mr. Broad is the author of the international thriller Eve of Destruction, published in 2008 and is working on a sequel.
Dr. Judith Broder is a psychiatrist and the founder and executive director of The Soldier’s Project, a national nonprofit based in L.A. that provides free, unlimited counseling to veterans and their families. She is a 2011 recipient of The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.
By Charlie Brown, Lt. Col. USAF Ret. Democratic Candidate for Congress, CA 4th District
Pamela Brown is Policy Director of Marriage Equality USA which is committed to securing the right to civil marriage for same-sex couples.
Holly Brown-Williams is Director of Policy for Health Research for Action (HRA). HRA publishes Perspectives to address critical health policy issues and provide constructive recommendations. The July 2010 issue is available on the HRA Web site at: http://healthresearchforaction.org/perspectives/preventing-toxic-exposur.... HRA is a center in the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
Shannon Bryony is a former newspaperwoman and magazine editor who became disabled 19 years ago from a fall at the San Jose Mercury News while walking down a hall reading a page proof for the second edition. She's still one of those benighted "MSM liberals" at heart.
Andrea Buffa is a policy associate with the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs.
Deborah Burger, RN is co-president of the California Nurses Association, and National Nurses United, the nation's largest union of registered nurses.
Phyllida Burlingame is the Sex Education Policy Director for the ACLU of Northern California and mother of two young children.
John Burton is the Chair of the California Democratic Party. He has served as a State Assemblymember, US Congressmember and as President pro Tem of the California State Senate.
Stuart Bussey, M.D., is president of Union of Physicians & Dentists.
SEIU ULTCW is the largest union of long-term care workers in California, and the second largest local in the nation, representing 190,000 homecare workers in California.
Daniel Byrd, Ph.D. is research director at the Greenlining Institute.
Duane Campbell is a Professor of Bilingual/Multicultural Education at Calif. State University-Sacramento and the author of Choosing Democracy; a practical guide to multicultural education. (Merrill/Pren Hall.2004)
Paula S. Campbell, a board member in the Nevada City School District in Nevada County, is the 2009 President of the California School Boards Association. The California School Boards Association is a collaborative group of school board members from virtually all of the state’s more than 1,000 school districts and county offices of education.
Beth Capell provides policy analysis, legislative advocacy, and other strategic input to Health Access and to other consumer, labor and public interest organizations on health care issues.
Mark Carlson is the Director of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy.
Chris Carson is the Redistricting Program Director for the League of Women Voters.
Patrick Porgans and author Lloyd G. Carter are involved in publishing a series of articles, entitled: “Doubts About the Drought." For more information you can Google Hay! Doubts About the Drought, or visit the following websites; http://www.planetarysolutionaries.org and http://www.lloydgcarter.com blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/.../hay-doubts-about-the-drought/?
Jenya Cassidy is the Education and Training Coordinator at the Labor Project for Working Families.
Bill Cavala was Deputy Director of the Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services where he worked for over 30 years. He now manages election campaigns for Democratic candidates.
Jesse Ceniceros is President of Voters Injured at Work.
Warner Chabot is the CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters.
Wilma Chan, former California State Assemblywoman. The U.S. Senate is poised to act on one of the most significant public health threats in our everyday lives – urge them to pass Congresswoman Eshoo’s H.R. 5289 to ban lead in our faucets.
Glen Chase served as an Associate Professor teaching graduate level courses in Systems Management at USC for eight years. He has taught at multiple universities in the Central Coast area, including The Naval Post Graduate School, The Monterey Institute of International Studies and Cal State University, Monterey Bay. Currently he develops management systems to assist organizations that cater to the improvement of life for children with disabilities.
Christine Chavez has a made a lifetime commitment to public service, civil rights and the labor movement. Born in Delano, California, she worked for years with the United Farm Workers Union, the organization her grandfather Cesar Chavez helped to co-found 40 years ago.
Martin Chávez is a former three-term Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico and executive director of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, the leading local-government association addressing climate and sustainability in the nation. ICLEI USA represents more than 150 local government members in the state of California.
John Chiang is the California State Controller
James Clark is the Death Penalty Field Organizer for the ACLU of Southern California.
Sally is a 41 year old native Californian married to a State Worker. She works for a large financial institution, and is a graduate of California State University Sacramento.
Susan Stuart Clark is founded and director of Common Knowledge, a nonpartisan organization committed to expanding civic engagement as a means to a more inclusive and vibrant democracy.
Cathy Cockrell is a writer for the UC Berkeley News Center. She lives in Oakland.
Donald Cohen is director of the Cry Wolf Project that exposes conservative myths about jobs, the economy and government, and chairperson of In the Public Interest, a resource center on Privatization.
Larry Cohen is president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The CWA represents more than 700,000 workers employed in telecommunications, the media, public sector, manufacturing, health care and airlines.
Juan Cole’s column appears every other Tuesday on Truthdig. He is a celebrated Mideast scholar and the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan.
Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good.
Greg Colvin is an attorney in San Francisco specializing in tax-exempt law, including political and lobbying activities of nonprofit organizations, who has written and lectured on the subject for over 20 years. The Citizens Election Amendment was developed in concert with Barry Kendall, executive director of Progressive Ideas Network, a project of Demos, and Lisa Graves, executive director of Center for Media and Democracy.
Peter Cooper is the program coordinator with the California Labor Federation's Workforce & Economic Development program.
Judge LaDoris H. Cordell presided over the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Zenei Cortez, RN is co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, one of the nation’s premiere nurses’ organizations and health care unions.
Jamie Court is President of Consumer Watchdog, a nationally recognized consumer group that has been fighting corrupt corporations and crooked politicians since 1985.
Peter Cove is the Founder of America Works, a national company securing work for offenders, veterans and other hard to place workers.
Rory Cox is California Program Director at Pacific Environment, an organization dedicated to protecting the living environment of the Pacific Rim.
Health Access California is a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups. This article has also been published on the Health Access Blog
Kade Crockford is the privacy rights coordinator for ACLU of Massachusetts. This article originally appeared on Alternet.
Liz Crossen is the Executive Director of Baykeeper.
Robert Cruickshank writes on California politics at Calitics.com. You can follow him on Twitter @cruickshank.
Marc Dadigan is a freelance writer and multimedia journalist.
Debbie Davis is Policy Director of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water.
Herndon Davis is a media consultant/journalist focusing on issues of diversity among people-of-color, women and LGBT.
Assemblyman Mike Davis was elected to serve the 48th Assembly District in 2006. Located in Los Angeles County, the 48th District is home to a myriad of diverse communities including: Arlington Park, Athens, Chesterfield Square, King Estates, Koreatown, Lafayette Park, Magnolia Square, North University Park, University Park, Vermont Knolls, West Adams, West Park Terrace and Wilshire Center.
Dave Dayen is a writer, comedian and TV/film editor based in Santa Monica. He is an elected member of the Democratic State Central Committee from the 41st Assembly District. He blogs on state and national politics at D Day
Alegria de la Cruz is the Legal Director at the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment.
Rose Ann DeMoro is the Executive Director of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing over 85,000 staff nurses throughout the nation.
Amy DePaul is a former staff writer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Her news and feature articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, Baltimore Sun, London Independent, Dayton Daily News and Agence France-Presse, among many other newspapers, magazines, alternative presses and news services.
Cathy Deppe lives in Los Angeles and is the lead organizer for 9to5 California Chapter of the National Association of Working Women.
Rupa Dev is a reporter and associate editor for New America Media. She has worked in NAM's communication department, youth program, and on the education beat. Previously, she was an associate editor for The Cultural Connect and assistant editor for Nirvana Woman magazine.
Ryan Devereaux is a Democracy Now! news production fellow and an independent journalist.
Philip J. Diamond, MD, FACOG is Vice Chair, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, District IX (California)
Cesar Diaz is Legislative Director for the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.
Richard C. Dieter is Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Griffin Dix, Ph.D., has just completed his term as the Chapter-elected Chairman of the Brady Campaign's Million Mom March National State Presidents Council and is now President of the Oakland/Alameda County Brady Campaign Chapter. His fifteen-year-old son, Kenzo, was shot and killed in Berkeley in 1994. For more information visit Brady Campaign California Chapters.
Adam Dombchik is a partner in the law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, and serves as President of the California Applicants' Attorneys Association, a professional association dedicated to the protection of rights and benefits of California's injured and disabled workers and their families.
Margaret Dooley-Sammuli is Deputy State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance Network in Southern California.
Meghan Doran is the Assistant State Director for NARAL Pro-Choice California.
Peter Dreier is the Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, and director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Program, at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Susan Duerksen is the communications director of the Center of Policy Initiatives. This nonprofit research and advocacy organization is located in San Diego. Duerksen was a reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune for 17 years.
Parker is a medical student at the University of California, Irvine. He is spending the 2008-2009 academic year to work for the California Physicians’ Alliance as the Medical Student Fellow for healthcare reform. He will graduate with his MD in 2010, then enter a Family Medicine residency.
Gautam Dutta is Political Reform Deputy Director for the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.
Jim Earp, Executive Director of the California Alliance for Jobs, issued the following statement Thursday in response to the legislature passing a budget Thursday morning.
Kristen Eberhard is an Energy and Climate expert for Natural Resources Defense Council.
Mike Elk, an In These Times contributing editor, has worked for the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers union, the Campaign for America's Future and the Obama-Biden campaign.
Curtis Ellis is Communications Director for The American Jobs Alliance, an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization. We are not affiliated with any candidate, political party, union, trade association or corporation.
Richard (RJ) Eskow is a well-known blogger and writer, a former Wall Street executive, an experienced consultant, and a former musician. He has experience in health insurance and economics, occupational health, benefits, risk management, finance, and information technology.
Kelli M. Evans is Associate Director at the ACLU of Northern California.
Assemblymember Noreen Evans represents the 7th State Assembly District, which includes all of Napa County and portions of Solano and Sonoma Counties. Evans serves as Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee. She just launched a new blog, Evans Budget Blog at http://californiabudget.blogspot.com/.
Steven L. Evans is Conservation Director of Friends of the River, California’s statewide river conservation organization.
Amy Everitt is the State Director of NARAL Pro-Choice California and NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation.
Marta Evry is an Emmy-nominated film editor who has worked in Hollywood for 25 years. Her credits include "House" and "The Pacific." Currently she is working on the ABC-TV show "Castle."
Daniel Farber is the Sho Sato Professor of Law and Chair of the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley. This article originally appeared on the Berkeley Blog.
Noreen Farrell is the Managing Attorney of Equal Rights Advocates.
