Board Members

 

Joe Brooks, Board Chair and Vice President for Civic Engagement for PolicyLink, works to foster civic engagement by individuals and community organizations, which is a key component of the PolicyLink mission and goals. As a member of the senior management team, Brooks develops and maintains close working relationships with local, regional, and national organizations. He is also the team leader for the PolicyLink Men and Boys of Color Policy Planning and Advocacy project. Brooks has also served as president of the Emergency Land Fund in Atlanta, Georgia, and was editor of the Review of Black Political Economy. He was formerly program executive for Neighborhood and Community Development at the San Francisco Foundation, where he directed the foundation’s Workforce Development and Interfaith Initiative, FAITHS. Brooks also served as the national co-chair of the Neighborhood Funders Group and vice-chair of the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

 

 

Romel Pascual, Board Vice-Chair and serves as the Associate Director for Environment for Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio R. Villaraigosa. From 2001-2004, as the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice for California Environmental Protection Agency, he led the Agency’s effort to develop the state’s first environmental justice program. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Romel managed the environmental justice program for USEPA, Region 9.  Pascual's involvement with environmental issues began in community organizations and grassroots leadership such as Urban Habitat, which he worked on Brownfields Leadership and Community Revitalization Project; and with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) where he conducted research on the impacts of environmental pollution on communities. He has a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA, and Masters in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.

 

 

Tamar Dorfman, Board Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for PolicyLink, leads the finance, human resources and administration teams and oversees the information technology team at PolicyLink. For more than a decade she has directed finance and operations in non-profit and public sector organizations that promote community development, workforce development, and affordable housing. Her career has focused on developing strong financial strategies and efficient operations so that organizations can maximize impact while ensuring compliance with funder and regulatory requirements. Prior to joining PolicyLink, Dorfman was the Chief Financial Officer for the Mayor’s Offices of Community Investment and Housing in San Francisco. She also served as the Fiscal Manager for the Corporation for Supportive Housing and was a Principal Budget Analyst for the City of Chicago. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MPP from the University of Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

Carl Anthony is the founder and former executive director of Urban Habitat Program. He was a Ford Foundation program officer in the Community and Resource Development unit. He is currently a Visiting Scholar/Ford Foundation Senior Fellow in the Department of Geography at the University of California Berkeley. With a colleague, Luke Cole at the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Anthony published and edited the Race, Poverty and the Environment Journal, the only environmental justice periodical in the country.  From 1991 through 1997, Anthony served as President of Earth Island Institute, an international environmental organization to protect and conserve the global biosphere. Congressman Ron Dellums appointed Carl Anthony Chair and Principal Administrative Officer of the East Bay Conversion and Reinvestment Commission in 1993. The Commission was charged with overseeing a National Pilot Project to guide the closure of 500 military bases in the US, to re-envision the role of the National Laboratories, and to implement the conversion of 5 military bases in Alameda County. He has taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, the University of California Colleges of Environmental Design and Natural Resources. He has been an Advisor to the Stanford University Law School on issues of environmental justice. Anthony has a professional degree in architecture from Columbia University. In 1996, he was appointed Fellow at the Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

 

Malo Hutson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley. His research focuses on community development, regional planning, urban sustainability, and population health. In addition, Professor Hutson focuses on urban policy and politics and the role of institutions in influencing urban and regional development. Professor Hutson's current research includes an analysis of metropolitan fragmentation and racial residential segregation and their relationship to health. Specifically, he is investigating how multiple political jurisdictions within a metropolitan region affect the distribution of resources across racial and class lines. Professor Hutson just completed a national research study that examined the relationship between the built environment and health disparities. He is also a Co-Principal Investigator with his colleagues (Karen Chapple, Principal Investigator, and AnnaLee Saxenian, Co-Principal Investigator) on a study funded by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S Department of Commerce. This study is analyzing innovation within California’s green economy. Professor Hutson is also writing a book on urban sustainability and community development in which he is focusing on four areas: economic development, equity, environment, and health. The California Endowment and the Mitchell Kapor Foundation are jointly sponsoring his Spring 2010 Community Development Studio (City Planning 268) in East Oakland. The focus of the studio will be to help create a sustainable and healthy community within East Oakland.

 

 

Wade Crowfoot is the West Coast Legislative and Political Director for the Environmental Defense Fund. Wade Crowfoot works with leaders throughout California to pass and implement key climate, water and oceans policies. He also focuses on building Environmental Defense Fund’s relationships with key political, business and environmental leaders in California, including its congressional delegation. Through these relationships, he builds lasting and effective coalitions of diverse organizations to secure these environmental gains. Prior to joining Environmental Defense Fund, Crowfoot served as director of climate protection initiatives for the city and county of San Francisco, where he advanced groundbreaking landmark energy, transportation and waste policies. He also directed state and federal environmental agendas for Mayor Gavin Newsom and served as his senior environmental advisor. He has held senior-level positions for other elected officials and worked in the fields of public opinion research and urban economic development. Mr. Crowfoot holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the London School of Economics, where he graduated with honors. To complete his degree, Mr. Crowfoot received an Oxford fellowship to research international environmental policy making in Mexico City.