Urban & Environmental Policy Graduates Where are They Now? i

Class of 2012

Kevin Hom is currently interning with the Unite/Here Local 11 Union in the boycott division.

Class of 2011

Jessica Gelzer was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Society, one of nation’s oldest academic honor society founded in 1776. She was recently offered a paid internship with the strategic communications and political consulting firm, Griffin|Schake.

Kathryn Griffith recently received the UEPI alumni social justice award in recognition for her contributions to insure human rights and strategies for empowerment for all people. She is currently working in the communications department at the Clergy Laity United for Economic Justice-Los Angeles (CLUE-LA).

Kristen Leahy worked as a Peer Health Exchange Los Angeles Summer Intern before teaching a “Build Your Own City” class at a middle school in the Boston area. She recently moved to Dallas, Texas.

Warren Logan will begin his master programs in City Planning at UC Berkeley.

Casey Ogden is working for Save The Bay, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and restore the San Francisco Bay through education and environmental policy.

Two weeks after graduation, Emily Ritchie was hired by Foodcorps, a new AmeriCorps program to work in Tillamook, Oregon for one year. She used her community organizing skills and the knowledge she gained as a member of FEAST while working at a junior high and high school, growing food on site and teaching the students about Food Justice. Emily will continue to put her acquired skills to use when she moves to Portland, OR in August to work on the Farm to Preschool aspect of the Foodcorps.

Jackie Salazar currently resides in downtown Los Angeles and recently started her own entrepreneurial company, Six Statements. She does brand consultations, mostly working in concept development, copywriting and editing, as well as graphic design. She has collaborated with Shane Boland and other former Oxy Students on larger projects, such as web design and video projects. Her primary clients are small and local businesses, though she is interested in working with non- profits. She is also applying to architecture schools to begin this upcoming fall.

Audrey Spiegel will begin a master’s program in city and regional planning at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia starting in August.

Class of 2010

Jordan Aura-Gullick is working as an Affordable Housing Case Manager at St. Joseph Center.

Felisia Castaneda works as an Environmental Education Aide at SF Environment in San Francisco. She previously worked for Kara’s Cupcakes, a green store with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and the local economy also located in San Francisco.

Kylie Dennis is currently residing in Redwood City in Northern California and works for CourseSmart-the largest provider for eTextbooks for higher education in the marketing department and data analysis. She has decided to go back to school and get a Masters in Teaching: Single Subject English.

Following graduation Chandrika Francis was accepted into the Fullbright ETA program in Spain to work at a high school in the northern region of Cantabria. She currently resides in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Matthew Harter participated in the Israel birthright program in Summer 2010.

Daniel Lawler started and runs the organization Young Folks Urban Farmers with friend and business partner Julia Carr. They received funding from the Kaiser Grant and are partnered with the L.A. Leadership Academy in Lincoln Heights run by Roger Lowenstein. The group is currently applying for further funding from the USDA Farm to School grants.

After playing football for an Australian team, Jason Lehman moved back to the U.S. and is currently working for a solar company (SunRun) in San Francisco.

Alfred (AJ) Mata is working in his hometown of Baldwin Park, California as a Policy Analyst for the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA). CCPHA is a statewide nonprofit organization that raises awareness about critical public health issues and mobilizes communities to promote the establishment of effective state and local health policies. Visit the website at www.publichealthadvocacy.org . AJ is currently pursuing his Masters of Public Administration from California State University-Long Beach and expects to receive his M.P.A. in 2014.

Giulia Pasciuto began her study in urban planning at UCLA in the fall of 2011. Prior to starting graduate school she worked as a Transportation and Food Access Coordinator at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute.

Allison Reimer lives in Eureka, CA and works for California State Parks as an office assistant and accounting assistant. She occasionally posts on the blog she started (dontforgettheapron.blogspot.com) to share what she's cooking with friends and family. Additionally, Allison has been volunteering with the local non-profit Plan It Green to organize the Building Green Communities Conference in Arcata.

Helen Santos is currently studying occupational therapy at Loma Linda University.

Derek Singleton is currently living in Austin, Texas and worked as a research analyst for Software Advice, a small tech firm that helps businesses find the right software for their organization. The work was writing intensive and centered on web-marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). In his free time Derek enjoys spending time at Austin's multiple lakes or riding his new Ducati motorcycle (with a helmet of course).

Jacey Totta is currently living in San Francisco working as an Americorps program coordinator for a nonprofit called Playworks. The organization aims to bring a fun, safe and inclusive play environment to under served elementary schools all over the country. She loves being a part of something she so strongly believes in! Jacey recently participated in Seattle’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in July.

Class of 2009

Alex Altman received a Fulbright Scholarship to study and teach in Ecuador.

Sadie Beauregard previously worked as an AmeriCorps*VISTA at Lettuce Link of Solid Ground as the coordinator for their Community Fruit Tree Harvest- a program in which volunteers help harvest excess fruit from residential trees to donate to community organizations, meal programs, and food banks with limited access to organic produce. (http://www.solid- ground.org/Programs/Nutrition/FruitTree ) She completed her time working with Synergy Farms last October and is currently living in Indianola, Washington. She continues to enjoy farming and is pursuing further opportunities in Washington.

Ana Bonilla works in Long Beach as the Project/Media Coordinator for a new initiative through the California Endowment called Building Healthy Communities. The Endowment chose 14 sites in California, including Long Beach, to launch their new initiative which will create systems and policy change over the next ten years. There are ten guiding health related outcomes being used as goals for the initiative planning stage and four principle results that the group hopes to see towards the end of the implementation phase. Prior to her current job, Ana worked as the Project Coordinator Assistant for the Children’s Clinic and interned for the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH).

Andrea “Drea” Chicas participated in the year-long Public Allies leadership program in Los Angeles; she worked for the nonprofit group Esperanza Community Housing. In 2008, she participated in the Princeton Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Fellowship Program. Drea is currently a teacher at a local Freedom Schools which its movement fits into the kinds of things Drea did as an Oxy student, where she was heavily involved in community service projects, particularly those dealing with young people.

Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz worked at Yerba Buena Community Benefit District in San Francisco and is currently living in Busua, Western Ghana.

Following graduation Alicia Egan interned for PHAT Energy before becoming their Rebates Coordinator. She later moved on to work for Real Goods Solar, Inc. located in San Francisco in their Internal Sales division and as a Solar Specialist. Alicia currently is an operations administrator for SunRun, one of the nation’s leading home solar service providers.

Colin Englesberg is halfway through his year-long Americorps term in Seattle. He is working for Solid Ground (the same organization Sadie Beauregard is working for) in their Just Serve Americorps Program. He is with a cohort of 30 other Americorps volunteers who are placed at community organizations doing youth development and violence prevention re-entry programs for people getting out of prison, domestic violence support work, and some work with city organizers such as Seattle PD and Community Court.

After graduation Whitney Hawke moved back to her hometown of Portland, OR to begin law school at Lewis & Clark in the fall of 2009. During the summer of 2010 she worked as an extern for Judge Sercombe at the Oregon Court of Appeals in Salem, OR. She also worked as a law clerk for the Multnomah County Attorney’s Office in Portland until this past May. Whitney received her JD in Environmental Law and Land Use from Lewis & Clark College this past spring. Apart from law school, she works as a freelance journalist for Willamette Week (Portland's alternative newsweekly). When she's not working or writing for Willamette Week, she is usually at a Portland Trailblazers game, reading about the Trailblazers, watching trailblazers.tv, or listening to sports radio analysts talk about the Trailblazers. Go Blazers.

Taylor Kaplan is in the final year of graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She is pursuing a Masters in Landscape Architecture. Previously Taylor worked for the Holland Partners as well as the Arroyo Group.

Sarah Ritter is a Program Coordinator for Pacific Community Ventures based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works primarily on policy research regarding social impact investing for InSight. Previously she worked for Restore Capital as an Associate ( www.restorecapital.com ). The firm invests in wetland mitigation banks and the emerging nutrient trading markets in the Chesapeake and the Willamette. Sarah conducted the majority of the research on the legislation/policy and market regulation.

Margot Seigle is an Activate! Community Organizing Fellow and working with GOLES (a community housing and economic justice organization) as a housing organizer. She started and completed her project “Honduran Youth Outreach Leaders: Training Rural Honduran Youth to Lead the Future,” which was funded by a $10,000 grant she received from Davis United World College Scholars Program.

Class of 2008

Laura Benjamin resides in Santa Monica and is in her final year of graduate school at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA. She expects to receive her Masters of Urban and Regional Planning this coming year. Laura currently is a Clean Energy Research Intern for Focus the Nation. She looks primarily at green leases and sustainable building practices used in the green building movement in Portland, OR as well as nationally. In addition, Laura reviews grant applications and proposals for First 5 LA’s Health Food Access Initiative as their External Grant Reviewer.

Mary Jane Boltz lives in Los Angeles and works for the American Apparel Factory and HQ in the vintage division. She previously worked at the Census Bureau in East Los Angeles.

Erica Fick is the Marketing Coordinator for Braun & Gresham, PLLC as well as its sister company Plateau Land & Wildlife Management in Austin, Texas. Both companies seek to protect and preserve rural land. Erica is also a consultant for Greenline Multimedia which caters to private, public, and non-profit green businesses. Previously she served as a Clean Energy Fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund.

Nidia Garcia received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles this past year. Previously, she worked for the U.S. Census Bureau as a Partnership Assistant. She informed hard-to-count communities, including Eagle Rock, about the importance of the census through a grassroots approach. Their goal was to form partnerships with local governments, community-based organizations, schools, media, businesses and others to work together to inform constituents.

Julia Granholm is working at the Health Research Association for a research position collecting data for a study about teen pregnancy prevention and STD rates in Los Angeles High Schools.

Robin Hamilton lives in Beloit, Wis. and works as the Assistant Director and Coordinator of Multicultural Initiatives at Beloit College. In her travels for work, she got a chance to see Shannon Sullivan and Christopher Pitcher in Chicago where they attend graduate school. She also advises the Kappa Alpha Theta chapter at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where fellow swimming alumni Nancy Moore ‘09 and Michael Wade ‘09 live.