Stephen Fehr joined Stateline.org in June, 2008 from The Washington Post, where he edited Virginia government and politics coverage. As a reporter at The Post, he covered transportation, development and District of Columbia finances. Before joining The Post, Fehr was a Washington correspondent and Kansas statehouse correspondent for the Kansas City Star. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Fehr is a native of Missouri who grew up in the Los Angeles area. This article originally appeared in stateline.org and is published with their permission.
Kathay Feng is Executive Director of California Common Cause, a non-profit, non-partisan citizens' lobby organization.
Valeria Fernández is an independent journalist and contributor for New America Media in Arizona. For close to a decade she has been covering the politics and the effect of local immigration policies in the border state.
Carl Finamore currently works for Beyond Chron. He was also a UAL baggage handler at SFO and former President (ret), Air Transport Employees, Local Lodge 1781, AFL-CIO.
Netsy Firestein is the founder and Director of the Labor Project for Working Families.
Alan Fisher is Executive Director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, which advocates for the right of low-income communities and communities of color to have fair and equal access to banking and other financial services. CRC has a membership of more than 275 nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the state.
Elana Fishman is the Program and Finance Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. Green Science Policy Institute provides unbiased scientific data to government, industry, and non-governmental organizations to facilitate more informed decision-making about chemicals used in consumer products.
Sara Flocks is the Public Policy Coordinator for the California Labor Federation (CLF). CLF is made up of more than 1,200 AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions, representing 2.1 million union members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries.
Assemblymember Paul Fong represents the 22nd District in the State Assembly.
Jonathan Fox is a Consumer Advocate with the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG).
Since 1980 Terry Francke has been helping journalists, citizens and public officials understand and use their First Amendment, open government and public information rights. Francke and his daughter, Emily, founded Californians Aware, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest organization in the spring of 2004. This article originally appeared on CalAware Today, and is republished with permission.
Publisher, California Progress Report
Ray Gallian is currently on the City of Sonoma Planning Commission, and serves as Congressman Mike Thompson’s alternate on the Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee. He is past president of the Sonoma Valley Democratic Club. He works for a Northern California Utility. Ray’s wife Laurie, currently sits on the Sonoma City Council. Both are active in shaping the Sonoma County Climate Action Plan, currently in rollout for implementation.”
Lt. Governor John Garamendi is running for the Democratic Nomination for the Governor in 2010.
Charles Gardiner is the Executive Director of the Delta Vision Foundation.
Margaret Gaston is the President and Executive Director of the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning.
John Geesman was the attorney member of the California Energy Commission from 2002 to 2008, after a private sector career of nearly 20 years in the bond markets. His first service in government was as Executive Director of the California Energy Commission from 1979 to 1983. A former chair of the California Power Exchange and board member of the California ISO, he is presently the co-Chair of the American Council on Renewable Energy.
Joe Geever is the Southern California Coordinator of the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches.
Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), was elected in October to his second four-year term since first taking office in 2001 after the retirement of former president George Becker.
Ehud Gersten is the Principal Attorney at Gersten Law.
Marshall Getto serves on the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee.
Beth Givens is founder and director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer organization with a two-part mission -- consumer information and consumer advocacy.
Katie Gjertson is the AFL-CIO Western Region field representative and Jodi Reid is the Executive Director of the California Alliance for Retired Americans.
Aaron Glantz is an editor at New America Media and author of numerous books. His most recent is "The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans" (UC Press)
Fred Glass is the communications director with the California Federation of Teachers.
Jim Gogek is a veteran journalist who has written about research-based solutions to alcohol, tobacco and other drug problems for 20 years.
Sam Gold is a former injured worker and operator of the Injured Workers Television Network, an internet based video network.
The California Tax Reform Association (CTRA) is a small non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California. CTRA has advocated for many years for fair taxes in the context of a healthy public sector. CTRA is primarily supported by labor, public health, education, and law enforcement groups.
Kristen is Director of the California Health Program for The Children's Partnership, which works to ensure that all children—especially those at risk of being left behind—have the resources and the opportunities they need to grow up healthy and lead productive lives.
Donald Goldmacher (President of PsychComp Associates) is both a psychiatrist and a filmmaker. He has served as director of Planning for the California Department of Health, and was the director of Mental Health, Alcohol, and Drug Abuse Services of Contra Costa County, CA. Don is in the process of completing a new film called Heist, which tells the story of how corporations and their political allies in Congress, orchestrated the greatest theft in history -- the robbery of Americans' prosperity, savings, and retirement security.
David B. Goldstein is a director of the energy program of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He has worked on energy efficiency and energy policy since the 1970s. He has been instrumental in the development of energy efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances currently in effect at the regional and national level in the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. Dr. Goldstein received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the recipient of its Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002.
Elizabeth Goldstein is the president of the California State Park Foundation. With its 95,000 members, the California State Parks Foundation is the only independent nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing, promoting and advocating for California’s magnificent state parks. For more information about California’s state parks, visit www.calparks.org.
Irene Gonzalez is walking from Bakersfield to Sacramento as part of the March for California’s Future. Irene is a juvenile probation officer in Los Angeles and an executive board member of AFSCME Local 685.
Scott Graves is a senior policy analyst at the California Budget Project (CBP) specializing in health and human services issues. The CBP works to improve public policies that affect low- and middle-income Californians through independent research, budget and policy analysis, and public education.
Kathryn Gray is a graduate of the School of Social Ecology, University of California at Irvine, and Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. She and her husband, Joseph Gray, founded a specialized semiconductor company in 1989. Now retired, they spend their time on environmental causes, including monitoring the large development proposed on Donner Summit.
Communications Manager at Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth by working to eliminate abusive financial practices.
Sherry Greenberg is a long-time Capitol Hill insider and attorney. She is the former Executive Director of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation and continues to work on behalf of California in Washington, DC.
David Greenwald is a contributing writer for the California Progress Report. His online journal The People’s Vanguard of Davis uncovers the news in and around the city of Davis.
Robert Greenwald is a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the founder and president of Brave New Films, a new media company that uses moving images to educate, influence, and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter.
Nichola Groom is a writer for Reuters.
Liza Gross writes for the Environmental Health News, a foundation-funded environmental news service. At www.ehn.org, EHN publishes its own enterprise journalism and provides daily access to worldwide environmental news.
Rose Mary Gudiel is a member of ACCE, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.
Mike Hall is a former West Virginia newspaper reporter, staff writer for the United Mine Workers Journal and managing editor of the Seafarers Log. He came to the AFL- CIO in 1989 and has written for several federation publications, focusing on legislation and politics, especially grassroots mobilization and workplace safety.
Peter Halmay is a commercial sea urchin diver and a former member of the Fish & Wildlife Service’s sea otter recovery implementation team.
Shikha Hamilton is Vice President of the CA Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which educates and mobilize their communities to advocate for sensible responsible gun laws, regulations, and public policies at the local, state, and national levels.
Senator Hancock was elected to the Senate in November 2008. She represents the 9th Senate District, which includes the cities of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, and San Pablo.
Senator Hancock previously served three terms as the representative of the 14th Assembly District, where she chaired the Committee on Natural Resources. Senator Hancock led the Committee to pass historic environmental legislation that protects open space, expands recycling programs and promotes healthy city- infill strategies in the state.
Matt Haney is the Executive Director of the University of California Students Association (UCSA), a coalition of students and student governments that aims to provide a collective voice for all students through advocacy and direct action.
Jay Hansen is the Legislative Director for the CA Building Trades Council, AFL-CIO representing their 350,000 members before the California State Legislature.
Kelly Hardy is Director of Health Policy at Children Now, an organization dedicated to finding common ground among influential opinion leaders, interest groups and policymakers, who together can develop and drive socially innovative, “win-win” approaches to helping all children achieve their full potential.
Stephanie J. Harker is a member of Protect Plummer Park, a small grassroots group of neighbors and local residents in West Hollywood, CA dedicated to saving historic Plummer Park.
Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH, a native San Diegan, is a semi-retired epidemiologist. He has worked in the areas of preventive medicine, infectious diseases, medical outcomes research, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. He is currently active in supporting the adoption of a single-payer health care system in the U.S. For more information on single-payer go to Physicians for a National Health Program’s website at www.pnhp.org
AFSCME local 3299 represents 17,000 workers at the University of California. Our union represents workers from every UC facility in the state, including the ten campuses, five medical centers, agricultural and marine research stations, and all other facilities that employ UC workers. Lakesha Harrison is president of AFSCME local 3299
Marti Hatfield, Co-founder, 21st Century TEA Party for Criminal Justice Reform
Scott Hauge, a small business owner, is founder and president of Small Business California, an organization representing over 4,000 businesses. He was named Small Business Advocate of the Year 2007 by the National Small Business Association (NSBA).
Mark Hedlund serves as the Deputy Communications Director for Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.
Doug Heller is the Executive Director of Consumer Watchdog.
In addition to being Consumer Watchdog's Executive Director, Doug Heller is the organization's lead legislative and regulatory advocate on insurance and energy issues.Mike Herald is a legislative advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty who has advocated on public benefit issues in the state Capitol since 2002.
State Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez is the new chair of the Assmelby Health Committee, and currently represents the 57th District, which includes the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, La Puente, West Covina, Irwindale, Industry, as well as Avocado Heights, Bassett, Citrus, North Whittier, Valinda and other unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.
Irma Herrera is a civil rights attorney who spent nearly 15 years serving as executive director for Equal Rights Advocates.
Ray Hiemstra is the associate director of Orange County Coastkeeper. He lives in Huntington Beach.
Janis R. Hirohama was elected President of the League of Women Voters of California in 2007 and reelected in 2009. She served as First Vice President and as a member of the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of the United States from 2000 to 2004. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, Ms. Hirohama’s areas of professional interest include voting rights and criminal law.
President, California Federation of Teachers
Scott is a policy researcher at Strengthen Social Security Campaign.
Paul Hogarth is the Managing Editor of Beyond Chron, an alternative online daily newspaper, with whose permission this article is republished.
Tom Hogen-Esch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Cal State Northridge.
Richard Holober is the Executive Director of the non-profit Consumer Federation of California a leading consumer advocacy organization.
Cheryl Houk, BSBA, has worked in the alcohol and drug treatment/recovery and prevention field in California for 25 years and served as the executive director of Stepping Stone of San Diego, Inc. for 17 years. She has also served as a board member of the California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources for two six-year terms and participated on a number of special committees for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
Lisa Hoyos is the California Coordinator for the Apollo Alliance.
Rachele Huennekens is Grassroots Media Coordinator for the Sierra Club.
Jared Huffman represents Marin and Sonoma counties in the California State Assembly. Before his election, as a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and as president of the Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors, Assemblyman Huffman worked to protect Marin County’s creeks, fisheries and drinking water. He is Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is “How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge” (Middle Passage Press).
