2009 Alumni

Joshua Arce (nominated by the Sierra Club, San Francisco Chapter) is the Executive Director of Brightline Defense Project and began his community advocacy work as a civil rights attorney before founding Brightline Defense Project in late 2005. Since early 2007, Mr. Arce and Brightline have focused their efforts on achieving quality of life improvements in vulnerable communities in Southeast San Francisco, helping shut down dirty power plants and working with Supervisor John Avalos and other advocates to develop and pass what has been called the strongest local hiring law in the country. He currently sits on the San Francisco Citizen’s Committee in Community Development and is a member of Mayor Edwin Lee's 100% Renewable Energy Task Force. 

Samuel Kang (nominated by the Greenlining Institute) is the General Counsel for the Greenlining Institute, a national civil rights advocacy organization and think tank. Sam oversees Greenlining’s legal advocacy, directs their consumer protection program, and helps direct their Legal Academy. Sam also manages Greenlining’s corporate partnerships with the CEOs and Presidents of California’s largest utilities and telecommunications companies. He has previously worked at Public Advocates, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the United Nations. Sam received his juris doctor from the University of San Francisco and was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in New York City. He currently serves on the California Insurance Diversity Task Force, and was previously seated on the Alameda County Parks, Recreation, and Historical Landmark Commission. 

Sheryl Lane  (nominated by Contra Costa Faithworks!) is the Director of Public Policy at EARN where she works with a team that champions national, state, and local asset-building policies that open the door to financial success to low-wage workers. Prior to joining EARN, she was the Director and Campaign Coordinator for the Richmond Equitable Development Initiative (REDI) at Urban Habitat.  Sheryl holds a Master's of Science in Urban Policy and Management from the Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at the New School in New York City. She holds two bachelor's degrees, one in Sociology and another in Psychology & Social Behavior, both from UC Irvine. She serves as Vice-Chair of the Richmond Planning Commission

Jay Lee (nominated by the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing) is a staff attorney for HomeBase, a national policy and technical assistance organization working to end all forms of homelessness. He works with communities across the country, including many in Northern California and the Central Valley, to implement evidence-based, interdisciplinary approaches to preventing and ending homelessness. He previously served on the San Francisco Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee and the San Francisco Pedestrian Safety Task Force. He has previously worked at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Morrison & Foerster LLP, and is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School. 

Guillermo Mayer (Public Advocates) is a senior staff attorney for Public Advocates, a public interest law firm. Guillermo focuses on litigation and advocacy in the area of transportation equity. He was a lead attorney on the Title VI challenge against the BART Oakland Airport Connector and spearheads Public Advocates’ advocacy work targeting the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation bill. He graduated from the UCAL School of Law in 2004 with concentrations in Critical Race Theory and Public Interest Law and Policy. He lives with his wife, Giannina, and his son, Mateo, in Oakland. He was previously seated on the Oakland Housing, Residential Rent, and Relocation Board. 

Dr. Jennifer H. Ong (nominated by the Filipin Women's Network) is a practicing optometrist in Alameda, is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Optometry. Dr. Ong was elected president of Alameda Contra Costa Counties Optometric Society (ACCCOS) and later served as Trustee for the California Optometric Association. She received the “Optometrist of the Year” award for her legislative work with eye care and public safety and has worked simultaneously with various communities to promote preventive care through vision screening clinics and media presentations. A recipient of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women Award in 2009, Dr. Ong is currently the Statewide Treasurer for the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the California Democratic Party, and serves on the Boards of the Filipina Women’s Network, the League of Women Voters of Eden Area, and the Democratic Club of Hayward. She is also running for State Assembly in District 20.

Carmen Rojas, Ph.D. (nominated by Oakland Rising) has spent the last ten years working as an activist, organizer, and researcher for some of the leading environmental and economic justice organizations in the region, including Urban Habitat and the Lower San Antonio (Oakland) collaborative. Most recently, Carmen was a Grants Officer at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the UC Santa Cruz and a Doctorate in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. She was previously seated on the Metropolitan Transit Commission Policy Advisory Council.

Lisa M. Stevenson-Johnson (nominated by Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizations) is an administrative coordinator at PolicyLink, where she supports the Founder and CEO as well as the Human Resource Associate Director. Lisa is a Community Organizer at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, where she works with the Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizing (CCISCO) to create a better community for Richmond residents, including work on the foreclosure epidemic. In her capacity as a Community Organizer, she has collaborated with RichmondBuilds, which works to provide Richmond residents with job training and job skills, as well as with the City of Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety. She is the Vice Chair of the Richmond Community Development Commission and a member of the Healthy Richmond Steering Committee.