After returning from Senegal in November 2010 to be closer to her family, Kether Hayden worked as an Administrative and Research Assistant for R. G. Ford Consulting Company, an ecological consulting company in Portland, Oregon. Their projects included bird population impact studies in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as well as a study on the impact of ship traffic on marine mammals off the coast of California. Kether moved to Quebec City in September 2011 to start an MSc. in International Development and Humanitarian Action Management at the School of Business Administration of Laval University. She expects to complete her program in the upcoming year and is currently working as the Program Assistant for the International Bureau at Laval University. Previously Kether worked as a pedagogical advisor and teacher trainer at the regional in- service teacher-training center of the Senegalese Ministry of Education. Kether published two articles for which the links are pasted below. The first is from her work during summer Richter/Anderson research as an undergrad, and was published in the Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 11, No.3, 2009). The other, on gender-responsive pedagogy and teacher training in Senegal was presented at the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative E4 Engendering Empowerment: Education and Equality conference, May 2010, and is based on research she and her co-authors conducted last year in Senegal. Issues of Gender in Photovoltaic Installations for Health Clinic Illumination in Rural Malian Communities http://www.e4conference.org/dakar/papers/24

Sua Iris Hernandez is currently working with W.O.R.K.S. USA, a non-profit organization specializing in building affordable housing developments that are financially sound and thoughtful in design. Previously, she worked with Larry Gross at the Coalition for Economic Survival and was a consultant for A La Brava, a small non-profit which promotes local film makers and their endeavors. Sua Iris married in August 2008 and has two children.

Sonia Huizar received her Master’s in Liberal Studies at Occidental College in May 2009.

Ian Johnson spent 2009/2010 in Sao Paulo Brazil teaching English and working for a real estate company interested in taking on a more sustainable development approach with their projects. He then served as an Americorps volunteer and worked with the Utah Conservation Corps preserving BLM land. He was recently accepted for a position with American Youthworks/Casa Verde Builders in Austin, TX and will help to build green and affordable homes. Ian plans to return to school to pursue a Masters in Community and Regional Planning, with a focus on Sustainability.

Laura Knuttunen received a Fulbright award and taught English in South Korea from 2008-2010. She currently resides in Massachusetts and works as an instructor for Camp Fulbright, a summer English camp.

Victor Lopez is the president and co-founder of Vaya Verde (Spanish for Go Green) Solutions in Albuquerque, NM. Their mission is to lower carbon pollution by directing capital towards projects that increase the energy efficiency of New Mexico’s buildings. Their aim is to provide low interest consumer loans to home and property owners, which will allow them to retrofit their homes and/or buildings with energy efficient upgrades and clean energy technologies. The start-up is currently inactive but seeking additional resources to start again. Victor is now working as a substitute teacher within the Albuquerque Public Schools system. He is also the Executive Director of the Learner’s Chess Academy in Albuquerque. The Academy seeks to facilitate social development and leadership skills in youth through the game of chess.

Since graduation, Lorena Matarrita-McNicholas has been working with the Downtown Pomona Owner’s Association (DPOA), planned for their Pomona Business Improvement District and addressed the affordable housing issues. She currently attends Cal Poly Pomona and will defend her thesis on California Business Improvement Districts. She plans to receive her Masters in Urban and Regional Planning by December 2011.

Caitlin Peel currently resides in Portland, OR and is working for the Renewable Northwest Project.

Lilia Pharazyn was awarded the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Fellowship in 2008 and in the past year, she worked as an English teacher in Brazil and narrated a couple of professional soccer games. She is now back in the Bay area and looking into urban planning programs.

After a year teaching English in France, Marika Tsolakis headed out to Dakar, Senegal for 4 months to work on literacy development with a non-profit called GENSEN (http://gensenegal.org/) that's focused on development in a more grassroots, community organizing style. She completed her MA in December 2011 at the University of London and currently resides in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she is interning at an education NGO. Earlier in the year she was awarded the grand prize for a paper competition on urban poverty in the developing world. Her paper will be published this year and she will present in September at the UN World Urban Forum in Italy as well as at a policy workshop in Washington DC later this year.

Abigail Scott would like to say that the knowledge and skills she got from the UEP program are serving her well in Moab. She has been working with the watershed council and doing kids programming at an organic, community garden. She has shown her comps project to many people in town, including the company hired to write a new general plan for the county.

Jasmine Wade works at Public Allies 2009-2010 in Los Angeles. She is the LEA Program Outreach Coordinator at California Latinas for Reproductive Justice. Previously she worked with the Bus Riders Union as an organizer.

Madeline Wander recently received her Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA. She now works as a Data Analyst for the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PRE). In the past few years she has worked as a Research Assistant for both UCLA and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE).

Class of 2007

Phil Barney volunteered his summer after graduating from Oxy with Common Ground in New Orleans and worked for ACORN in Las Vegas until April 2008, mobilizing and empowering residents around issues of community development and safety. He then worked as an Americorps VISTA for 9 months - first with Communities in Schools and then the Urban League, leaving the post in April. He worked as a Case Manager for Summer Youth Jobs at NV Partners. He's been working with a group of congregations to form an interfaith community organization, to be part of the IAF network. He's also working with the love of his life to create an all ages community center to provide a safe place for Las Vegans to share and build together. Phil will begin his PhD program at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Community Psychology/Ecopsychology/Liberation Psychology. He is very excited and looking forward to starting the program in fall 2011.

Alexandra Cooper recently received her MPH from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She traveled all around Central America and Ecuador for four and a half months in 2008.

Tahanee Fisher is working as a Financial Aid Administrator at the Los Angeles Film School. Previously she was an Assistant Recruitment Coordinator at the Academy of Business Leadership in Rosemead.

Krystal Freeman is working as a web content manager at Sustainable Life Media in Burlingame, CA. Previously, she worked with New Orleans: A Labor of Love, a grass-root, multi-media, public awareness campaign to mobilize 5,000 volunteers to participate in reconstructing the city during 2008.

Lindsay Hagan attended USC for a two-year graduate program at the School of Public Policy and Development and received a Master's in City Planning as well as Planning and Development with a concentration in preservation and the built environment.

Caroline Nasella moved to the Bay Area in August 2007 and attended the UC Davis School of Law. She has worked as an Honors Legal Intern for the California Attorney General’s Office in theenvironmental law and natural resources division. Last summer Caroline served as an Extern to the Honorable Garland E. Burrell in the United States District Court, the Eastern District of California. Most recently she worked as a Summer Associate for Goldfarb & Lipman, a law firm based in Oakland, California.

Vanessa Robinson is pursuing a master of arts in French through the Middlebury College program in Paris. After completing her M.A., she plans to return to her home state of Connecticut to teach high school French.

Nastassia Toruno resides in El Monte and continues to work as an EMT for AmbuServe Ambulance as well as in Human Resources and as their BLS Coordinator. She is also the owner of Toruno and Associates.

Margot Turkheimer worked at ESPN and Disney Media Networks in the affiliate marketing department. She is now the Marketing Manager at Saban Brands.

Christine Wagner received her JD from the law school at Loyola in Los Angeles. She is currently working as an Associate for GPH Lawyers, a firm which specializes in Labor and Employment Law.

Class of 2006

Maritza Agundez is began Law School at Southwestern University in Los Angeles in 2011. Prior to beginning school she worked at California State University, Dominguez Hills as the campus-wide Grant Administrator for the Title V Federal grant--a five year, multi-million dollar grant that serves all graduate programs across campus. The grant, PEGS-Promoting Excellence in Graduate Studies--is a multifaceted program that helps Hispanic, other underrepresented and low-income graduate students develop the academic skills they need to bridge the achievement gap and function in a global community. Previously she spent several years working in corporate development and communications at LINC Housing, a nonprofit housing developer based in Long Beach.

Anna Boone lives in Seattle and recently accepted a position with Gallatin Public Affairs, a regional public Affairs firm. Previously she worked as the Political Director for U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks. Rep. Dicks' district covers Tacoma and most of the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas in Washington State. As Political Director, Anna worked on Rep. Dicks' reelection campaign, focusing on fundraising and outreach in the off-year, and managed the campaign in 2010. Anna also stays involved in Seattle-city politics by serving as the Public Events Director on the board Friends of Seattle, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group focused on urban sustainability (www.friendsofseattle.org). Anna graduated from the Institute for a Democratic Future, a leadership program for young professionals to engage with local elected officials and issues relevant to WA state. Anna is a regular volunteer for political campaigns and community non-profits, and is a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Jacob Dubail is in his third year doing full-time freelance web design and development (http://jacobdubail.com). Previously, Jacob worked at the Northwest Center, a non-profit in Washington State that works with people with disabilities. He worked in the IT department, but was working on building a business plan to cover their 100,000 square foot rooftop with solar panels and flower beds. One of his most exciting side projects was with the Whidbey Ecollaborative (www.whidbeyecollaborative.org), a non-profit educational organization that supports their society's transition to a sustainable culture. They launched a four-day hands-on conference in the summer of 2009, the ReEnergize Convergence in Whidbey Island, WA.

Fidel Estrada married Emil Czechowski on April 16, 2011 in Santa Monica. The couple honeymooned in Tahiti and lives in Santa Monica with their dog, Teddy. Fidel taught third grade general education at Eagle Rock Elementary School for two years and is now an early childhood intervention specialist in the LAUSD. He hopes to complete his master's at Cal State LA this fall.

Andrew Grinberg lives in Washington D.C. He runs the field canvass for Clean Water Action (cleanwateraction.org) a national environmental nonprofit which he has worked with since October 2006. Andrew's crew of canvassers knocked on more than 25,000 doors in Virginia in the weeks before the election. He was very excited to host all his Oxy friends who came to town for the inauguration. He celebrated Burning Man where other Oxy Alum built a geodesic dome in the Nevada desert. In 2011 he rode segways around Chicago with Sam Kline and Nate Upham and successfully completed 35 cartwheels.

Windyn Hines received her Master’s in Asian Studies from the University of Utah this past year. She previously worked a couple of years at a school for street youths in Jakarta, Indonesia. She did research and outreach with homeless youth as part of a project at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. She is currently working as an artist for Tian Chi Design.

Catherine Packer '06 and Dan Hoffman have been living in San Francisco for the past year and a half. Dan is working for Americorps running an after-school program at a charter high school in the city and this year he is moving to Colorado to do a year-long teaching fellowship (through Public Allies) at the Eagle Rock School- an alternative boarding high school in Estes Park.

Bryden Johnston currently holds the position of Development Associate at The Trust for Hidden Villa where she previously interned. She also worked as the Garden Learning Instructor for Collective Roots, an educational garden in East Palo Alto. Previously, she traveled with fellow Oxy alums, including Lindsay Hagan '06 throughout South America.