Chuch Idelson is the Communications Director for the California Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee
Robert Illes is an Emmy winning television writer and producer, currently developing series for Nickelodeon and TV Land. He is an LA native, and a graduate of USC, who lived in Sherman Oaks for 23 years before escaping to Santa Monica (but visits a lot). A member of Valley Democrats United, Bob is also an AirAmericaRadio freak, active in the Writers Guild mentor program, as well as the Democratic Party, and is constantly Bush bashing, fighting for verifiable voting procedures, and fighting against Jerry’s Deli showing Fox News on their overhead TVs. What’s the matter with those people!? Internet radio show “Funny is Money” starring Bob Illes is now on nightly at 7 PM Pacific time www.shokusradio.com CHECK IT OUT!
Jakada Imani is the Executive Director of The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a non-profit strategy and action center working for justice, opportunity and peace in urban America.
Elizabeth Imholz is the Director of Special Projects for Consumers Union and is an advocate for them in Sacramento on policy issues related to insurance, health care, trade school regulation, and general consumer protection. She previously headed the West Coast office of CU and has worked as an attorney representing consumers.
Alex Jackson is a Sustainable Energy Fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Hannah-Beth Jackson is the President of Speak Out California. She also served six years in the California State Assembly, representing the 35th District encompassing Ventura, Oxnard and much of Santa Barbara County. She served as Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection and Co-Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Title IX. Other leadership positions included serving as chair of the Legislative Womens Caucus and chair of the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
Ken Jacobs is the Chair of the Labor Center, where he as been a Labor Specialist since 2002. His areas of specialization include: health care coverage, low-wage work, the retail industry and public policy. Recent papers have examined declining job-based health coverage in California and the U.S., the public cost of low-wage jobs, and transformations in the retail industry.
Rick Jacobs is the founder and chair of the Courage Campaign. He chaired the presidential campaign of Howard Dean in California and serves as Senior Advisor to Democracy for America. The Courage Campaign is an online organizing network empowering nearly 100,000 members to make this a new era for progressive politics in California. In 2008, the Courage Campaign will work with grassroots and netroots activists to increase California's importance in the race for the White House, hold our elected officials accountable, and defeat the November initiative that would ban marriage equality.
Louis Jacobson is the editor of CongressNow, an online publication launched in 2007 that covers legislation and policy in Congress and is affiliated with Roll Call newspaper in Washington, D.C. Jacobson originated the “Out There” column in 2004 as a feature for Roll Call, where he served as deputy editor. Earlier, Jacobson spent 11 years with National Journal covering lobbying, politics and policy, and served as a contributing writer for two of its affiliates, CongressDaily and Government Executive. He also was a contributing writer to The Almanac of American Politics and has done political handicapping of state legislatures for both The Rothenberg Political Report and The Cook Political Report. This article originally appeared in stateline.org and is published with their permission.
Valerie Jaffee is a spokesperson for La Onda Verde, the Latino arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council. She conducts outreach to the Hispanic community on range of issues, including climate change, clean energy and protecting public health.
Madeline Janis is co-founder and executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. She is also a Senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and led the historic campaign to pass L.A.’s living wage ordinance, which has since become a national model.
Michael’s been a law school and graduate school, the latter in English literature, and dabbled in human rights law before coming to NRDC. In the last few years he’s focused on marine mammal conservation.
Alan Jenkins is Executive Director of The Opportunity Agenda, a communications, research, and advocacy organization with the mission of building the national will to expand opportunity in America.
Geri Jenkins is a UC San Diego RN and a co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
Chris Jensen is the Advocate/Community Organizer for Resources for Independent Living (RIL), a non-profit agency promoting the socio-economic independence of persons with disabilities by providing peer-supported, consumer-directed independent living services and advocacy. We serve both Sacramento, and Yolo counties. Chris is also a catechist at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, CA.
Chantel Johnson is a graduate student at USC and the Legislative Coordinator for California Youth Connection.
Dave Johnson is the founder and principal author at Seeing the Forest, a web magazine investigating how the right is beating the Democrats. He is a fellow at the Commonweal Institute, a Board of Directors member of Media Transparency, an advisor to The Philanthropy Network, and a member of the Netroots Advisory Council of the Drum Major Institute. This article originally appeared on Seeing the Forest and is republished with permission.
Mike Johnson is a lifelong resident of Chico, CA. He graduated from Chico State with a BA in Anthropology and History and a Teaching Credential. In 2002 and 2004 he was the Democratic Candidate for Congress from the 2nd Congressional District. In 2006 and 2008 he helped Paul Singh with his State Senate and Assembly Campaigns.
Rachel Johnson is an intern at the California Labor Federation.
Rachel Johnson interns at the California Labor Federation.
Tammy Johnson is Director of Strategic Partnerships at Applied Research Center. Johnson has authored and edited several reports on race and equity, including five editions of the California Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity.
Allen Jones is a prison reform activist of 20 years. He lives in San Francisco and his new clemency plan can be viewed at: californiaclemency.blogstream.com
Dave Jones is a California Assembly Member the 9th District.
Kimberly S. Jones is the policy advocate for the California Reinvestment Coalition, which advocates for the right of low-income communities and communities of color to have fair and equal access to banking and other financial services. CRC has a membership of more than 275 nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the state.
Van Jones is the co-founder and president of Rebuild the Dream.
Thomas Jue and Jerold Theis are professors at the University of California Davis, who must take mandatory furloughs.
Dan Kalb is California Policy Manager at Union of Concerned Scientists.
Zack Kaldveer is the Communications Director for the Consumer Federation of California
Jelger Kalmijn is President of the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) Communication Workers of America 9119 . Leland Yee is a California State Senator representing District 8 (San Francisco/San Mateo)
Alan Kandel is a concerned California resident advocating for new, improved and expanded freight (and passenger) rail service. He is a retired railroad signalman previously employed by the Union Pacific Railroad in Fremont, California.
Samuel S. Kang is general counsel at The Greenlining Institute.
Jonathan Kaplan is an educational policy analyst at the California Budget Project (CBP). Prior to joining the CBP, he taught law and United States history in Martinez, California.
Dr. Karim Reef is an Addiction Medicine Physician, Psychiatrist, Member of the California Society of Addiction Medicine, an Assistant Clinical Professor at Semel Institute for Neuroscience and the Founder and Director of the Control Center for Addictions.
As the Campaign Director for Free Press and SavetheInternet.com, Karr oversees campaigns on public broadcasting and noncommercial media, fake news and propaganda, journalism in crisis, and the future of the Internet. Before joining Free Press, Tim served as executive director of MediaChannel.org and vice president of Globalvision New Media and the Globalvision News Network.
Ashley Katz is the Executive Director of Patient Privacy Rights (PPR), a non-profit health privacy watchdog.
Dr. Mitchell H. Katz is the Director of Health for the City and County of San Francisco.
Fred Keeley is the elected Treasurer of the County of Santa Cruz. He is also a member of the Leadership Council of California Forward. He served in the California State Assembly from 1996-2002, representing the Monterey Bay area.
Tom Kelly is the director of KyotoUSA.
In January, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson named University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law Professor Clark Kelso as the new federal receiver overseeing health care for California prisons. For a more complete biography of Mr. Kelso, visit the website of the University of the Pacific.
Ken Jacobs is the Chair of the UC Labor Center, where he has been a labor specialist since 2002. His areas of specialization include: health care coverage, low-wage work, the retail industry and public policy. His recent publications include Secure and Affordable Health Care Act of 2008: Impact on Payroll Costs in California, with Dave Graham-Squire.
Kate Kendell is the Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.
Lakshmi Hannah Kerner works in the Human Resources Office at Peralta Community College District in Oakland. After meeting Barack Obama in February 2007, she engaged the services of a graphic artist to create her “Barack Obama Mama” logo; a friend then created a website for her, barackobamamama.com, where she tells the story of meeting Barack and the impact he has had on her life. On her website there is a link to her Barack Obama Mama Store where she sells items such as tee-shirts, hoodies and other apparel, mugs, note cards, buttons, bumper stickers, etc. Lakshmi sends 100% of the proceeds of all sales to Barack Obama’s campaign. She is the proud and loving single mother of her bi-racial son Derek, and she has a strong heartfelt connection with Barack and his mother.
Judy Kerr is spokeswoman and victim liaison for California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. View the website at: www.crimevictims.org
Bob Kerrey is president of The New School and winner of The Congressional Medal of Honor.
David Kersten is an independent consultant who specializes in public policy research and analysis.
Alice Kessler is the Government Affairs Director for Equality California. EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people.
As a staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Taryn Kiekow works on the issue of undersea noise pollution and ways to preserve key marine mammal species and their habitats.
Jonathan Kim is an independent film critic. He writes and produces movie reviews for ReThinkReviews.net, which focuses on the political aspects of current and past films.
Rose King is a political and policy consultant, and a family member of individuals with serious mental illness. As Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Leo McCarthy, she initiated a state Task Force on Serious Mental Illness that developed landmark legislation in 1988. She worked with a drafting committee for Prop 63, and served as principal consultant to then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer to launch the MHSA Oversight and Accountability Commission during Lockyer's tenure on the OAC in 2005-07.
Tara Kini is a staff attorney with Public Advocates Inc. a nonprofit law firm and advocacy group. For more information, see www.publicadvocates.org.
Jason Kinney, a veteran political/communications strategist and co-Publisher of the California Majority Report, is a Principal in California Strategies LLC, one of the state's premier public affairs consulting firms.
John Kirk is a former Chief Grievance Officer for AFT.
Jason Kletter received his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology. He is President of Bay Area Addiction Research and Treatment, and also President of the California Opioid Maintenance Providers (COMP), the statewide coalition of drug treatment providers, and serves on the national board of American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD).
Paul Kleyman directs the Ethnic Elders Newsbeat at New America Media. He was editor of "Aging Today," newspaper of the American Society on Aging for 20 years, and he founded and heads the Journalists Network on Generations.
Katherine Kneer is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
Kathy Kneer is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
Kathy Kneer is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
Before being named President of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation, Kolbert was a Senior Research Administrator with the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Executive Producer of Justice Talking, an award-winning weekly public radio show about law and American life. Kolbert has been recognized repeatedly by The National Law Journal as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America," and named by The American Lawyer as one of 45 public interest lawyers "whose vision and commitment are changing lives."
Annette Kondo is the Communications Director of the The Wilderness Society. The Wilderness Society advocates for all Americans who cherish wilderness and the natural world. Their goal is to ensure that future generations will enjoy, as we do today, the clean air and water, wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and renewal that pristine forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide.