Kelsey Lewis did well in the Post-Baccalaureate/Pre-med program at Bryn Mawr College. She took the MCAT in late May 2008 and is now in her second year of medical school at USC.

Leslie Mahley received her JD from the UCLA School of Law and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Caroline Murray moved to Oakland, after spending two years in Spain working and getting her Masters Degree in Public Management of Social Problems from the Universidad de Granada. She currently teaches Spanish as a lecturer at St. Mary’s College of California and is planning to return to graduate school to get a second M.A. which will help further her teaching career. Previously she worked for an industrial filtration company called New Logic Research selling environmental compliance systems internationally. The job incorporated aspects of UEP that she never knew impassioned her and she really loves living in the Bay Area. She lives very close to Molly Russell ’05, who shares her love of Salsa dancing, and is in touch with Kathleen While.

Jade Nguyen is pursuing her Master’s in Action for a Viable Future program at Sonoma State University in the fall. Previously, she was a program services coordinator at the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life at Occidental College.

During a month long road trip visiting 10 national parks in the western U.S., Midori Niikura met David Griswold '84, president of a Fair Trade and organic coffee importer (Sustainable Harvest Specialty Coffee Importers) and accepted an intern position. She worked mainly in their offices in Peru, Guatemala and Mexico-moving frequently and returning to Portland about every 3 months. For the second half of 2007, however, she was based in Oaxaca, Mexico which was a pleasant experience. Midori worked mainly in: the coordination of the company's annual supplier-roaster gathering event; providing communication materials for the roaster clients; and maintaining accounts for assigned supplier groups and developing/facilitating relationships with their roaster clients. She truly enjoyed the work, however, resigned from her position after 2 years to return to Los Angeles, where she married Mark Hartford '06 and helped coach the Oxy Women's Ultimate Frisbee team. Additionally, she worked for a non-profit working with low to moderate-income business owners, providing counseling and training. Last year, Midori reconnected with David Griswold, who invited her back to be on the team in Portland, OR. She was eager to go back to working with the company, and she and Mark relocated to the NW.

Catherine Packer received her MPH with a concentration in International Women’s Reproductive Health from John Hopkins University this past year. Prior to starting graduate school she lived in the Bay Area and worked for The Greenlining Institute as their Health Policy Director. Her work focused on developing a racially equitable framework in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Olivia Prebus finished her BS in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. She is now a registered nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia working in the Hematology and General Pediatrics divisions.

Max Podemski is attending graduate school at Columbia University. He is pursuing a Master’s in Urban Planning. Prior to moving to New York Max worked for Pacoima Beautiful in the North San Fernando Valley and was responsible for creating a master plan for revitalizing and building park space along the Pacoima Wash.

Vikram Shankar joined the Peace Corps and served in Togo, Africa working with the Community Health and AIDS Prevention (CHAP) program which works in the domains of HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, family planning and hygiene and sanitation. He now works as an Independent Non- profit Organization Management Professional in Portland, OR.

Natalie (Simon) Champion recently married Marcus Champion ‘06 and lives in Lynwood. She is currently working as a policy and research coordinator for Strategic Counsel in downtown Los Angeles. She previously worked for the City of Compton, uplifting the community and facilitating economic development. http://www.newsweek.com/id/190871?GT1=43002 She worked on several projects including showcasing Compton's developments over the course of 2009 through Southern California Neighborhood Partners and Town Hall Meetings. She also worked on a Community Participation Plan which focused on using community participation and feedback as a scorecard for Performance Measurement of political initiatives and directives by Compton's City Council. In addition to bringing a Farmer's Market to Compton, Natalie worked on a Marketing Plan for Compton's Enterprise Zone, in which Compton was one of 18 other municipalities who won the prestigious designation allowing for the economic development of Compton.

Class of 2005

Lydia Avila became the Director of Community Organizing for Inner City Struggle in the summer of 2011. She previously worked as a community organizer with the East LA Community Corporation that advocates for economic and social justice in Boyle Heights and Unincorporated East Los Angeles.

Shaina Campbell is the Domestic Violence Program Coordinator with Peace Over Violence (formerly known as L.A. Commission on Assaults Against Women), a non-profit, feminist, multicultural, volunteer organization dedicated to a building healthy relationships, families and communities free from sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence. Prior to her current position with the non-profit, Shaina served as their emergency services coordinator during which period she was responsible for their 24-hour emergency services and response to hospitals and police stations for victim support. Shaina is a member of the Los Angeles City Task Force on Human Trafficking, and helped to draft the city-wide policy that will mandate emergency response and access to hospital and forensic exams for survivors of human trafficking.

Grant Canary was awarded an ICETEX Full International Scholarship to attend Universidad de La Sabana for graduate school. He received his M.S. in Engineering with a concentration in Design and Management of Processes in 2009. During this time he successfully launched two businesses: an extended stay hostel in Bogota called La Casa Terraza and an innovative animal feed company that uses organic waste to create protein for feed using fly larvae. The latter, called BioSystems Design has the potential to rescue the U.S. aquaculture and catfish market by providing cheap protein. The company has rapidly grown and has bases both in Portland, OR and Bogota, Columbia. Grant is currently in Denmark and most recently worked in the Spare Parts and Repair division of Vestas, a company which develops wind power plants.

Molly Franson will receive her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley this year. Her interest in the field of Landscape Architecture evolved from her agricultural experiences in Los Angeles and Latin America. Previously, she was a program associate with Amigos de los Rios in the City of El Monte. She did research and policy writing on the Open Space Element of the General Plan. Molly also worked with Community Services Unlimited in South Central with Neelam Sharma. The organization focuses on food security and obesity prevention. She ran programs with youth and seniors at the Exposition Park Intergenerational Community Center Mini-Urban Farm. She received the Strauss Scholarship in 2003-04.

Juliean (Alexis) Jiles received her Master’s in Liberal Studies from Occidental College in 2006. She currently resides in Los Angeles and is working for Team Legacy, Inc.

Caitlin Lynch is working for the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon Policy Center as their Event Planning Intern. Prior to her current position she worked for the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services as a Community Service Aid II and assisted with community outreach for the neighborhood tree planting program. In 2010 she served as a Human Rights Accompanier for the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). She hopes to continue her travels in Spain, Papua Nui Guinea and New Zealand.

Alessandro Morosin is in his final year of graduate school at UC Santa Barbara as a candidate for a Masters of Arts in Global and International Studies. While at UCSB he has been involved in the group SB Anti War (see "Karl Rove Chased Out of UCSB" on YouTube) and plays guitar in a local Latin Rock band called Xue. Alessandro conducted research for his Master’s thesis on the impact of federal health and social development programs in the Sierra Gorda region of Mexico during the summer of 2010 and hopes to publish a related journal article soon.

Clayton Perry graduated from John F. Kennedy University SOL in Orinda CA and was admitted to The State Bar of California in April 2010. He now works as an Associate Attorney for Kampf, Schiavone and Associates, APC in San Bernardino and represents injured workers in Workers' Compensation proceedings.

Eli Reisman is currently working with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a Manager of the Community Membership Relations department. The USGBC is the author of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system. LEED measures how well a building or community performs across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. USGBC currently has 75 chapters across the U.S., each of which is considered a separate 501c3 organization. Eli is also pursuing his MBA from the George Washington University School of Business.

Ellen Roggemann is working as a Specialty Food Development and Assistant Gardener for McEvoy Ranch, LLC based in Petaluma, CA. The ranch has 3.5 acres of flowers, fruit and vegetables. Her work ranges from recipe development to assisting growers with applications for organic certification. In addition, Ellen works as a local foods cook, Consultant and Event Coordinator for the Radical Radish. Before her move to Petaluma, she helped run Alemany Farm, a 5.5 acre volunteer-based urban farm in San Francisco, co-founded the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance. Prior to this Ellen worked for 1 1/2 years in Thailand for a community-based study abroad program on development issues and social movements. As a program facilitator for the CIEE Thailand program, she mentored and challenged students, helping them learn from and work in solidarity with local Thai NGOs and village movements. Her work since college has also included organizing speaking tours for Thai farmers, writing articles about the political situation in Thailand, and organizing the promotion of fair trade Jasmine rice. Since college she has authored a number of publications.

Molly Russell is the owner of 100% Organized, a Bay Area Business which provides a sustainable hauling service for her customers' purged items and also networks with community organizations, recycling and repurposing items. She attended a three year program at Vedika Gurukula in Emeryville, studying Ayurveda, traditional East Indian medicine, to receive certification as an Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner. She previously worked as a job developer at Employment & Community Options, an agency based in Oakland which helps adults with disabilities find and obtain meaningful employment, after which she volunteered at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in downtown Oakland. The IRC supports refugee resettlement for people coming from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Somalia.

Brandon Smith is currently with Child & Family Guidance Center where he works as a Marketing and Community Relations Manager. The Center serves vulnerable and at-risk children, as well as their families, and provides a continuum of quality mental healthcare, supportive social services and links to needed resources. Previously, he worked as a Resident Services Resource Developer with LINC Housing Corporation. His duties included program development, funding development, and program implementation and management of a $300k+ budget to operate the many programs and opportunities LINC offers their residents of affordable housing.

Erin VanDenburgh received her MS in Student Affairs in High Education from Colorado State University in 2011. Since completing graduate school Erin has worked as the Campus Programs Coordinator for Boise State University. In addition to advising the Student Programs Board and Volunteer Service Board she represents the Student Involvement and Leadership Center for campus-wide event committees.

Class of 2004

Anna Berzins is in her final year of graduate school at the University of Cambridge studying Planning, Growth and Regeneration (program). In summer 2009, Anna participated in a study abroad program in China for 5 weeks through Cal Poly Pomona. Previously, she was a director of International Travel Programs with The Brighton Foundation. Back in 2004, she and Colleen Callahan '04 traveled to Portland, OR and worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on the voter registration campaign. Anna received a Mellon Environmental Research Grant in 2002-2003.

In 2010 Colleen Callahan completed her MA in Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. She currently works for the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation as their Deputy Director. Colleen is also the Co-founder and a Board Member of the Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative. She previously worked as the Manager of Air Quality Policy for the American Lung Association, the leading public health organization fighting air pollution and global warming. Colleen advocated for policies that would reduce toxic emissions from transportation, energy and industrial sectors. As such, she was a member of Green LA’s Port Work Group, which UEP faculty, Martha Matsuoka, coordinates. She previously worked at the American Lung Association as a health educator doing outreach, research and volunteer recruitment related to environmental health issues. In Fall 2008, Colleen took a break from environmental health policy work to travel and volunteer in South Africa.

Jessica (Monge) Coria ran a half marathon with fellow classmates Carla Saporta and Kristina Becht in the fall of 2011.

Natalie Deutsch spent two years as a corporate media relations specialist for DMJM Harris, a global architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Natalie received the member of the year award from WTS Los Angeles chapter which focuses on promoting women in the engineering industry. She placed articles featuring various public works projects including infrastructure construction in California and education facility construction in Florida. She is now living in San Francisco working on the trade floor of Barclays Global Investors, America's largest money manager which provides structured investment strategies such as indexing, risk-controlled active products, and exchange traded funds to investors worldwide. Natalie's philanthropy commitments include serving as Vice President of the Junior Committee of California Pacific Medical Center as well as membership to the Junior League of San Francisco.

Chris Green lives in Spokane, Washington, where he is studying Urban & Regional Planning at Eastern Washington University. He also works as a Planning Intern in nearby Airway Heights, Washington and serves on the Board of the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Justine Lewis received her MBA in Marketing from the Mills College Graduate School of Business this year. In July she became the Marketing Coordinator for the 3D Group in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to starting graduate school, Justine worked for four years as an education administrator at Redwoods Day School, an independent school in Oakland, CA. Just before returning to her studies, she embarked on a trip around the world for seven months, traveling extensively in India and Europe, and completing a 450 mile pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

Rebecca (Becky) Lewis was awarded her Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University in 2008. Before attending grad school she worked as a budget policy analyst at OMB Watch, a non-profit organization that evaluated the federal government on behalf of low-income Americans. While in graduate school she interned for HUD focusing on the MTW Program. Upon completing school Rebecca worked for New America Foundation as a Policy Analyst on the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Since 2010 she has served as a Policy Analyst for the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Evelin Montes is the deputy director of Training at Liberty Hill. Her main responsibility is running the Wally Marks Leadership Institute (http://www.libertyhill.org/page.aspx?pid=297), in addition to providing capacity-building training to a couple of Inland Empire groups as part of an initiative in conjunction with The California Endowment. She had served as the interim executive director of Collective SPACE (Social Power through Action & Community Education) located in the MacArthur Park/Westlake community. As director, she was responsible for overseeing the implementation of community-driven direct action campaigns to improve the quality of life of area residents. In 2005, Evelin was awarded the Los Angeles Public Allies Change-Maker Award for her organizing work with MacArthur Park residents. Evelin sits on the board of the Eviction Defense Network and has served this past year as a commissioner on the 912 Neighborhood Council Review Commission through an appointment by First District Councilmember Ed P. Reyes. She received a Strauss Scholarship in 2002-03. On her spare time, Evelin enjoys long walks with her beagle (Charlie).

Maria-Isabella (Izzy) Yani (Prack) works as an account manager for Cisco Systems for the cities, counties, school districts, and universities in Arizona, where she primarily serves as a technology and funding consultant for her clients. She specializes in communications for schools and public safety. She participates in Toastmaster's International as a Competent Leader and is a member of the Arizona Road Runners. She previously was a special projects coordinator for the California Association of Realtors in Los Angeles and the assistant director of SCORE! Educational Center in San Pedro. She is a working mom with daughter Sara Noelle (born Nov.13, 2009). Izzy, husband and Sara went to Europe in June 2010 to meet her great grandmother and experience Austrian culture.

Carla Saporta completed a half marathon in the fall of 2011 with fellow classmates Jessica Coria and Kristina Becht. She received her Masters in Public Health through the Oregon Masters in Public Health Program at Oregon Health Sciences University and Portland State University. While in school, she worked part-time as a policy advisor for an Oregon state senator, Laurie Monnes Anderson, who chairs the healthcare policy committee. Carla relocated to the Bay Area in 2009 to work on her practicum at the Greenlining Institute, where she will be looking at how to implement state level policy similar to the Community Reinvestment Act, with a focus on biotech firms and the insurance industry. She previously worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee where she ran a campaign with the Kaiser facilities in Hawaii. In 2007, Carla completed a Spanish Immersion course in Cusco, Peru and traveled all over Peru and Ecuador for about five months.

Guadalupe (Lupe) Solis is working at Small Schools Alliance of Green Dot, assisting with their outreach and community organizing efforts. She previously worked for Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH).

Abby Wheatley lives in Berkeley and attended graduate school at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, where she pursued a Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and Social Transformation with an emphasis in Gender, Ecology, and Society. She spent the summer of 2009 in Panajachel, Guatemala volunteering with Maya Traditions, a fair trade organization that works with weavers around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala providing social programs in health and education. Other latest travels include Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Croatia, as well as a month in Italy staying with family, where she reunited with the Italian language. She recently completed her coursework for a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology and will be advancing to candidacy this upcoming academic year.

Callie White is currently attending CalStateTEACH earning a multiple subjects teaching credential, where she enjoys facilitating students’ learning experiences. In the past, Callie worked as a legal researcher with Hadsell & Stormer, Inc. in Pasadena, working on human rights and employment issues .

Class of 2003

Michelle Ashley completed her RN program at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007 and went on to complete a joint degree program and received her MS in Nursing as well as a MPH in 2010. While in school Michelle worked as a nurse case manager for the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. She was awarded a Schweitzer Fellowship for 2009-2010 and volunteered at a free clinic for the uninsured providing cancer education. Michelle is now working as the Nurse Clinical Coordinator for the World Trade Center Monitoring and Treatment Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Until recently Regina Clemente worked as the Field Director for the non-profit, Freedom to Marry. She is currently the Client Manager for Blue State Digital in Los Angeles. She previously was the Project Director of Vote for Equality, the organizing arm of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. Before working for VFE, Regina was the public affairs manager for Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County, a field manger for the No on 85 Campaign for Teen Safety and a community organizer for ACORN. Additionally, she spent time in South Dakota working to defeat their state abortion ban and in Ohio to elect several new pro-choice legislators.

Deanna Furman is still working as a Legislative and Community Advocate for the California Nurses Association in Sacramento, CA. Her responsibilities have grown to include frequently testifying before the California Legislature and lobbying on behalf of legislation that is important to the members of CNA - including single payer healthcare and workers' rights. Additionally, she engages in political campaigns including defeating the measures on the 2009 California Special Election, working on a number of independent expenditures campaigns during the 2008 election season, internal membership engagement in local political campaigns and spending 2 weeks before the election in Nevada to work on labor's efforts to elect Obama. She also works extensively liaising between elected officials and CNA in the Legislature and local governments and ensuring elected officials and our members are on message for press event, strikes, and other CNA events. Deanna previously worked as a Legislative Consultant with State Senator Alex Padilla after completing a year-long Fellowship with State Senator Richard Alarcon. She covered a variety of topics for Senator Padilla including, women's issues, budget human services, housing and transportation.

Bethany Graham works as a Futures & Forex Broker at the Chicago Board of Trade. She purchased her first home in 2008 and received her MBA from Elmhurst College in 2006. She previously worked as the Assistant Director of the Onyx Marketing Division of Rosenthal Collins Group, LLC.

Mia Gutfreund received her Master’s in Social Work from Smith College in Northampton, MA in 2009. She currently works as a Clinical Case Manager for the Richmond Area Multi-Services Clinic in the Bay Area. In addition to connecting youth and their families to local services, she provides adjunct psychotherapy to youth ages 12-18. Since 2004 she has also practiced massage therapy for non-profits, clinic-based setting and private practices. Previously, Mia worked as a research associate on the UCSF HPV Natural History Study and a program associate and special projects coordinator at The University of California, Maternal and Child Health Program, School of Public Health in Berkeley.

Sarah Lapin received her Master’s from University of Southern California Social Work program in May 2008. She moved to San Francisco and worked with the San Mateo County Library system as their Community Outreach Program Specialist. She is responsible for program development and coordination for the adult and family literacy education programs. She previously worked with Peace Games, an agency that empowers students to create their own safe classrooms and communities by forming partnerships with elementary schools, families and young adult volunteers. Sarah also worked in Los Angeles at St. Anne's transitional housing facility for recently emancipated youth from the foster care system. She worked in the Family Literacy Program, which is designed to educate and support pregnant and parenting teen moms. Sarah received a David L. Boren Scholarship in 2000-01. She is currently in the process of moving to Seattle from San Francisco.

Ingrid Melendez is currently attending school in Los Angeles. She and Michelle Ashley '03 finished their documentary on SweatX – the non-sweatshop company in LA – and distributed it to anti- sweatshop organizations around the country.

Kim Pham lives in Florida and owns a tea lounge called Kaleisia Tea Lounge with her cousin Lan Ha (www.thetealounge.com). The pair is currently looking to expand their business to North Carolina. Kim was featured on WEDU-TV’s “Small Business Academy” and offers tips to those who want to start a business, especially on a small budget. WEDU is the PBS station for west central Florida (www.wedu.org).

Hetty Wong received her JD from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada- William Boyd S. School of Law in May of 2008. She has earned two CALI Awards during her time at Boyd and an invitation onto their school's moot court program, Society of Advocates, and represented the school in the 2007 National Moot Court Competition in fall 2008. She previously was at a law firm, McCormick, Barstow, Wayte, Sheppard & Carruth, LLP, as a summer associate. Since completing law school Hetty has worked as a Deputy District Attorney for Clark County’s District Attorney’s Office.

Flaherty Wright is a Project Manager at Charities Housing Development Corporation in San Jose, which provides affordable housing to very low-income individuals and families. She manages multifamily, residential new construction projects through feasibility, acquisition, entitlement, design development, financing (tax credits and bonds), construction, permanent conversion and lease-up. Flaherty specializes in the financing aspect of deals, and works with the City, County and State on construction and permanent sources as well as traditional banks and investors. She previously worked as a Project Coordinator for EHC LifeBuilders as well as a project manager at Shelter Partnership, Inc. Shelter Partnership is a non-profit group in Los Angeles that helps expand resources and provides technical assistance to non-profits, for profits, and local, state and federal government agencies providing services and housing/shelter to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Class of 2002

Vanessa Bopp attended graduate school at American University's School of Public Affairs, to pursue an MS degree in Justice, Law, and Society.