Deborah Kong is communications director at Preschool California, a statewide nonprofit organization working to increase high-quality early learning opportunities for all of California’s children, starting with those who need it most.
Geoff Kors is Executive Director of the Equality California PAC, a sponsored committee of Equality California. EQCA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. EQCA is one of the leading statewide LGBT organizations in the country.
Barry A. Krisberg has been the president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) since 1983. He is known nationally for his research and expertise on juvenile and criminal justice issues and is called upon as a resource for professionals and the media. Dr. Krisberg received his master’s degree in criminology and a doctorate in sociology, both from the University of Pennsylvania. He has held several educational posts. He was a faculty member in the School of Criminology at the University of California at Berkeley. He was also an adjunct professor with the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaii. He is currently a lecturer in the Law School and Legal Studies Department of the University of California at Berkeley.
Sheila Kuehl served for eight years in the State Senate and six years in the State Assembly. Senator Kuehl served as chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee from 2000-2006. Her website is www.sheilakuehl.org
Stephen Kulieke is a communications/public affairs professional in Sacramento and a former news editor and reporter.
Barbara Kyle is the national coordinator of the Electronics Takeback Coalition (ETBC), which promotes green design and responsible recycling in the electronics industry.
Katie Laackman is a Senior at River City High School.
Andrew Lachman is a member of the Democratic National Committee and President of Democrats for Israel Los Angeles.
John Laird has been named chair of the Special Session Assembly Budget Committee, which will hold a hearing in Sacramento on Friday. Mr. Laird represents the 27th Assembly District.
George Lakoff is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley.
Andrew Lam writes for New America Media and is the author of East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres.
Trent Lange is President of the California Clean Money Campaign.
Montae Langston is an undergraduate student at UCLA and a member of the LA chapter of California Youth Connection.
Leslie Layton reports for New America Media.
Wendy Lazarus Is the Founder and Co-President of The Children’s Partnership, which advocates for improvements in child health care. Ms. Lazarus has been involved in advocacy for health coverage for all children for more than 35 years.
Barbara Coombs Lee, is President of Compassion & Choices, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life. As a national organization with over 60 local affiliates and 30,000 members, we help patients and their loved ones face the end of life with calm facts and choices of action during a difficult time. We also aggressively pursue legal reform to promote pain care, put teeth in advance directives and legalize physician aid in dying.
Eric is a 21- year-old recent graduate of UC Davis who has been active in student anti-austerity protests for the past three years. He is a native of Santa Rosa.
Elected to the Senate in 2008, Senator Mark Leno represents the 3rd District, which includes Marin, and portions of San Francisco and Sonoma Counties. He is the first openly gay man elected to the State Senate, and one of the first two openly gay men ever elected to the Assembly. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served six years in the State Assembly and four and a half years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
The Center for Responsible Lending is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth by working to eliminate abusive financial practices.
Linda Leu is a health care policy analyst for Health Access California, a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups.
Brian Leubitz publishes Calitics.com a leading California progressive blog covering California politics. He holds a law degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P) from the Goldman School at The University of California, Berkeley. After practicing law in San Francisco, Brian transitioned into politics. He is a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, serves on the CDP's resolutions committee, and is on the boards of the San Francisco Young Democrats and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.
Isaac Lev Szmonko is a member of Critical Resistance, and a part of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a statewide alliance of over 40 organizations seeking to control prison spending by reducing the number of people in prison and the number of prisons in the state.
Lloyd Edward Levine is a Democrat who represented California's 40th State Assembly district between December 2002 and November 2008.
David Lewis is the Executive Director of Save the Bay
Robert Lieber, RN, works in infant critical care and is a member of the Albany City Council.
Assemblymember Ted Lieu is Chair of the California Assembly Rules Committee and the author of the California Foreclosure Prevention Act that some are calling one of the most comprehensive and important new laws in the country to stem the tide of foreclosures. Recently signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, the California Foreclosure Prevention Act will impose a 90 day foreclosure moratorium unless a lender offers a comprehensive loan modification program designed to keep people in their homes.
Amos Lim is a founding board member of Out4Immigration, a group advocating for bi-national same-sex couples.
Maggie Shandera Linden has more than 25 years of experience working in local, state and national politics, public affairs and community relations. She has worked in the halls of Congress, as well as the Capitols of California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington D.C. She co-managed the Campaign for Teen Safety (No on Prop 73 and No on Prop 85) and is one of the campaign consultants for No on Proposition 4.
Harry Liquornik is a commercial sea urchin diver and serves as chairman of the California Sea Urchin Commission.
After working for years in the healthcare industry, LjRose returned to school last year to complete an MFA in film from California Institute of the Arts and has joined the ranks of community college teachers with neither job nor health insurance.
The three-member PMIB is comprised of the State Treasurer, State Controller and State Director of Finance. The State Treasurer chairs the panel.
Mario Lopez is a Senior Political Science and Public Policy Minor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Co-Founder of the Bay Area DREAM Act Coalition, a multi-ethnic youth coalition in pursuit of the passage of the DREAM Act.
Jack Loveridge is a Policy Analyst for Justice Matters, a national racial justice organization whose mission is rooted in the values & vision of communities of color.
Dave Low is the Chairman of Californians for Health Care and Retirement Security. This post originally appeared on www.PublicCEO.com
Frank Lowenstein is the director of climate change adaptation for The Nature Conservancy. During his 17 years with the Conservancy, Frank has helped lead forest health and forest conservation work in the northeastern United States and internationally. Outside of work, Frank is an avid outdoorsman and gardener, and an occasional banjo player.
Reporter Rebecca Rosen Lum has spent the past 25 years in the news business, most recently as the religion reporter at the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek). Now an independent journalist based in San Francisco, she serves as the chair of the freelance unit of California Media Workers, a union local that represents workers at Northern California's largest newspapers.
Carl Luna is a professor of Political Science at San Diego Mesa College and a lecturer on politics and international political economy at the University of San Diego. Carl writes for CityBeat semi-regularly where this article first appeared. It is published with his permission.Carl Luna is a professor of Political Science at San Diego Mesa College and a lecturer on politics and international political economy at the University of San Diego. Carl writes for CityBeat semi-regularly where this article first appeared. It is published with his permission.
Christopher Lund is Director of Communications for the Fair Rent Coalition in East Palo Alto.
Carole Lutness is a Valencia resident, Democratic activist and chairwoman of Democratic Neighbors of the 38th Assembly District. Her column reflects her own views and not necessarily those of The Signal. "Democratic Voices" appears Tuesdays in The Signal and rotates among local Democratic writers.
Kevin Lynn is a political activist and former delegate and member of the Executive Board to the California Democratic Party representing the 46th Assembly District which includes the Downtown Core, Little Tokyo, China Town, Boyle Heights and parts of East and South Los Angeles.
Mary Lyon is a veteran broadcaster ad five-time Golden Mike Award winner, who has anchored, reported, and written for the Associated Press Radio Network, NBC Radio "The Source," and many Los Angeles-area stations including KRTH-FM/AM, KLOS-FM, KFWB-AM, and KTLA-TV, and occasional media analyst for ABC Radio News. She began her career as a liberal activist with the Student Coalition for Humphrey/Muskie in 1968, and helped spearhead a regional campaign, "The Power 18," to win the right to vote for 18-year-olds. She remains an advocate for liberal causes, responsibility and accountability in media, environmental education and support of the arts for children, and green living. In addition to OpEdNews, Mary writes for Democrats.us, World News Trust, and WeDemocrats.org's "We! The People" webzine. Mary is also a parenting expert, having written and illustrated the book "The Frazzled Working Woman's Practical Guide to Motherhood."
Dr. Joseph K. Lyou is President & CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air.
Daniel Macallair is the Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice and teaches in the Department of Criminal Justice Studies at San Francisco State University.
David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and author, was a former union rep.
Jeremy Madsen it the Executive Director of the Greenbelt Alliance. From 2001 to 2005, he was Greenbelt Alliance's Field Director, leading the organization's policy campaigns and supervising the work of all its field offices. Previously at the San Francisco Foundation he helped to launch the Great Communities Collaborative and supported social equity, affordable housing, and smart growth efforts around the Bay Area. He holds a master's degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon.
Bill Magavern is the Director of the Sierra Club California.
David Mandel is the Program Manager and Supervising Attorney for the Senior Legal Hotline.
Jim Mangia is president & CEO of St. John’s Well Child and Family Centers, a network of federally qualified health centers in South Los Angeles which serve more than 140,000 patient visits each year.
Peter Manzo is President & CEO of United Ways of California. United Ways of California raises millions a year to address important community issues including health and human services. Their mission is to work together to build a stronger California by mobilizing our communities' public, private and non-profit sectors through research, civic engagement, public policy advocacy and results based funding to ensure a positive impact in our communities.
Richard A. Marcantonio is Managing Attorney at Public Advocates Inc.
Mark Mardon edits publications for Forests Forever. He has covered environmental issues extensively, including as staff writer and associate editor of Sierra, the Sierra Club’s flagship publication, from 1987-1994.
Michael Markarian is executive vice president of the Humane society of the United States.
Malinda Markowitz is a registered nurse and a co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
Sarah Mart, MS, MPH, is the Research&Policy Manager of the Marin Institute, an organization that fights to protect the public from the impact of the alcohol industry’s negative practices. We monitor and expose the alcohol industry’s harmful actions related to products, promotions and social influence, and support communities in their efforts to reject these damaging activities.
Scott Martelle is a veteran journalist, including 12 years at the Los Angeles Times. He currently writes for Protect Consumer Justice, a project of Civil Justice Research & Education Project. The site’s goal is to honestly report on consumer, legal and political issues important to the American civil justice system.
Jim Martin is a Trustee of the California Fisheries Coalition and the West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. He has been engaged in the MPA adoption process since 2004.
Judith Martin, MD, is the Medical Director of BAART Turk Street Clinic in San Francisco, CA. She is also the President of the California Society of Addiction Medicine.
Nina is an editor for New America Media, the country's first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations.
Rosa Martinez is a health program manager at The Greenlining Institute, www.greenlining.org.
Evan Mascagni is an attorney at the California Anti-SLAPP Project.
Paul Mason has been a legislative representative for Sierra Club California since 2002.
JP Massar is a software engineer and has written numerous diaries on Daily Kos (jpmassar). He lives in Berkeley, CA.
Megan Matson is a grassroots political consultant and founder/director of the non-profit Mainstreet Moms Organize or Bust (theMMOB.org). After working to support Marin Clean Energy with grassroots advocacy and outreach support through its successful launch as California's first CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) in May of last year, Megan most recently worked with CREDO/Working Assets on the Stop Texas Oil's Prop 23 campaign.