Megan (Buchanan) Cherry received her MA in English/Creative Writing (Poetry) from Northern Arizona University in December 2006. She married in 2009 and had a baby boy. Megan currently works as a Learning Specialist at Northfield Mount Hermon School (her alma mater) in Massachusetts where her daughter attends high school. While still in Arizona, Megan was part of the design team for Tree House Learning Community, a program supported by the nonprofit The BloomTree Foundation which helps young adults in recovery enter or re-enter higher education in a safe learning environment. Megan continues to write poetry, several of which were published within the past few years.

Nicole Drake was elected to the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board in November 2008 to a four year term. The Rent Stabilization Board enacts regulations, hears petition appeals and administers a program to implement the Rent Control Ordinance. Previous to her work on the Rent Board, Nicole was a member of Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission. Before re-locating to the Bay Area, Nicole worked for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) for two years post graduation on a living wage impact study, "Examining the Evidence: The Impact of the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance on Workers and Businesses." Since July 2007 Nicole has been Berkeley City Councilmember and vice Mayor Linda Maio’s Legislative Aid. Maio is up for reelection to the Berkeley Rent Board in 2012 so Nicole is busy preparing for the campaign. Nicole also acted as the community liaison to Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. She and her boyfriend purchased a home in Berkeley and are now the proud owners of a Vizsla puppy.

Maggie Fleming is working as the Executive Director at EarthTeam in the East Bay community. She is responsible for overseeing the nonprofits’ annual fundraising goal as well as their media outreach and branding. Previously she worked with Obama for America as a community organizer and attending his Presidential Inauguration in 2008. Following graduation from Occidental in 2002, Maggie taught English for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program then worked with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm in Oakland, CA. She completed her MA in Ecopsychology this year.

In 2011, Miriah (Mortimer) Van Duuren received a certificate of completion of a mini MBA from the University of Saint Thomas School of Business in Minnesota. She is currently working as an Academic Advisor at Capella University and previously held the position of Customer Care Professional with Medica Health Plans.

Payton Phillips finished her Masters in Professional Writing at USC with a focus on non-fiction and screenwriting. She is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at USC. In March 2009, she traveled to El Salvador to monitor the presidential election. Her blog on the events can be found at www.paytonphillipsgarcia.wordpress.com and is featured on USC’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences website. Previously, she taught at continuation high schools in South Central Los Angeles. She also continues to work with the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF) on a Central American curriculum development project for secondary Social Science and English classrooms. For over a year, Payton taught creative writing in the Los Angeles County Juvenile Halls. She was the lead teacher for InsideOut Writers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall where her students were all males and predominately High Risk Offenders. From 2003-2004, Payton worked for the Accelerated Collaborative Teacher (ACT) Credential Preparation Program, an accelerated cohort program that is a collaboration between Cal State Northridge and LAUSD District B. She travels extensively on her vacations to Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

Sarah Pope is now working for the Oregon Business Association (OBA) as their Legislative Director. Prior to working for OBA she was at Stand for Children, a statewide advocacy group, for several years starting as a community organizer and then promoted to the position of State Acting Executive Director. Before leaving Los Angeles for Oregon, Sarah her worked for a number of social justice organizations. She organized with ACORN to successfully pass a housing trust fund; worked with the Center for Food and Justice to promote healthy food in the Los Angeles Unified School District; and provided technical assistance through Community Partners to childcare providers applying for micro grants. She studied Spanish in Guatemala in 2004 and participated in the Century Foundation Leadership Institute in 1999-00.

Stephanie Schroeder recently returned from teaching science in Cali, Colombia. She now resides in Boulder, CO and is the project manager for a new grant, Stream, which integrates science and literacy with the use of iPads. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder working towards her Master’s in Education and teaching certificate for secondary science. She spent a summer teaching biology for Native American high school students at Upward Bound at CU. Stephanie previously worked as a social worker for Seneca, non-profit organization for kids with SEDS and interned for EarthJustice doing research on sustainable living. She completed her 6 month travel in Spain with Corey Bowers '01, attended a language school in Granada, and walked the Camino trail, a 500-mile pilgrimage that begins in France and cuts through northern Spain to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Amanda Shaffer is working at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute since graduating Oxy. Her 2002 comps project on the LA grocery gap lingers on and resulted in her co-authorship of a report, "Shopping for a Market,” that examines the entrance of global food retailer Tesco, into the United States. The report received U.S. and U.K. media coverage, so check out the UEPI website www.uepi.oxy.edu to find out what it means if “Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market” is opening in your community.

Class of 2001

After completing her first year of law school at Whittier Law School in 2004, Emma Garcia received a public interest law grant to work for Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, a non-profit law firm. Previously, she was working for the Fair Housing Council of San Gabriel Valley.

Samantha Hults received her JD from the University of New Mexico in 2005. While in law school, she was awarded a summer fellowship to work at the National Labor Relations Board office in LA. For two years she has worked as the corporate compliance officer for Presbyterian Medical Services, a non-profit health care provider in New Mexico that serves low-income patients, including those without health insurance. Following law school she worked as an Associate Attorney for the firm Jackson Lewis, LLP. Samantha married in September 2007 to a fellow New Mexico attorney, Danny Jarrett, and is the proud stepmother of two wonderful children. As of last August she has worked for the City of Albuquerque as an Assistant City Attorney.

Lanea Hunt-Valencia is currently working at ADP, a payroll processing company. This position allows her the knowledge to volunteer for Start-Up, a local non-profit, to teach emerging business owners how to prepare for hiring their first employee. She previously was the director at SCORE! Educational Centers. Lanea completed her world tour in 2002, completed an Olympic triathlon, and has become proficient at sailing in the San Francisco Bay!

After working for several years with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) as a project coordinator, Christina Ortega-Libatique is now an Analyst for the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department. Prior to this position she also served as the Director of Community Outreach for the Office of Mayor Villaraigosa In September 2008, she culminated from the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. Christina was also selected to participate in the Global Cooperation society Los Angeles Club Multi- Cultural Leadership Korea Visitation Program and traveled to Korea in October 2008 for two weeks.

Lisa Pringle received her Masters of Public Policy from USC in 2004. After graduating from USC she worked for Congresswoman Hilda Solis in the San Gabriel Valley as a field representative and then as an associate for Victor Griego at Diverse Strategies for Organizing. Lisa is currently working at Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) a non-profit organization aimed at empowering Latinas. She has also been volunteering with the American Cancer Society after her mother passed away from cancer in 2006.

After Oxy, Artineh Samkian turned down an offer to go to Boalt Law School to study Environmental Law and was a teacher for a year instead. She received a Master's in Education with a specialization in Social Research Methodology. She continued on with the PhD in the same program. To complete the dissertation, Artineh received the Dissertation Year Fellowship from UCLA. She also applied and received a fellowship (started September 2006) at LAUSD as an Urban Education Research Fellow and upon graduation will become a full-time member of the Research and Evaluation branch as an Educational Research Analys. Artineh married her high school sweetheart on August 25, 2007.

Since 2008 Kelly Talbot has worked as an Assistant Director of Policy with Voice for Illinois Children. Prior to this she served on the Illinois Board of Education as an Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs and Media Relations. Kelly previously worked for State Rep. Kathy Ryg and at Jan Schakowsky’s office and the Center for Neighborhood Technology in 2002.

Jean Won moved to Chicago in 2004, where she studied law at Northwestern Law School. She received her JD in 2006 and as a Litigation Associate and Associate at two separate firms. Jean returned to California and now holds the position of Staff Counsel for the State Compensation Insurance Fund in Riverside.

Class of 2000

Fernando Cazares is working for the City of San Jose as the Community Coordinator for Volunteer Management. He previously had a management fellowship in which he worked for the city, focusing on issues of housing, homelessness, and redevelopment. Fernando also runs the City of San José community gardens program. They have 18 operating gardens encompassing nearly 30 acres and 950 gardeners. One of the areas Fernando is most interested in is the linkage of the program with efforts to provide healthy local organic produce and fruits to schools and food organizations (second harvest). He received his Master’s from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs. While in graduate school, he was awarded a fellowship from the National Congress for Community Economic Development to participate in a summer leadership program. Prior to attending grad school, Fernando participated in the Coro Fellows program in Los Angeles, Strauss Fellowship, and PPIA Fellowship program, and managed a grassroots campaign to pass a school bond issue in Santa Clarita.

Carmen Chu continues to serve on the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco. She is the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and a member of the County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), Health Service Systems Board, and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) among other committees. Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Chu worked to improve the lives of San Francisco residents through her tenure at the Mayor’s Office of public Policy and Finance. In May 2003, she received her Masters of Public Policy from UC Berkeley. Previously, she worked in the Mayor of San Francisco's Office of Public Policy and Finance as a Budget Analyst, worked for Public Financial Management group, and was a legislative analyst intern for Office of the Legislative Analyst-San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the account coordinator/strategic planning assistant for IW Group, Inc. Carmen participated in the Sagner Fellowship (20th Century Fund), IIMCR Program (Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution), and PPIA (Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow through AED).

Martha Contreras received her JD from UCLA Law School in May 2003 and is an Associate for the law firm Lower & Kesner, LLP. She previously worked as a Senior Associate at Fellman & Associates. Martha was a recruitment co-chair for La Raza Law Students Association and organized a symposium on affirmative action through the Chicano-Latino review. She has also volunteered at a VAWA clinic by helping immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence obtain legal status in the U.S. while mentoring minority students who are interested in going to Law School.

After four years as Executive Director of Teach for America (TFA) in Memphis, Bradley Leon is now their Senior Vice-President of Regional Operations. He is responsible for managing executive directors in Appalachia, Texas and Tennessee as well as their government affairs efforts. In his previous role as a recruitment director, Brad managed recruitment efforts at the University of Chicago, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Iowa. He was previously director of recruitment for TFA in Chicago, after working as a TFA teacher in New Orleans from 2002-2004. While a teacher of eighth grade language arts and social studies at the New Orleans Free School in New Orleans, Brad’s students excelled academically and this resulted in his receiving the school’s “Teacher of the Year” in 2002. A winner of the Senior-Scholar Athlete Award, Brad graduated with honors from Occidental College in 2000 after participating in both football and baseball where he served as captain in 1999-2000.

Casey Martin-Fisher received her JD from Santa Clara University School of Law and went on to practice civil litigation in both Santa Cruz and Fresno in the areas of Municipal Defense and Employment Law. Casey was awarded the White House Internship in 1998-99. She left her position as Deputy District Attorney in the County of Fresno on a Felony Trial Team Rotation and moved to Newport, RI for a year. Casey recently had son, Jack Thomas, with her husband Chris. He joins sister Riley Elizabeth. On her move across country, which she reports as nothing less than an adventure, she saw Vicky Hill, Kristy Felker ‘01, and Matt Warren ‘01.

Lanita Morris is currently working at the L.A. Black Worker Center. She previously held the position of Education and Training Associate at SCOPE with Environmental and Economic Justice Project (EEJP). In addition she served as an organizer with Action for Grassroots Environment & Neighborhood Development Alternatives (AGENDA) and the L.A. Metropolitan Alliance, community organizations in South Central Los Angeles.

Chuen-Chih Ng continues to work as a city planner for Lancaster, the “last frontier” of L.A. County. He served as project manager on the City’s General Plan update and Housing Element update, which provided an opportunity for the City to draft goals and policies that will direct the City towards a more sustainable future, in both environmental and socioeconomic terms. Prior, he worked in Hanford, in the Central Valley. In 2004, he earned a Master’s in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and received a HUD fellowship to work part-time at the San Luis Obispo County Housing and Economic Development Department. He was a science teacher at LAUSD Cleveland High School from 2000-2002.

Christina Nguyen received her Master of Public Policy with a concentration in Crime and Drug from UCLA in 2002. She is currently a coordinator of youth programs at Princess Cruises, Cunard Ocean Liners, and P&O Australia Holiday. She previously was a substitute teacher at LAUSD and a policy and administrative intern at the City of L.A., Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families. She was awarded the PPIA (Public Policy and International Affairs) Fellowship Program in 1998-99. Christina was married to Tom Wonders on September 22, 2007, on Oxy's campus and lives in Pasadena.

In Summer '03, Hector Perez was the academic coordinator of Upward Bound Project at Occidental College. He previously was a member of the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel. Hector is currently a PhD student at the University of Chicago, department of economics, and is interested in studying the decision to expand of firms by greenfield investment vs. acquisition of firms.

Class of 1999

Susie Alvarez-Tostado is a social studies teacher at John Marshall High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She has worked with the USC Center for Active Learning in International Studies (CALIS) and their Teaching International Relations Program (TIRP) and Teaching East Asia Program (TEAP). She traveled to Japan and participated in school exchanges as a Fellow with the Keizai Koho Center (Japan Institute for Social and Economic Affairs) in 2004.

Sara Bauleke completed her Master’s in Public Policy in 2004 at Georgetown University. She has since lived in Washington, D.C., and continues to run Bella Notte Wedding Consulting, the company she founded in 2004. Her weddings have appeared on Martha Stewart Weddings and she's been named one of Washington, D.C.'s best wedding planners by both Washingtonian magazine and The Knot-Best of Weddings Magazine. She previously worked as the editorial assistant for Community Counts, a publication of Whatcom Coalition for Healthy Communities.

Penelope (Brion) Brown graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in May 2002 and took the California subsequently passed the bar exam. She is currently a defense attorney with Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard, & Smith, LLP. Her focus is Construction Litigation. Meanwhile, Penelope has received a fellowship with the American Board of Trial Advocates Foundation and in January 2003, married Sgt. Burton B. Brown in Abilene, Texas.

Sandra Gallardo was involved in the mentorship programs for inner-city students and worked on housing rights issues. She has received several awards and honors such as the Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship, Strauss Fellowship, the Phoenix Fellowship, MALDEF Legal Scholarship and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellowship. In 2004, Sandra graduated with a dual degree -- a law degree from UC Berkeley and MPA from JF Kennedy School of government at Harvard. She joined a DC law firm and practiced there for two and a half years. Sandra got married in 2006 and she and her husband now live outside of Washington DC. Sandra has worked as a senior oversight and investigations counsel to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ("HELP") Committee. She works closely with all the domestic policy legislators of the country (since, almost all of American domestic policy comes out of the HELP Committee). Her work included the No Child Left Behind program.

Akilah (Murphy) Lyons-Moore married in 2004 and has three children. She received her Master’s of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from the University of Southern California (USC). She works full time teaching high school Civics, Economics and Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics. Akilah recently completed her Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program in Educational Leadership from USC.

Eduardo (Eddie) Santana received his MBA at USC Marshall School of Business with planned emphasis in real estate development and finance in May 2006. Following graduate school he joined Forest City Enterprises, a national real estate development company, as an Associate Project Developer. Eddie assisted with acquiring, developing, and operating large shopping centers in predominantly Latino communities. He has since worked as a CEO Coach for Estrada Strategies as well as a Senior Analyst for BV Housing Partners, LLC. Currently Eddie is the Senior Associate for RCLCO. Eddie married Claudia Delgado ‘01 in 2007 and their son, Eduardo Miguel, was born on February 18, 2008.

Seth Steward attended the George Washington University Law School and received his JD in 2006. Since completing law school Seth has worked as the Deputy District Attorney for Multnomah County and as an Assistant District Attorney for San Francisco. Seth is currently attending the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a candidate for a Mid Career Master in Public Administration.

Class of 1998

Marta Chaffee received her MA in Public Policy with a concentration in economic and quantitative analysis from the University Of Michigan School Of Public Policy in 2000. After spending four years in Chicago as a transfer pricing associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Chicago, she moved to Washington DC to work for the U.S. Accountability Office. Marta has worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the past several years and is currently in the position of Assistant Director.

Andrea (Garcia) Olebe was awarded the California Executive Fellowship in 1997-98. She attended Claremont Graduate University and received her master’s in 2007. During this time Andrea worked at the Walt Disney Elementary School in Burbank. Andrea married Leo Olebe ‘97 on the Occidental campus and they have a son, Anthony.

After graduation Shannon Hadeed was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. She then went on to earn her JD from the College of William and Mary Law School (VA) in 2004. At the College of William and Mary, she was the editor-in-chief for the law school newspaper, received the Rex Smith award for excellence in journalism and the Dean's certificate for outstanding contribution to the law school community. She is now working as an Associate for a law firm in Virginia.

Eddie Jauregui received a Latham & Watkins Diversity Scholarship and received his JD with honors from Columbia Law School in 2007. After, he served as a law clerk to a federal district court judge in Philadelphia. In the fall of 2008, Eddie joined the New York office of Latham & Watkins. In addition to his commercial work, Eddie is active in the firm’s pro bono program and recently achieved a victory on behalf of a detained immigrant in Honduras. Previously, he was the special assistant to the President/Policy Analyst for The Community Preservation Corporation in New York and served as a volunteer for the Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate campaign in 2002. He received his Masters in Public Policy in Housing Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 2000 and participated in PPIA (Public Policy and International Affairs fellow) in 1996-97. Eddie and Jason Reade '01 affirmed their partnership on March 17, 2007 on the Occidental campus. Eddie and Jason both completed law school. He is currently working as an associate to the Litigation Department and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice.

Class of 1997

After 10 years of living in San Francisco and working as Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson's deputy chief of staff and senior health & legislative analyst, Lara (Bice) Sim and her husband Andy Sim '96 moved to Seattle, Washington in fall of 2006. Lara is now a consultant in private practice with health policy clients in Oakland and Sacramento. Since graduation, Lara has worked with the California Legislature to pass the State's Safe Needle Disposal Act, helped to pioneer a free bus ride to school program for students who qualify for free or reduced school lunch programs in the community and worked on passing ballot measures that raise money to support and expand endangered health programs.

Patrick Eng is still in New York City (2007) and probably gets the award for running into the most Oxy alums every year. He is currently a Partner at Windwood Capital Partners. Previously he ran a hedge fund under Pequot Capital Management, Inc for several years. Prior to this he worked for a private investment firm, Amaranth Advisors in New York in 2003 and was awarded a PPIA Fellowship in 1995-96.

Minh (Marcus) Lam defended his dissertation in August 2011 after attending UCLA for 10 years and received both his MPP Degree and a PhD in Social Welfare. Following the completion of these programs he moved to New York and has since taught at Columbia University in the School of Social Work. He is an Assistant Professor and member of the Social Enterprise Administration.

Maribel Rios received her Master’s in Urban Planning from New York University in 2002. She is currently Economic Development Coordinator with the City of West Hollywood and works on contract management, business attraction and retention, technical assistance and marketing. Previously, she was a housing policy manager at Latinos United in Chicago and a lead organizer for Chicago in a nationwide effort to implement a Latino Division of the American Planning Association. She also worked with Research & Development at the International City/County Management Association in Washington D.C. She has been active as a volunteer facilitator for the Latino College Leadership Institute and the National Conference for Community and Justice. She also interned for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Program Manager of Racial Justice at YWCA of Greater Los Angeles and awarded a fellowship at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Judith Sernas continues to work as the manager for the Verdugo Jobs Center for the City of Glendale. In 1999, she received two Master's degrees from Syracuse University in Public Administration (MPA) and Information Resource Management (MS). Judith continues to participate in the Public Policy and International Fellows Program at UC Berkeley where she was a fellow in 1996. In her spare time, she volunteers at a literacy organization called Reading to Kids.

Marybeth Vergara received her Masters in Public Policy & Urban Affairs from American University in May 2001. Upon completing graduate school she worked as a Program Manager with the Trust for Public Land- Los Angeles River Center & Gardens, a national nonprofit land-conservation organization. While there she assisted with several urban park projects throughout Los Angeles. Marybeth is currently the Project Manager for Rivers & Mountains Conservancy.

Class of 1996

Prior to joining Bridgford & Gleason in 2008, Michael Artinian was an associate with Specter & Willoughby LLP in Newport Beach for more than eight years, where he practiced in the areas of real estate, employment, business and general liability litigation. Michael received his JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1999. He started practicing law in San Francisco in 1999, and then moved down to Orange County in 2001, where he currently lives with his wife Katie and son Kyler and daughter Madeline.

Jessica Buchanan has worked in California and Nevada as a union organizer for several labor unions, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Federal of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union (HERE).

Leslie Heaney received her JD from Fordham University in 2001 and worked as an attorney/counselor at Bronstein, Van Veen & Bronstein, LLC. She married in 2000 and now is a practicing Attorney at Law in New York City, New York.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell is working at Unitrin Direct Insurance with the Department of Health in Pennsylvania. She previously worked at the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue in Los Angeles. In 2005 Stacy received her Master’s in Organizational Development and Human Resources from Capella University.