Steven Maviglio is a Sacramento-based public affairs and political consultant. He is the former Deputy Chief of Staff to Speakers Karen Bass and Fabian Nunez. This article originally appeared in the California Majority Report.
John McCarthy, M.D., psychiatrist and Medical Director of Bi-Valley Medical Clinic in Sacramento.
Louise McCarthy is CEO of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County.
Todd McFarren, President of California Applicants Attorneys’ Association. He practices law in Watsonville and has served two terms as city’s mayor.
Justin McLachlan is based in San Diego and blogs at justinmclachlan.com. He has additional clips available at http://mediabistro.com/justinmclachlan. He studied journalism as a graduate student at West Virginia University and some of his work has placed in competitions held by the Online News Association and Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Steve Mehlman is Communications Director of the 65,000-member UDW Homecare Providers Union, California's only union made up entirely of homecare workers.
Vibhuti Mehra is the Communications & Development Director at the Labor Project for Working Families.
Dick Meister is a San Francisco-based freelance writer whose columns and articles on labor, politics, international affairs, the media, sports, historical events, foreign and domestic travel and other matters have been used over a half-century by more than 350 print,
broadcast and online outlets. He also co-authored
a history of farm labor, "A Long Time Coming,"
published by Macmillan.Dr. Andy Merrifield teaches classes in the Masters in Public Administration program on non-profit leadership, board management, budgeting and administrative ethics.
Jim Metropulos has been a legislative representative at Sierra Club California since the beginning of 2002. Before coming to the Sierra Club, he was committee counsel to the Washington State Senate's Environment, Energy and Water Resources Committee. He focuses on energy, water quality, water supply, parks and off-highway vehicles, wetlands and flood control issues.
Li Miao Lovett is an award-winning writer telling stories of cultural and environmental change.
Michael Miiller is the endorsement committee chair of CAPPAC, California’s first LGBT political action committee. CAPPAC is a non-partisan political action committee formed to promote the civil rights and ensure the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people through the political process. CAPPAC focuses on California's capital region and on races and initiatives of statewide importance to the LGBT community.
Steven Mikulan is editor of the Frying Pan, a blog on the current economy and our collective efforts to create a new and better one.
Linda Milazzo is Managing Editor of OpedNews, a participatory journalist, and educator. Since 1974, she has divided her time between the entertainment industry, government organizations, community development projects, and educational programs.
Jenesse Miller is the Communications Director for the California League of Conservation Voters.
Jim Miller is an English and Labor Studies instructor at San Diego City College.
Mike Miller directs the San Francisco-based ORGANIZE Training Center. He was a founder and chairperson of the Citizens Action League (CAL).
Peter Miller is a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Casey Mills is an environmental and land use consultant and the former Managing Editor of Beyond Chron, an alternative online daily newspaper, with whose permission this article is republished.. He currently lives in Sacramento.
Wu Ming is the nom de blog used by a graduate student in Yolo County at the site Surf Putah where this article originally appeared. This article is republished with his permission.
Natasha Minsker is death penalty policy director of the ACLU of Northern California. The People’s Budget Fix coalition includes the ACLU of Northern California, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Drug Policy Alliance, and Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes.
Shannon Price Minter is the Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), one of the nation's leading advocacy organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Jonas Minton is the Water Policy Advisor for the Planning and Conservation League. Mr. Minton previously served California as a Deputy Director at the Department of Water Resources and chaired the State Desalination Task Force.
Bill Monning is a candidate for the 27th Assembly District. His positions on issues can be found on the campaign website at www.billmonning.org .
Leila Monroe is a Staff Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council's Oceans Program.
Chris Moore is the Deputy Director of Political Affairs at Equality California.
Doug Moore is executive director of the 65,000-member UDW Homecare Providers Union, California's only union made up entirely of homecare workers.
Dan Morain, who worked for the Los Angeles Times for 27 years, is communications director for Consumer Attorneys of California.
Pedro Morillas joined CALPIRG’s advocacy team as its Sacramento-based Legislative Advocate in August 2007. Prior to that, for two years he directed citizen outreach offices for CALPIRG in Santa Cruz and San Diego, building citizen support for CALPIRG campaigns to improve drug safety, enact lobby reforms in Congress, and invest in public transit, among others.
Harry Moroz is a research associate at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Law, Letters, and Society. At Chicago, he wrote his honors thesis on alternative voting systems, focusing on the impact that the cumulative vote had on the political behavior of Illinois state representatives and their constituents. Harry studied Latin American media and immigration issues during a Koch fellowship in Washington D.C. and interned at the office of Senator Joseph Biden. This article originally appeared in the DMI blog and is republished with their permission.
Simon Mui is a scientist in San Francisco with NRDC’s Clean Vehicles and Fuels program.
Dean Murakami is a Professor of psychology at the Los Rios Community College District, and a vice-president of the California Federation of Teachers.
Mark Murray is the Executive Director of the environmental group Californians Against Waste (CAW). He lobbies for CAW and is recognized as one of the environmental communities leading experts on waste prevention and recycling policies. CAW has been actively involved in the development, negotiation and passage of virtually every piece of waste reduction and recycling legislation enacted in California.
Assemblymember Pedro Nava represents the 35th Assembly District, including Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Barbara. He Chairs the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee. In addition, he serves as the State Assembly representative on the California Ocean Protection Council and serves on the California Coastal Conservancy.
Annette Nellen, CPA, Esq. is a professor of accounting and taxation at San José State University. For more information on California and federal tax reform, see www.cob.sjsu.edu/nellen_a/TaxReform/21st_century_taxation.htm. Professor Nellen previously wrote about the formation of the commission; see California Progress Report, A Tax Commission for California? How It Can Be Made to Work (7/27/08).
Barry Nelson is a Senior Water Policy Analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Joseph Nevins is an associate professor of geography at Vassar College. Among his books are Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid, and Operation Gatekeeper and Beyond: The War on "Illegals" and the Remaking of the U.S. Mexico Boundary.
Daniel Newman is the Co-founder and Executive Director of MAPLight.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, provides citizens and journalists the transparency tools to shine a light on the influence of money on politics.
Nathan Newman, a lawyer and Ph.D., has an extensive history of supporting local policy campaigns, from coalition organizing work to drafting legislation. Previous to coming to Progressive States Network, he was Associate Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, Program Director of NetAction's Consumer Choice Campaign, co-director of the UC-Berkeley Center for Community Economic Research, and a labor and employment lawyer. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and has written extensively about public policy and the legal system in a range of academic and popular journals.
Jimmy Nguyen works for Equality California.
Ngoc worked as an environment reporter for the Sacramento Bee. She was also editor of NHA Magazine, a national bilingual Vietnamese American publication in California. She has reported for Pacifica Radio since 2001, from South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
Linda Nicholes is a co-founder and board member of Plug In America. Linda has been driving via electrons in electric cars for eight years.
Mary D. Nichols was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as Chair of the California Air Resources Board in July 2007. She returned to the Air Board 30 years after serving as CARB Chair from 1978 to 1983. Nichols has devoted her entire career in public and private, not-for-profit service to advocating for the environment and public health. She has held a number of positions, including: assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air and Radiation program under the Clinton Administration, Secretary for California's Resources Agency from 1999 to 2003, and Director of the University of California, Los Angeles Institute of the Environment.
Kevin Nida is the president of the California State Firefighters' Association.
Andrea Christina Nill is a Communications Associate at the Immigration Policy Center, an immigration research organization dedicated to guiding a rational debate on immigration in the U.S.
Nadra Kareem has written for a wide range of print and online publications. She currently writes about diversity issues at About.com.
With the support of more than a quarter of a million California members and activists and a staff of scientists, policy experts and attorneys, NRDC plays a key role in crafting policies to safeguard clean air and water and protect California's renowned landscapes. NRDC plays an important role in state legislation, pending administrative decisions, and efforts to solve California's most pressing environmental problems.
Zachary Norris is the Director of Books Not Bars, a campaign of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
Ann Notthoff is Natural Resources Defense Council's California advocacy director. She coordinates statewide campaigns and represents NRDC in the state capitol on a wide range of issues including global warming, water policy and coast and ocean protection.
Sherry Novick is the executive director of the First 5 Association, which represents the 58 county First 5 commissions.
Since the mid 1980's Irwin Nowick has worked for the California State Assembly and State Senate on a plethora of policy issues, most notably firearms legislation. He has been described as "The Assembly's resident genius" by a former Speaker of the Assembly and is seen frequently in the Capitol hallways and offices assisting legislators in drafting and amending pending legislation.
Barbara O'Brien is a left wing blogger who writes the blog Mahablog. O'Brien's book Blogging America Political Discourse in a Digital Nation discusses the changes blogging has made in America's political culture, and the left-right debate. O'Brien is a strong advocate of blogging as a means of giving the public power in the media, as well as opposing the Iraq War. O'Brien also writes and edits the Buddhism topic at About.com.
Lucas O'Connor manages IssaExposed.com for the Courage Campaign. He is a member of the editorial board at Calitics and has worked with on a number of political campaigns.
Enrique C. Ochoa is a Professor of History and Director of Latin American Studies at the California State University, Los Angeles.
Elisa Odabashian is the West Coast Director of the Consumers Union.
Gilbert Ojeda is CPAC’s director and a leading expert on health care issues pertaining to immigrants, the working poor, those with limited English, and medically uninsured populations.
Marty Omoto is Executive Director ofthe California Disability Community Action Network, a non-partisan link to thousands of Californians with developmental and other disabilities, people with traumatic brain injuries, the blind, the deaf, their families, community organizations and providers, direct care, homecare and other workers, and other advocates to provide information on state and local public policy issues.
Elected to the Assembly in 2000 and the Senate in 2006, Jenny Oropeza is one of the highest-ranking Latinos in the Legislature and chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus. For more, visit www.senate.ca.gov/oropeza
Araceli Martínez Ortega is the Sacramento correspondent for La Opinion in Los Angeles. This is the second of two articles written under New America Media’s 2010 Ethnic Elders Fellowship program sponsored by The Atlantic Philanthropies.
Deborah Ortiz is a former State Senator who served California’s 6th District from 1998 to 2006 after serving two years in the Assembly. She was also author of Cal Grant Scholarship Guarantee Program.
Chloe Osmer is the Strategic Coordinator for the CLEAN Carwash Campaign.
Nicole is the Technology and Civil Liberties Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California
Jack O’Connell was elected to as State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2002 and was reelected in 2006. He had previously served in the State Assembly for the 35th AD from 1983 to 1995. He was elected to the 18th State Senate District in 1994 and served until 2003.
Mr. O’Day is Executive Director of Environment Now, a foundation dedicated to preserving and restoring California’s environment.