Pak Kouch received her JD from Southwestern University School of Law in 1999. She is currently the Deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County and previously was the law clerk at the Law Offices of Lisa Kiriakidis (Family Law Practice). She lives in Covina and has two children, Matthew and Kathryn.

Karen Lee received her MPA from the University of Kansas in Public Administration. She is currently the budget analyst for the City of Olathe, Kansas. Karen previously worked for LA City Council member Mike Hernandez as a field deputy. After graduation from Oxy she participated in the Coro Fellows program in LA. In March of 2011 she completed the LA marathon, her first ever, and was planning to run another soon.

Janet McIntyre is currently serving on Oxy's Board of Trustees in an Alumni Trustee position. She is honored to be serving a term as a Trustee and has been thrilled to get further engaged with the College's future. She is a certified professional coach and consultant for the non-profit/public sectors. After 13 years in non-profit development/community relations, she earned her Executive MA of Leadership from USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, completed an intensive coaching certification program, and started her own nonprofit consulting/coaching practice, helping organizations and leaders increase their capacity.

Stuart Scruggs received his Master’s in Public Affairs and Nonprofit management from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin in 2004. He is now working as a reporting analyst for MAXIMUS, Inc in Austin.

Tracey Taylor is currently working for a Community Development Corporation in Lompoc, California as an operations director for two of the organization’s shelters. The corporation seeks to provide shelter to the homeless, women and children in transition, and low-income individuals and families. Tracey was awarded a PPIA (Public Policy and International Affairs) Fellowship in 1994.

Jessica L. Winski received her M.A. from the University of Illinois in 2002 and proceeded to attend law school at the John Marshall Law School from which she graduated magna cum laude in 2006. She practiced employee benefits law at a firm in Milwaukee, WI until 2008 when she joined the Chicago office of Vedder Price. Jessica has since worked as an Associate for the general practice law firm. Her focus remains Employee Benefits and Labor & Law Employment and she is a member of the Employee Benefits Group.

Class of 1995

Jacinda Barnes resides in the Seattle area and is working as a Financial Aid Counselor for the University of Washington. She received a certificate in Business Administration from the University of Washington Michael G. Foster School of Business in 2008. Prior to her current position, Jacinda worked as an account manager for Sallie Mae NELA Services, working with schools in the Pacific Northwest as well as international schools with students from the United States.

Diane Barragan was a director of membership marketing at UCLA Alumni Association as well as a development associate at St. Anne’s.

Tom Boer received his degree from the George Washington University School of Law in 1998. Following law school he worked for several years as an attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. He then spent seven years as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in both D.C. and San Francisco. Tom has coauthored several articles with Professors Manuel Pastor and Jim Sadd in academic journals about the citing of hazardous facilities in low- income and minority areas, research that began as part of his senior comps project at Oxy. Since 2008 Tom has worked as a Partner at Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp with a focus on environmental litigation. He is married to Genevieve Sexton ’96. They are settled into a great Craftsman house in Rockridge in the East Bay area with their four-year-old daughter, Hanora, and one-year-old son Heiko. Genevieve does documentary production work for National Geographic and other freelance writing and research projects.

Olga (Garcia) Rodriguez continues to work on Texas Health and Human Services issues at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), with a particular emphasis on children enrolled in Texas Medicaid. She is very excited about her current work, running an office at HHSC dedicated to developing best practices proposals for children enrolled in Medicaid and implementing key projects that are making a fundamental impact on the health of children in Texas. Olga has had multiple positions at the same agency including Deputy Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Director for Policy developing and managing the rollout of several programs to increase access to care for populations enrolled in Texas Medicaid. She received her M.Aff. from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, where she was elected president of the student body. Previously, Olga worked as a policy and budget analyst with the federal Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. and participated in the PPIA Fellowship program

Matthew Glasser , Co-founder, CEO and Executive Producer of InteReality Media, LLC, won two local Emmys for outstanding health and science television reporting on June 3, 2006. He also has started an online magazine for teens involved in the arts (www.N2Arts.com). Matthew received an MA in Broadcast Journalism from University of Southern California in 1998. He previously was a senior communications specialist / managing editor for Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region and also the President and CEO of da Vinci Communications, Inc. in 2002. A former television journalist for ABC News and Fox News, Matthew has also served as director of marketing, managing editor, and political consultant.

Kate Rope loves living in New York City with husband David Allan and they love their new digs in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. After LIFE magazine closed in 2007, she helped Time Inc. launch a new health website the following year. Kate was awarded a Luce Fellowship for travel in Asia then spent another year traveling around the world, including China, Poland, France, England, Ireland, Spain, Morocco, Holland, and Czech Republic. Follow their adventures at www.thedharmabums.com.

Anh K. Truong has opened a law practice in Century City, focusing on small business needs, both transactional and litigation, as well as individuals on a case-by-case basis. "I also intend to stay connected to public affairs through consulting, pro bono work, as well as my continuing post on the Los Angeles City Quality and Productivity Commission." He continues to serve as an Assistant Supervising Deputy City Attorney for L.A. Truong was a PPIA Fellow in 1994, Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in 1996, and received his JD from UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law in 2000. Previously, Truong was an associate attorney at Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP, the research consultant & legal intern at the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission as well as the special assistant to James K. Hahn in the LA City Attorney’s Office. Some of Truong’s activities include being a Street Law Instructor in Berkeley, participated in the Alliance for Children’s Rights Adoption Day 2001 and Coro Network & Alumni Committee. Truong and wife Alena have moved to their new condo in Studio City.

Nicole P. Zola is living in Boston with her husband Michael Conlon. She is the Assistant Vice President of Wellington Management Company, LLP, an investment management company.

Class of 1994

Toby Gabriner received his MBA and MS/MIS from Boston University, Graduate School of Management in 1999. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Poindexter System, Inc. the leading provider of real-time, audience-based, predictive modeling solutions that lift online consumer response. Prior to joining Poindexter, Toby served as president of Carat Fusion. Previously, he was the senior consultant for ISL Consulting and chief operating officer of Freestyle Interactive and later was named president. Under his leadership, Toby grew media billings to over $25 million while improving profitability, which resulted in Freestyle being acquired by Carat Interactive in May 2003.

Elizabeth Macias continues to work for the City of Los Angeles as the human relations commission policy advisor. Her issue area is Civic Engagement specifically for the geographical areas of Central, East and Northwest Los Angeles and Hollywood. Elizabeth is also on the Board of Directors of the California Clean Money Campaign. She previously worked for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

David C. Scott received his JD from Whittier Law School in 2001. Following law school he worked as a Senior Attorney for Binder and Binder. He previously was a Director of Corporate Sales at Polo Ralph Lauren as well as a Sales executive at Tiffany & Co. David currently serves as the President and general counselor at Silverado Funding in Portland, OR. In his free time he enjoys cycling and being a yoga instructor.

Laura (Heywood) Smith received her MS in Justice, Law & Society from the American University in 1996.

Class of 1993

Bryn Collins received a JD from California Western School of Law in 1997.

Maria Cristina Halstead received an MS in Environmental Education from the Audubon Expedition Institute/Lesley College in 1996. She completed her Master’s in Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona in 2011. She has served on the Board of Governors, the Zeta Tau Zeta Sorority Alumni Board, and the Council of Alumni Organizations.

Daniel Plotinsky received an MBA from Pepperdine University, School of Business Management, in 1998.

Adam Portnoy is the President and CEO of REIT Management & Research, a real estate company in the Boston area. Previously, Adam was a senior investment officer for International Finance Corp/ World Bank, the president & CEO of Surfree.com, Inc. and an associate/investment Banking for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Adam with wife Elika and their son Axel are living in Boston.

Zel Saccani is the founder and President of Saccani Legal and Business Translations (www.slbt.net) started in October 2000. He used his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law to run and operate his translation business in Miami for eleven years before transferring the company to Brownsville, Texas. Zel continues to prepare legal and commercial documentation for lawyers and banks in English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, and French. Saccani Legal and Business Translations continues to flourish under the lead of Zel and his wife Korinna.

John Theodore attended the Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and completed his MBA in Information Management in 2003. Since completing graduate school, John has worked at a number of companies which provied management and technology strategy consulting services to various industries. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Trigger Media Group, a company which deals with venture capital and private equity. Prior to this he worked for several years for the Annenberg Foundation as both a Technology Officer and a Technology and Media Advisor. John is married to Claire McConnico ’95 and they live with their two sons, Jack and Charlie, in New York.

Classlass of 1992

Fred Cohagan has continued his work in energy and emissions commodity space after receiving his JD from The University of Texas School of Law in 2006 and Master of Environmental Management in Resource Economics from Duke University in 1996. After working for the Global Commodities group of Bank of America, Fred transferred to Plains Exploration & Production (PXP), an independent energy company. He currently manages their international business operations and serves as the Deputy General Manager for their operations in Southeast Asia. His position requires him to spend about one-third of his time working in Vietnam and around the Southeast Asia region. Back on the domestic front, Fred applied his Public Policy skills as a Commissioner on the City of Austin Resource Management Commission from late 2007 to June 2009. He was also involved in the Austin Street project, exploring innovative ideas to develop the utility of the future. Previously, he was an associate practicing in the areas of energy and administrative and regulatory law with Locke Lidell & Sapp PLLC and a director of Power Origination at UBS Warburg Energy.

Stephen Garvin received his J.D. from George Washington Law School. He is currently a deputy prosecuting attorney and is assigned to the major crimes unit. In 2005 he was awarded a Special Commendation from the Washington State Patrol for his involvement in solving a high profile theft case. Stephen lives in Spokane, Washington with his wife Amy and sons, Thorne and Jack.

Garrett Krueger continues his work as a Senior Corporate Attorney in Mergers and Acquisitions for Microsoft. His focus is on investments, mergers, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. Garrett previously was an attorney for Cairncross & Hempelmann and Foster, Pepper & Shefelman. In 1996, he received his JD from The University of Washington. Garrett and wife Mieko Hart ’91 are enjoying life in Washington with their two children, son Kai and daughter Maile.

Jason Parry received his MPP from the University of Southern California in 1997 and continues to serve on the City of Santa Monica Housing Planning Commission.

Joel Rosenblatt served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal from 1994 to 1996 and returned to work as a freelance writer in New York City, where he got a MS in Journalism at Columbia University in 2000. He now lives in San Francisco covering the legal beat as a reporter for Bloomberg News.

Class of 1991

Cynthia Bernal Castelblanco previously worked at California Institute for the Arts and at Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund as the special events coordinator. She worked exclusively in the non-profit sector since graduation and volunteered at the Literacy through community organization in the late 90’s. Cynthia has currently postponed her attendance in Mt. St. Mary’s Accelerated Bachelor’s Nursing Program and has two daughters, Aida and Lucia.

Jeff Coons received his JD from Santa Clara University in 1995. He is currently a Senior Counsel with Gordon & Rees' Toxic Tort Group of Gordon & Rees LLP and belongs to the San Francisco Bar Association and the State Bar of California. He has worked as an attorney for Jackson & Wallace LLP. Jeff previously was a consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and a senior strategist for Proxicom.

Janet Jenkins received her Master’s in Urban Planning from New York University in 1993 where she was also a recipient of the Robert F. Wagner Public Service Award. Janet is currently working for Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates a professional consulting firm specializing in traffic engineering and transportation planning. Janet previously was an associate city planner for MTA New York City Transit and a senior parking program administrator for MTA Metro-North Railroad. She is an active member of Christ Church United Methodist through which she participates in Habitat for Humanity, both locally and through the Global Villages (international) programs. Janet regularly plays flute in a chamber music group. One summer, she spent two weeks in Ghana building houses on a project for Habitat for Humanity Global Village.

Katrina Karkazis continues research and teaching as a cultural anthropologist at the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics. In fall 2008, she had a book release with Duke University Press, entitled, Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience . She received her Master’s in Public Health from the School of Public Health and a Doctorate in Cultural Anthropology, both from Columbia University. Katrina has written many articles and presented at numerous conferences in her field. She currently holds the position of Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University.

Astrid Kleinbeck received an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School in 1999 and married Scott Peters the same year.

Class of 1990

Esther Aguilera is the President and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, DC. and was profiled in the June-July 2006 issue of Hispanic magazine, which named her a Latina Excellence Award winner. She previously worked as a policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza, as a senior policy advisor at the Department of Energy under Secretary Bill Richardson, and then for the public affairs firm Dewey Square Group. She also served as a lead strategic membership fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Lana Banbury received her JD from Washington University in St. Louis in 1994. She practiced law in Honolulu, Hawaii until 1997 when she relocated to Denver, Colorado and continued in private practice in Denver in the area of mergers and acquisitions. She is currently the owner of Thunderbird Capital, LLC. Lana and her husband, Bowen Banbury ('90, Political Science) founded a records management company called DocuVault in 1997. DocuVault is now 13 years old and thriving on the Rocky Mountain Front Range with its document storage, data security, shredding and scanning services. Lana is the General Counsel and Vice President of Human Resources while her husband is the CEO. Lana and Bowen are raising two girls, Alexis and Koren, and have traveled to Italy, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey. Lana also serves as a Trustee on the Board of her girls' school, The Logan School for Creative Learning, and plays tennis whenever possible!

Lupe Garcia received her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1995 where she won the American Jurisprudence Award for Legal Research and Writing. Following law school she worked as an Associate for Lafayette and Kumagui, practicing employment law. Lupe then joined Gap, Inc. as a Senior Corporate Counsel. Since 2006 she has led Gap Inc.’s Global Integrity and Compliance Program as an Associate General Counsel. Lupe is a member of both the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. This past July she was appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees by Governor Jerry Brown. Lupe lives in Alameda, CA with her husband and son.

Sheila Heen received her JD from Harvard Law School with an emphasis on negotiation/dispute resolution in 1993. She is currently a Harvard Law School lecturer and a senior associate with the Harvard Negotiation Project. Sheila is also a partner at Triad Consulting Group doing training mediating, advising, and facilitating for corporate and non-profit clients and co-authored the book “Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most” (Penguin, 2000). She previously worked for Conflict Management Group and various summer associate law firms. Sheila and her husband won “Most Flamboyant” at an Australian dance lesson and are raising two boys – Ben and Peter.

Kim McIntyre received her Masters in Public Policy/Education Reform from Cornell University.

Ken Miyamoto received his MPA from Columbia University in 1992, JD from University of Virginia School of Law in 2000 and is a member of the New York bar. Ken is a senior associate with the international law firm of Allen & Overy in their Moscow, Russia office, specializing in international capital markets and finance transactions. He has advised issuers and arrangers on initial public offerings, Rule 144A and Regulation S eurobonds and euro medium-term note programmes. Recently, Ken has acted for Sitronics in connection with its US$402 million IPO listed on the London Stock Exchange, Gazprombank in connection with the issuance of a US$1 billion LPN listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and TNK-BP in connection with the establishment of a US$5 billion Guaranteed Debt Issuance Program listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Alice Salinas received her Masters in Urban Planning from UCLA and is currently working at the Department of Housing for the City of Los Angeles. Since 2011 she has served as a member of the Affordable Housing Commission. Alice previously was the director of housing and Public Policy at Esperanza Community Housing Corporation in Los Angeles and worked with United Farmers Service Center, a developer of affordable housing. She was awarded the Alumni Community Building Award in 2001 from the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College for her invaluable contributions to the community and commitment to the UEPI mission of developing a more livable, just and democratic region.

Matthew Seubert completed his Master’s of City Planning at UC Berkeley in 1996 . Following graduate school he worked for several years as an Assistant Transportation Analyst for the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. In 2000 Matthew relocated to CO where he worked as an Urban Planner for the City of Denver. He returned to the Bay Area in 2004 and has since worked as the Senior Planner and Zoning Hearing Officer for the Planning Department of San Mateo County.

Commissioner Dalila Sotelo is a Senior Vice President for Mccormack Baron Salazar, a private developer of mixed-income housing in Los Angeles. She was elected president of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council in February 2003. Since March 2012 Dalila has served as President of the Sotelo Real Estate Group.

Kyra (Chatfield) Stewart received her MBA in Business and Economics from George Washington University in 1994 where she was awarded two graduate fellowships, one from the Department of Energy and the other from the Business Economics Fellowship. She is the Co-owner and Founder of A Masquerade Costume Rental--now a worker-owned cooperative--and volunteers at the Junior Achievement and National Science Bowl. Kyra previously was an account executive for Bonneville Power Administration as well as a policy analyst for the US Department of Energy. In June 2002, Kyra's 15-year federal career ended, and she moved her home-based costume rental business into a warehouse based in Bellevue, Washington.

Class of 1989

Karyen Chu was awarded the California Assembly Fellowship in 1989 before attending graduate school at UC Berkeley where she received a Masters in Public Policy. She proceeded to complete her PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley after which she worked for Mathematica Policy Research as a health policy researcher. Karyen is currently working as the Chief of the Consumer Research and Examination Analytics Section for the FDIC in Washington, DC. She is also a member of Alley Cat Allies, the first national advocacy organization dedicated to the humane treatment and protection of cats.

Garrett (Gary) Craig participated in the California Assembly Fellowship program before attending Stanford Law School. He received his JD in 1997 and has since worked for the law firm Sidley & Austin in Los Angeles. Garrett is of counsel to the firm’s Los Angeles office and practices in all areas of litigation. His primary focus is representing accounting firms and corporations connected with fraud litigation or breach of contract actions.

In 1989 Jillian Hopewell participated in the Watson Fellowship program before beginning graduate school at the University of Texas. She received her Master’s in Public Affairs and a Master’s in Latin American Studies in 1994. She is currently the director of Education & Professional Development at the Migrant Clinicians Network. Jillian lives in Chico, CA with her husband Geoff, a high school teacher, and their three kids, Nathaniel, Owen and Kate.

Ian McKinnon , a tennis standout, and his family were at Oxy a few years ago for the dedication of the recently renovated and newly named McKinnon Family Tennis Center. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994 and was a George F. Baker Scholar in Harvard University. He previously worked as a consultant for Bain & Company as well as a financial analyst for Merrill Lynch & Company. He is involved in the Big Brother Big Sisters Program and is a member of Occidental College Board of Trustees. Ian is currently a partner at Ziff Brothers Investments (ZBI) and the president of ZBI Equities. Since joining ZBI, McKinnon has executed investments across various sectors and has guest lectured on investment topics at the business schools of Columbia University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Virginia. Ian and wife Sonnet live in Greenwich, Conn., with their two children.

Adam Nixon recently wrote, directed and produced the short, animated documentary The Red Ball which deals with child abuse. In 2010 he served as the director and executive producer of two short documentaries, The New Burlesque and The Whole Child Left Behind . Previously, Adam worked as a senior producer of "Dakhil Washington," which aired on the U.S. Government-funded Alhurra Television Network, sister station to Voice of America. He produced a series of nine televised specials from Jerusalem and the West Bank where Palestinian and Israeli politicians as both one-on- one and in round table discussed the peace process. As a side job, Adam is consulting producer for Washington Post Live on Comcast Sports and has seen a baseball game in more than 30 different Major League Baseball parks. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1997 and his MA in Cinema Studies from New York University in 1999. He was invited to present plays at international festivals in Caux, Switzerland and Sibiu, Romania. Playscripts he has written include: “Aspirin for the Masses” (published in English and Romanian), “I Wonder as I Wander”, “Writing Roman”, “Vidor: Black & White” and “Quarter to Bourbon.” Adam was previously a senior producer of the PBS program "McLaughlin One on One," assignment editor/field producer for NBC Network News, Washington Bureau, an assignment editor for CNN, Washington, and a researcher for ABC News, New York. He was nominated for an Emmy as a producer with NBC Nightly News on 9/11/01. Adam and wife Helen have three kids, a son and twin daughters, and the family lives in Washington, DC.

Annelisa Polk received her diploma in Domestic Public Policy in University of Stockholm, Sweden, in 1990 and her Master’s in Elementary Education from University of Nevada in 1993. She is currently a 5th grade teacher but has taught 1st – 5th grades throughout her teaching career at Clark County School District. She has two girls, Clare and Miriam. Her husband, Windom, is an architect.

Theresa Han Savage received her JD from UCLA School of Law in 1993 and is currently a research attorney for the Court of Appeal, State of California, and President of the Riverside County Bar Association. She was awarded the California Senate Fellowship Program in 1989.

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i Formerly Public Policy. The major was changed to Urban & Environmental Policy (UEP) in year 2000.