Wayne Pacelle is president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.
Valerie Pacino is a Sightline Intern and a Master of Public Health student.
Joshua Page is an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of the new book The Toughest Beat: Politics, Punishment, and the Prison Officers Union in California (Oxford University Press). For information about The Toughest Beat, visit http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Sociology/CriminalJustice/....
Carli Paine is the Transportation Program Director for the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC). Before she worked for TALC, she was an Associate City Planner and an Assistant City Planner in the Bay Area. For more information on the proposed cuts and attempts to protect these funds for public transit visit the Transportation and Land Use Coalition site or contact Carli Paine at carli@transcoalition.org.
Joseph Palermo is Associate Professor of American History at CSU, Sacramento. He’s the author of two books on Robert F. Kennedy: In His Own Right (2001) and RFK (2008).
Richard Pan, MD, MPH is Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of California, Davis. A national leader in medical education and community health, he serves on the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education and the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education and was Pediatric Residency Program Director at UC Davis.
James Park is the Senior Writer of the AFL-CIO Blog.
Eva Paterson is the Director & Co-Founder, Equal Justice Society, a national strategy group heightening consciousness on race in the law and popular discourse.
Mark Paul, senior scholar at the New America Foundation, was formerly deputy treasurer of California and deputy editorial page editor of the Sacramento Bee. This article was originally published in New America Voices, and is republished with their permission.
Lou Paulson is President of California Professional Firefighters, the largest California organization representing over firefighters with over 30,000 members. Bob Wolf is President of the California Department of Forestry (CDF) Firefighters. CAL FIRE (CDF) is the largest fire department in California and the third largest fire department in the United States.
Columnist Neal Peirce is chairman of the Citistates Group, a network of journalists and speakers who believe that successful metropolitan regions are today's key to economic competitiveness and sustainable communities.
Willie Pelote is a political and legislative advocated for AFSCME. AFSCME’s 1.6 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations — from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers — AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families. He can be contacted using the following information:
John Perez is a California assembly member representing the 46th district.
Elena Perez-Davis is the Communications Director for the California National Organization for Women.
Noel Perry is the Founder of Next 10, an independent, nonpartisan organization that educates, engages and empowers Californians to improve the state’s future.
Pat Person, incoming president-elect of the California Pharmacists Association, is a registered pharmacist at Ming & H Drugs in Bakersfield.
Tom Peterson works for the Association of California Healthcare Districts
Peter Phillips is a professor of sociology at Sonoma State University, President of Media Freedom Foundation, and recent past director of Project Censored.
Robert Phillips is the Director of Health and Human Services for The California Endowment.
Travis Plunkett is the Legislative Director of the Consumer Federation of America, a non-profit association of more than 280 groups that, since 1968, has sought to advance the consumer interest through advocacy and education.
Vivian Po is a staff reporter for New America Media.
Ryan Poliakoff is the co-author of New Neighborhoods: The Consumer’s Guide to Condominium, Co-Op and HOA Living, and Vice President of The Ocean Palms Association, Inc. For more information, please visit www.newneighborhoodspublishing.com.
Dick Poole is the owner of San Francisco-based Pro-Troll Products, a company that creates and markets innovative fishing and marine products. He is a strong advocate of fisheries restoration and makes every effort to support those organizations that work to restore California fisheries. The company is member of the American Sportfishing Association, The Northwest Sportfishing Industry Alliance, Coastside Fishing Club of California and numerous other non-profit groups.
Isaiah J. Poole has been the editor of OurFuture.org since 2007 and also directs the Campaign for America's Future's online communications.
Carl Pope is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club. Pope was appointed to his position as Executive Director in 1992.
Patrick Porgans and author Lloyd G. Carter are involved in publishing a series of articles, entitled: “Doubts About the Drought." For more information you can Google Hay! Doubts About the Drought, or visit the following websites; http://www.planetarysolutionaries.org and http://www.lloydgcarter.com blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/.../hay-doubts-about-the-drought/?
Assemblymember Anthony Portantino was elected to serve the 44th Assembly District in November, 2006. Anthony currently serves as the Chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Higher Education and is a member of the Transportation, Government Organization and Public Safety Standing Committees. He is also a member of the Assembly Select Committees on the Preservation of the California’s Entertainment Industry, Foster Care, and Community Colleges.
Kevin Powers serves as CALPIRG’s State Field Organizer.
PPIC is dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research on major economic, social, and political issues. The institute was established in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett. As a private operating foundation, PPIC does not take or support positions on any ballot measure or on any local, state, or federal legislation, nor does it endorse, support, or oppose any political parties or candidates for public office.
Pamela M. Prah is a veteran Washington reporter with some 20 years reporting experience, including stints at Kiplinger, The Bureau of National Affairs, McGraw-Hill and Congressional Quarterly. She has covered legislative, regulatory and political developments affecting states, business, organized labor and education. Her reporting has been cited in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and C-SPAN. She has a master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University and a journalism degree from Ohio University. She also is an adjunct journalism professor at American University. Contact her at pprah@stateline.org. This article originally appeared in stateline.org and is published with their permission.
Dean Preston is the Executive Director of Tenants Together, California’s statewide organization for renters’ rights.
J.G. Preston is the Press Secretary at the Consumer Attorney's of California.
Chris Prevatt is the Chair for the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club-Orange County and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2004. He is the publisher of The Liberal OC where this article first appeared. It is republished with his permission.
Dick Price is the editor of LA Progressive. and his wife, Sharon Kyle is its publisher. They publish several other print and online newsletters on political and social justice issues.
Heather Pritchard is a blogger, parent and Democratic Delegate who lives in South Orange County.
Art Pulaski is Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which represents 2.1 million members of 1,200 manufacturing, service, construction, and public sector unions.
Hanh Kim Quach is the Health Care Policy Coordinator for Health Access California. Before joining the organization, she worked as a journalist for nearly 9 years covering issues in California. Health Access California is a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups. This article has also been published on the Health Access Weblog.
Fran Quittel is a technology recruiter and business journalist based in Emeryville, CA. She also sponsors the site www.fdicbusinessalert.com and has actively pursued the implementation of policies that require institutions to provide clear and transparent alerts to depositors regarding their FDIC insurance coverage status.
Julie Rajan is Executive Director of the California Clean Money Campaign. Most recently, she served as the Social Policy Director on the board of the League of Women Voters of California where her portfolio covered a wide range of issues from children and family legislation, housing, health care, mental health and juvenile justice, to education from pre-kindergarten to community colleges and universities.
Meghan Ralston is the Harm Reduction coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance.
Artem Raskin reports for the California Progress Report, and currently attends University of California at Davis.
Pete Rates the Propositions is non-partisan and unaffiliated with any candidate or organization. Pete remains obstinately undoctrinaire, considering each ballot proposition on its merits. He is proud to have offended (and persuaded) voters of all political stripes. This originally appeared on Pete Rates the Propositions and is republished with the permission of the author.
Dave Regan is president United Healthcare Workers West, which represents 150,000 hospital, nursing home and in-home care workers in California.
Bob Reid is a long time Capitol staffer, most recently working for Assembymember Paul Krekorian
Jodi Reid is the Executive Director of the California Alliance for Retired Americans.
Clint Reilly was a leading political consultant for 26 years. His clients included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and former California State Senate President Pro Tem Dave Roberti. More recently, Reilly led a battle to preserve media competition in the Bay Area via two landmark anti-trust lawsuits (Reilly v. Hearst and Reilly v. MediaNews, et. al.). This article first appeared on www.clintreilly.com and is republished with his permission.
Rainey Reitman is a writer and advocate for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer organization with a two-part mission -- consumer information and consumer advocacy.
By Anthony Rendon, Ph.D.
Interim Executive Director
CLCV publishes the annual California Environmental Scorecard, which rates the actions of every state legislator and the Governor on the state’s environmental priorities each legislative year. To read excerpts from the 35th annual California Environmental Scorecard, learn scores of individual representatives, and for information on CLCV’s 2008 general election priorities and results, visit http://www.ecovote.org/scorecards/2008/. The entire Scorecard will be available online and distributed to CLCV members in late November 2008.Jill Replogle has worked as a freelance journalist in the Bay Area and Central America for eight years. She is now a student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Jill is currently an intern for Protect Consumer Justice.
Rick Reyes is chair of the Veterans Caucus of the California Democratic Party. He is a U.S. Marine veteran, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then, he has been a small business owner, and co-founding member of Veterans for Rethink Afghanistan. He works on a wide range of issues that affect veterans, and service members, and is an outspoken critic of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has visited Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian mission and continues to work with Congress and nationally as an advocate to end the wars, and improve U.S. foreign policy.
Bruce Reznik is the Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League (PCL), who partners with hundreds of California environmental organizations to provide an effective voice in Sacramento for sound planning and responsible environmental policy at the state level.
Rob Richie is executive director of FairVote , is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that studies the impact of electoral rules and systems on turnout, representation and electoral competition.
Mark Ridley-Thomas represents the 26th Senate District and Chairs the California Legislative Black Caucus.
Ramona Ripston has served as the executive director of the ACLU of Southern California since August of 1972. Ms. Ripston speaks extensively on the First Amendment, reproductive freedom, the Voting Rights Act, affirmative action, poverty and civil liberties, police practices and the constitution.
California State Senator Gloria Romero was elected to the 24th Senate District in 2001, representing East Los Angeles and the greater San Gabriel Valley.
Historian and journalist Ruth Rosen, a former columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, has been a Professor of History at U.C. Davis and is currently a Visiting Professor of History at U.C. Berkeley. In 2000, she joined the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board and wrote both editorials and twice-a-week columns on the op-ed page. She is the author of The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America
Jean Ross is the Executive Director of the California Budget Project (CBP). CBP engages in independent fiscal and policy analysis and public education with the goal of improving public policies affecting the economic and social well-being of low- and middle-income Californians.
Sandip Roy is an editor with New America Media (newamericamedia.org), a national consortium of ethnic media and host of its radio show New America Now (newamericanow.org).
Anthony Rubenstein is a nationally recognized expert on government policy and marketplace issues regarding petroleum use reduction, and the adoption of alternative fuels and vehicles, as well as clean renewable energy technologies. He is the former founder and Chairman of Californians for Clean Energy, the force behind California’s 2006 Proposition 87, the largest Clean Energy referendum in U.S. history. The intent of Prop 87 was to make California permanently the global leader in clean technology development and adoption by funding clean tech research centers at Universities across California, and by reducing the use of petroleum fuels in California via market incentives to foster the use of clean alternative fuels and vehicles, as well as renewable and energy efficiency technologies. Despite a record-breaking $110 million opposition campaign by the petroleum industry, Prop 87 was narrowly defeated, with support from 45% of California voters.
Jeff Ruch has been the Executive Director of PEER since 1997. With Jeff DeBonis, he helped to start PEER and for its first four years served as General Counsel & Program Director. Prior to that Ruch was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sector. Before coming to DC, he worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted literally hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors.
Maya Rupert works for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Emily Rusch is the State Director of CALPIRG, the California Public Interest Research Group, a statewide consumer group that stands up to powerful interests.
Kathleen Russell is a cofounder and staff consultant to the Center for Judicial Excellence in Marin County, Calif.
Mike Russo is a Health Care Advocate and Staff Attorney for CALPIRG, a non-profit advocacy organization that takes on powerful interests on behalf of Californians, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being.
Liz Ryan Murray is the Policy Director for National People’s Action.
Patricia Ryan is the Executive Director of the California Mental Health Directors Association and oversees their government relations and advocacy activities, including ongoing policy issue identification, analysis and advocacy. Her father was the late Congressman Leo J. Ryan, whom many of you may remember as the Congressman who was killed over 25 years ago in Jonestown, Guyana.
Rebecca Saltzman is the Online Organizer & Program Associate for the California League of Conservation Voters.
Bob Samuels is the President of UC-AFT. The University Council-AFT is the governance body of the nine campus locals of lecturers and librarians employed by the UC system. This entry originally appeared at: http://changinguniversities.blogspot.com/ . Used by permission.
David Sanchez is the elected President of the California Teachers Association. The California Teachers Association (CTA) is California's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 340,000 public school teachers, counselors, psychologists, librarians, other non-supervisory certificated personnel, and Education Support Professionals. CTA is affiliated with the 3.2 million-member National Education Association.
Carla Saporta is a health program manager at The Greenlining Institute, www.greenlining.org.
John Sarraille is a computer science professor at CSU Stanislaus.
Justine Sarver is Executive Director of The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, the progressive community's only organization focused solely on ballot measures. In conjunction with national and state partners, BISC works to reform ballot-measure laws and support ballot measures that advance social and economic justice.
Lisa Schiff is the parent of two children in the San Francisco Unified School District and is a member of Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco and the PTA and is a board member at the national level of Parents for Public Schools.
Dr. Jack Schim is a neurologist at The Neurology Center in Encinitas and is the chairman of the California chapter of the Alliance for Patient Access (AfPA). AfPA is a national network of over 250 physicians with the shared mission of ensuring and protecting patient access to approved medical treatments and therapies, including prescription pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices.
Martin Schlageter is the campaign and advocacy director for the Coalition for Clean Air and guides CCA’s campaign work across California.. He joined the Coalition staff in 2002 to help steer California, and especially Los Angeles, toward renewable energy and away from the reliance on polluting sources of energy such as coal and other fossil fuels.
Mark Schlosberg is the California Director of Food & Water Watch, a national consumer organization with California offices in San Francisco, Chico, Los Angeles, and San Diego, online at www.foodandwaterwatch.org.
Rick Schmitt works for Protect Consumer Justice.
Peter Schrag, whose exclusive weekly column appears every Monday in the California Progress Report, is the former editorial page editor and columnist of the Sacramento Bee. He is the author of Paradise Lost: California’s Experience, America’s Future and California: America’s High Stakes Experiment. His new book, Not Fit for Our Society: Nativism, Eugenics, Immigration is now on sale.
Stephanie Schriock is the President of EMILY's List.
David Schurr is a longtime fisherman and an advocate for sustainable resources.
Michael Sciortino is a senior policy analyst, and scorecard report lead, at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
Michael J. Scippa is the Advocacy Director Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog based in San Rafael, California. Marin Institute envisions communities free of the alcohol industry’s negative influence and an alcohol industry that does not harm the public’s health.
Mitch Seaman is a Legislative Advocate for the California Labor Federation, representing 2.1 million union members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries.
Peter is a freelance writer/journalist who writes a weekly column for the Pacific Sun.
Anuja Seith writes for New America Media in San Francisco, the country's first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2,000 ethnic news organizations.
Eliot Sekuler is a Northeast L.A.-based writer who recently retired from a career in communications and marketing departments in the entertainment business.
Naomi Seligman is the Director of Public Affairs for Consumer Watchdog, a nationally recognized consumer group that has been fighting corrupt corporations and crooked politicians since 1985.
Rusty Selix is the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in California and a legal proponent of voter-approved Proposition 63, which is targeted by Prop. 1E
Tim Shadix is Policy Associate with the California Association of Food Banks.
Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, is a nationally renowned consumer advocate who has won many victories for car buyers. She is best known for initiating California’s landmark auto “lemon law” and fighting for the installation of air bags in all cars and has repeatedly testified before Congress on auto safety issues. Shahan is a board member of the Consumer Federation of California and the Consumer Federation of America.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.nclrights.org
Renee Sharp is director of the California office of the Environmental Working Group.
Frank Sharry is the founder and executive director of America's Voice.
Randy Shaw is the editor and publisher of Beyond Chron, an alternative online daily newspaper, with whose permission this article is republished. Shaw is also the author of the newly released, Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century (University of California Press).
Traci Sheehan is the Executive Director of The Planning and Conservation League, a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization. For more than thirty years, PCL has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in California that is the best in the United States.
Aqeela Sherrills is the Southern California Outreach Coordinator for the California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Monali Sheth is an attorney with Equal Rights Advocates, a national women's rights advocacy organization based in San Francisco.
Elena Shore is an editor and Spanish-language media monitor with New America Media (http://newamericamedia.org/).
Andrea D. Shorter is Deputy Director, Marriage and Coalitions for Equality California. EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people.
Jonathan Simon is a professor of law at UC Berkeley and associate dean of the Berkeley’s Jurisprudence and Social Policy program. This article originally appeared on the Berkeley Blog.
George True Simpson is the eCommunications Associate at Equality California and blogs at The California Ripple Effect. Interests include any and all internet fads/trends/memes and harnessing the extraordinary potential of online organizing to advocate for justice and progressive change. In his truncated free time he enjoys the cinema, the city of Los Angeles and studying foreign languages.
John M. Simpson writes on many consumer and public policy issues for the Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. He is a veteran journalist who held top editing positions at international, national and community newspapers. Most recently he was executive editor of Tribune Media Services International, a syndication company. He was previously deputy editor of USA Today and editor of its international edition.
Cindy Singer works with SEIU Local 721.
Caleen Sisk-Franco is the chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu. The Winnemem are a small tribe that lives outside Redding and is currently engaged in a salmon restoration project of the McCloud River.
Assemblymember Nancy Skinner represents California's 14th Assembly District.
Holly Sklar's books include "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us," "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future" and "Streets of Hope: The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood."
Debra A. Smith has over twenty-five years experience litigating complex employment discrimination and other civil rights. She began her career with Texas Rural Legal Aid where she litigated class actions against corporate agribusiness and governmental entities on behalf of migrant farmworkers and low income women and minorities. After ten years with legal aid, Debra entered private practice with Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak and Baller in Oakland, California where she represented mostly women and people of color in class action employment discrimination lawsuits. Debra has been with Equal Rights Advocates since July 2001 where she continues her class action litigation, including co-counseling in the largest sex discrimination class action to date in the United States against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. which involves more than 1.6 million low wage women workers. ERA and co-counsel recently settled the first sexual harassment class action involving California women employed in an Indian gaming casino against the Las Vegas-based corporation that managed the casino.
Dennis Smith is the Secretary-Treasurer of the California Federation of Teachers
Michael Smith is an attorney for Worksafe, an Oakland-based nonprofit that advocates for better safety and health for California workers
Steve Smith is communications director at the California Labor Federation, which represents more than 2.1 million workers in 1,200 unions across the state. Visit www.calaborfed.org to learn more.
Tanya Smith is president of the Local 1, UPTE-CWA 9119 (University Technical and Professional Employees at UC Berkeley and UC Office of the President).
Zak Smith is an attorney for the The Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Marine Mammal Protection Project. NRDC is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment.
Deborah Snow was born and raised in California. Deborah received her BA degree from California Baptist University in Riverside, CA. majoring in both English and Behavioral Science. She is currently employed at University of California, Riverside as a Library Assistant. Deborah is married and has one daughter. She also volunteers in her spare time at Riverside City and County Animal Shelter
Alan Sokolow, M.D. is the Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer for Blue Shield of California. He received a degree in medicine from the University of California, Los Angeles and a bachelor's degree from Pomona College. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Utah and the University of Rochester, and is board certified in internal medicine.
Marc Solomon is the Marriage Director of Equality California.
Norman Solomon is national co-chair of the Healthcare Not Warfare campaign, launched by Progressive Democrats of America. His books include "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." For more information, go to: www.normansolomon.com
C.C. Song is Green Assets Fellow at The Greenlining Institute, www.greenlining.org.
Jim Soper is a senior software consultant and author of CountedAsCast.com. He is also co-chair of the Voting Rights Task Force in the San Francisco East Bay, which has been very active in voting systems issues since 2005.
Dr. Southard is Director of the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health.
PublicCEO.com offers unique, daily updated content written by local government experts from around the state. PublicCEO.com covers California’s 480 incorporated cities, 58 counties and 2,300 special districts. At PublicCEO.com, local governments share information with one another, thus helping public executives to administer their own city/county/special district. PublicCEO.com provides public executives the needed information to excel in their public service and foster cohesion among governments.
Peter L. Stahl
Pete Rates the PropositionsSylvia Starbird-Herman is a freelance writer and real estate broker based in La Mesa, CA. She writes on a variety of topics of interest to Californians.
Consumers Union (CU) is an expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. CU publishes Consumer Reports, one of the top-ten-circulation magazines in the country, and ConsumerReports.org, which has the most subscribers of any Web site of its kind. For more information on BPA, please visit Consumer Reports' website and www.greenerchoices.org/bpa
Elanor Starmer is the Western Region Director of Food & Water Watch (www.foodandwaterwatch.org), a consumer advocacy group in San Francisco, and part of the statewide coalition to oppose Proposition 18.
Kate Stayman-London
Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working AssetsSharon Steen is the Pharmacy Owner of Central Pharmacy in Santa Monica.
By Kevin Stein
Associate Director
California Reinvestment Coalition advocates for the right of low-income communities and communities of color to have fair and equal access to banking and other financial services. CRC has a membership of more than 250 nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the State.Darrell Steinberg is the State Senate Pro Tempore.
Jake Steinfeld serves as Chairman of the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Paul Stephens works for Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC), a nonprofit consumer organization with a two-part mission - consumer information and consumer advocacy.
Erin Steva is a Transportation Advocate for CALPIRG, a non-profit advocacy organization that takes on powerful interests on behalf of Californians, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being.
Chris Stoll is a staff attorney fo the National Center for Lesbian Rights
Gene Stonebarger is a Gene Stonebarger is a founding shareholder of Lindsay & Stonebarger, APC,, a law firm located in Folsom, California. The firm represents plaintiffs in class action and complex business litigation, with extensive experience representing consumers in financial privacy cases.
By Brian Stranko
Chief Executive Officer
Founded in 1971, California Trout was the first statewide conservation group to focus on securing protections for California's unparalleled wild and native trout diversity. Working with local communities, business, partners and government agencies, California Trout employs conservation science, education, and advocacy to foster effective policy for California's water resources and fisheries.Carol Strickman is a staff attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, a San Francisco-based organization which advocates for the human rights and empowerment of incarcerated parents, children, family members and people at risk of incarceration.
VIJI SUNDARAM works as health care editor with New America Media in San Francisco, covering health issues in the immigrant communities. Her national expose in 2001 on McDonald’s use of beef in its french fries won her two investigative reporting awards.
Courtni Sunjoo Pugh is special assistant to the executive director for the SEIU Local 99.
Alice Sunshine is the Communication Director of California Faculty Association.
Linda Sutton is a writer, photographer, and educator based in Los Angeles. She was the press coordinator for Gov. Jimmy Carter in '76 and did political media locally thereafter. Following a 20-year hiatus raising daughters, she returned to political activism and is now Co-Chair of Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles. Her present project is expanding "Universal Single Payer Healthcare" forums throughout the region. She produced the public access television show "We Say/They Say" with host Marcy Winograd and the "Gore Vidal on Education" Truth Now radio interview aired in Texas. She writes on various progressive blogs and comments way too often. She was also the co-producer of the 40th AD candidate forums and produced the "HAiR" and "Body of War" fundraisers for Progressive Democrats of America. Photographs are at lindasuttonphoto.com (but is too busy to update with all political ones).
Robina Suwol is the Founder and Executive Director of California Safe Schools (CSS), a nationally celebrated children's environmental health non-profit coalition of over fifty organizations located in Southern California. CSS is recognized for spearheading the most stringent pesticide policy in the nation at Los Angeles Unified School District (the second largest in the nation). The policy was the first in the United States to embrace the Precautionary Principle and Parents Right to Know about pesticides used on school campuses. Today it has become the model for school districts & communities internationally.
Robin Swanson
Political Consultant
Swanson CommunicationsMarguerite Sweeney, Attorney at Law, Redding Co-chair of iWARoneBay.com.
Lillian Taiz is a professor of History at CSU Los Angeles and President of the California Faculty Association (CFA). CFA is the labor union representing 23,000 faculty members, coaches, counselors and librarians working in the CSU system.
Selena Teji is the Communications Specialist for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, CA. She has a Juris Doctorate specializing in international law from UC Hastings, and has expertise in data-driven juvenile and criminal justice policy analysis in California.
Mark Tercek is he CEO of the Nature Conservancy.
Laura Thomas is the deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance.
Douglas N. Thomason is an attorney living in San Francisco.
Mark Toney is the Executive Director of The Utility Reform Network (TURN), who for more than 30 years has challenged California’s powerful energy and telephone companies, saving consumers and small businesses millions, and demanding reliable service and environmentally sound policies.
Senator Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) represents the Seventh Senatorial District, including most of Contra Costa County. He is the chair of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Schools and Community. Senator Torlakson is also a member of the Senate Education and Transportation and Housing Committees. A teacher and coach, Senator Torlakson is the Chair and Founder of the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness, a group seeking to raise the profile of health and fitness in the public schools and in the workplace. He is currently on the faculty at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California.
Art Torres
Chair
California Democratic PartyAssemblymember Norma Torres (D - Pomona) represents the 61st Assembly District.
Alberto Torrico is Majority Leader of the California State Assembly.
Ashlee Tran works for Preschool California, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to increase access to high-quality early learning opportunities for all of California’s children, starting with those who need it most.
Paul Tran is the Communications Director for Californians for Justice, which helps lead the Campaign for Quality Education, a statewide alliance working towards educational equity and racial justice in California public schools located in low-income, immigrant, communities of color. For more info, go to www.quality-education.org
Jora Trang is Managing Attorney at WORKSAFE, an organization that works to protect people from job-related hazards and empower them to advocate for the right to a safe and healthy workplace.
Gabe Treves is a Program Coordinator for Tenants Together, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants to safe, decent and affordable housing.
Richard L. Trumka is President of the AFL-CIO, a voluntary federation of 57 national and international labor unions. The AFL-CIO union movement represents 12.2 million members, including 3.2 million members in Working America, its community affiliate.
Diane Trzcinski is a Los Angeles attorney with a Ph.D. in 18th Century British literature who also writes short stories. She says “I'm beginning to see that consensual reality is far weirder than the stuff I've been writing.” This article first appeared in Cab Drollery and is republished with her permission.
Roy Ulrich is President
John Van de Kamp was the District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles from 1976 until 1982, and the 28th Attorney General of California from 1983 until 1991. He was elected and served as the 80th President of the State Bar of California in 2004-2005. He is currently on the board of directors of the Planning and Conservation League. In this article, he discusses last year’s CEQA exemption for a football stadium in the City of Industry.
Julie Van Winkle was a math and science teacher at Liechty Middle School in Pico-Union School District in Los Angeles before being pink slipped.
Lori Vandermeir
Communications Director
Hedrick for CongressCaitlin Vega is a Legislative Advocate for the California Labor Federation, representing 2.1 million union members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries.
Rosa Martha Villarreal is an Adjunct Professor at Cosumnes River College and a member of PEN USA. An essayist and novelist, she is a recipient of the PEN Josephine Miles Literary Award and an Independent Publisher Book Award. Her novel, The Stillness of Love and Exile, is in film pre-production.
Preeti Vissa manages the Community Reinvestment program at the Greenlining Institute, an initiative aimed at building wealth, assets, and financial sustainability in communities of color. The Greenlining Institute is a national policy, organizing, and leadership institute working for racial and economic justice.
Meredith Vivian is a MPP Graduate Student at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
Jane Wagner-Tyack is a freelance writer, writing consultant, former college instructor and trainer, and serves on the Restore the Delta Steering Committee, a grassroots campaign committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California.
Sumayyah Waheed esq. serves as Policy Director of Books Not Bars, a campaign of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. For more information please visit www.ellabakercenter.org
Bill Walker is the West Coast Director of the Environmental Working Group. EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment.
Yvonne Walker is president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 is the exclusive representative of more than 95,000 state employees, including the overwhelming majority of white collar professionals, clerical workers, teachers, printers, librarians, custodians, nurses and other health care professionals
Amanda Wallner is the California field organizer for Sierra Club’s Clean Cars campaign.
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC) is the nation's largest legal organization serving the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities. Founded in 1983, APALC is a unique organization that combines traditional legal services with civil rights advocacy and leadership development.
Paul Weber is the President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League that represents 9,900 LAPD officers.
Poornima Weerasekara is a graduate of the Graduate Journalism Program at Stanford University. Poornima currently works as a freelance journalist.
Angie Wei is the Legislative Director of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which represents 2.1 million members of 1,200 manufacturing, service, construction, and public sector unions.
Dr. Robert Weinmann, past president of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, L 206 of AFSCME, AFL-CIO, has a private neurology practice in San Jose. He has testified numerous times in the California legislature and in Congress about healthcare, Medicare, and antitrust reform. At the invitation of former President Bill Clinton, he was featured as a speaker at the White House on managed care reform. He claims his public policy agitation is bipartisan.
Pete Wikul served for 39 years as a Navy SEAL and is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Kristina Wilfore
Executive Director
Ballot Initiative Strategy CenterByron Williams has served as pastor of the Resurrection Community Church in Oakland since 2002. As the only pastor/syndicated columnist in the country, Williams writes a column which appears in 10 publications and several progressive web sites across the country.
Richard Allen Williams, MD is a cardiologist and founder of the Minority Health Institute based in Encino, California. Dr. Williams edited the book Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America, published in 2007.
Bob Wilson retired as a lawyer with the Federal Government. He is now actively involved with various non-profit conservation organizations, including: The Marine Mammal Center and Polar Bears International. He served as a member of the North-Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group
Richard Winger is editor of Ballot Access News, the premiere newsletter for up-to-date news about the continuing fight for fair and equitable ballot access laws, and has been accepted as an expert witness on election law in federal courts in 9 states, including California.
Marcy Winograd, a former congressional peace candidate, mobilized 41% of the Democratic Party primary vote in her challenge to war profiteer Jane Harman. Presently, Winograd serves as as a board member of the Ocean Park Association in Santa Monica and is a member of Santa Monica Greens. Winograd, a public school English and history teacher, helped organize Occupy LAUSD to protest education cuts in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Nan Wishner is Chair Emeritus of the City of Albany Integrated Pest Management Task Force and a member of the Stop the Spray East Bay Steering Committee
Paul Wittenberg is a resident of California. He can be reached at: emusic@pacbell.net.
Ronald Wolff publishes the blog Musings from Claremont, where this article first appeared.
The National Women's Health Network was founded in 1975 to give women a greater voice within the healthcare system. NWHN is a membership-based organization supported by 8,000 individuals and organizations nationwide.
Communications Director of the Democratic National Committee.
Leighton Woodhouse is the Political Director at Brave New Foundation, who's mission is to champion social justice issues by using a model of media, education, and grassroots volunteer involvement that inspires, empowers, motivates and teaches civic participation and makes a difference.
Eric Wooten is a Sacramento based political consultant. He is a former lobbyist for the League of Women Voters of California.
Anthony Wright is Executive Director of Health Access California, a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups.
Assemblymember Mariko Yamada represents California's 8th Assembly District.
Steven J. Ybarra JD is a retired civil rights attorney who operates a consultant company in California. He is a member of the California Democratic State Party and is Chair of the Chicano Latino Caucus Voting Rights Committee and a long time political activist. Contact Steven at: sjybarra@aol.com, This article is copyright by Steven J. Ybarra JD, originally published in www.Hispanicvista.com but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media if this entire credit paragraph is attached.
Leland Yee is a member of the California State Senate Democratic Leadership team and the Assistant President pro Tem of the Senate. Senator Yee is also a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Sophia Yen is a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. She is also a member of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health.
Amber Yoo works for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Starting in 1979, Julius Young has represented thousands of individuals who have sustained life-changing injuries or illnesses while on the job. A partner of Boxer & Gerson since 1988, he practices workers’ compensation and disability law in Oakland. This article originally appeared in his blog Workerscompzone.com. It is republished with his permission.