SDLA Board of Directors

Gary S. Rotto--Council of Community Clinics

Gary Rotto serves as the Director of Health Policy and Strategic Communications for the Council of Community Clinics. In this role, Gary oversees the legislative, political and strategic communications functions of the organization and its two subsidiaries.

Through the California Primary Care Association (CPCA), Gary serves as the co-chair of the Consortia Policy Group, the statewide network of community clinic policy directors. He is also on the CPCA Legislative Committee and the Government Operations Committee.

Shane Yonston--Partner and Financial Advisor at Blue Summit Wealth Management

Shane Yonston is a partner and Financial Advisor at Blue Summit Wealth Management, a national leader in sustainable and responsible investments. He's been named one of San Diego's FIVE STAR Wealth Managers, an elite award representing less than four percent of the wealth managers in the area.

Aaron Frieberg

William Moore-- The Moore Firm- Business Law

William M. Moore is the owner of The Moore Firm, a business law firm specializing in legal issues pertaining to entrepreneurs and businesses. The Firm handles startup, transactional work and litigation. Will is an active member of the California and Georgia State Bars.

Will is active in the San Diego community. He has been an active member of the La Jolla-Golden Triangle Rotary club since 2008. Will is also a Director of the San Diego Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society. In 2010 he was honored by the Urban League of San Diego as a Top 40 Leader Under 40. In 2012 he was named one of San Diego Metro's 40 Under 40.

Aaron Frieberg

Evan McLaughlin--Political and Legislative Director of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Evan McLaughlin is the Political and Legislative Director of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO. In his role with the Labor Council, Evan is responsible for coordinating public policy advocacy and electoral campaign efforts, including independent expenditure and Labor to Neighbor member-to-member communications programs, for the central body for 135 unions representing 200,000 workers in the region.

Brittany Applestein Syz--Associate at Solomon Minton Cardinal Doyle & Smith LLP

Brittany Applestein Syz is an associate at Solomon Minton Cardinal Doyle & Smith LLP specializing in real estate and corporate transactional matters. In addition, she uses her legal experience to work on pro bono cases regarding affordable housing, housing rights, and food banks.

Caridad Sanchez--San Diego and Imperial Counties regional Director for United States Senator Barbara Boxer

Caridad Sanchez is the San Diego and Imperial Counties regional Director for United States Senator Barbara Boxer. Caridad oversees the day-to-day operation of the San Diego office. She also serves as a liaison for Senator Boxer to the communities in San Diego and Imperial counties. In addition to her work as liaison, she also provides strategic input regarding relevant legislation.

Caridad’s interest in public affairs developed from her experiences growing up in San Diego’s toughest inner-city neighborhoods. She remembers her mother, a housekeeper, working hard to provide improve their quality of life.

Newman Elizabeth Elizabeth Newman--Labor to Neighbor Field Organizer, San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council

Elizabeth Newman is the Labor to Neighbor Field Organizer for the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council. She is from both Minnesota and Colorado, where she grew up snowboarding and singing. She graduated with her B.A. from Macalester College, in St. Paul, MN in 2007, majoring in Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. There she developed her real passion for social justice and equal rights.

RhiannonM.Jones Rhiannon M. Jones, Proactive Strategies Director – The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC)

Rhiannon serves as the Proactive Strategies Director at BISC, where she is responsible for identifying, cultivating and supporting state and national efforts to move the progressive agenda forward through the citizens’ initiative process and catalyzing a national proactive ballot measure strategy.
Prior to BISC, Jones spent 10 years with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest running their legislative, advocacy and electoral campaigns. During that time, she also served as

Trinh Le--Organizer, Center on Policy Initiatives

Trinh currently works as an Organizer at the Center on Policy Initiatives, a nonprofit research and advocacy center dedicated to the interests of working people in the San Diego region.

Aaron Frieberg Sid Voorakkara--Consultant

Sid Voorakkara was a Program Manager at the California Endowment. As part of The Endowment’s ten year Building Healthy Communities strategic plan, Sid’s grant making focus included developing a violence prevention framework that keeps youth safe, empowered and working towards a career. This framework also included workforce and economic development opportunities within health care and emerging ‘green’ jobs.

John Greenwell --Teacher, KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy

John Greenwell is a Science teacher at KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy in San Diego where he enjoys helping his middle school students grasp a better understanding of the world as they prepare for college.

RebeccaKanter Rebecca Kanter--US Department of Justice

Rebecca Kanter is an Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, specializing in complex fraud prosecutions. In her four years as a federal prosecutor, Kanter has handled a wide variety of cases ranging from border crimes to internet crimes against children. Kanter was previously an associate at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, where she was a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations practice group. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Harry Hupp on the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Midori Wong Midori Wong--The Treadstone Companies

Midori Wong works for The Treadstone Companies, a national real estate development and advisory group specializing in the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing. She previously served as Chief of Staff to the 2010 Redistricting Commission of the City of San Diego and as a regional planner for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). An alumna of the University of California - San Diego, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Urban Studies and Planning and Environmental Studies minor. Affiliations include LEAD San Diego, the Junior League of San Diego,

Colin Parent-- Co-Director and Founder/ San Diego Housing Commission

Colin Parent is the Co-Director and founder of the San Diego Leadership Alliance. Colin has a longtime commitment to developing a more useful progressive infrastructure in San Diego.

Jamie Ortiz--CEO Jamie Ortiz Communications

Just ask her mom—Jamie has told stories since she could talk. Now, as an athlete, environmentalist, conscientious consumer and CEO of Jamie Ortiz Communications, she uses listening and storytelling to help companies and organizations that want to improve our planet. As the communications and marketing director at San Diego Coastkeeper, the second-largest Waterkeeper organization in the world, Jamie built a powerhouse communications department from scratch.

Clarissa Reyes Falcon-- Principal Consultant and Owner, Falcon Strategies LLC

With over 18 years of experience, Clarissa Reyes Falcon has demonstrated expertise in the government, community, and non-profit arenas.

Clarissa served as District Director for the 40^th California State Senate District represented by Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny from April 2003 until November 2010 overseeing three district offices in Chula Vista, El Centro, and Coachella.

Mejia Carlos

Carlos Mejia--Political Organizer, AFSCME Council 36 –Local 127

Carlos Mejia is the Political Organizer for AFSCME Council 36 –Local 127, the public employees Union that represents the blue-collar workers of the City of San Diego. Prior to working at AFSCME, Carlos served as an intern at the Bi-National Center for Human Rights in Tijuana, Mexico, investigating and recording human rights violations in the Tijuana Border Region. He is a graduate of San Diego State University, with a dual degree in Political Science & International Security and Conflict Resolution.

Katherine Field-- District Director, U.S. Senator Feinstein

Katherine currently serves as the District Director for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, managing the daily operations of the Senator's San Diego Regional Office. In this capacity she works on a number of issues including border infrastructure, homeland security, environment, and education policy. She has worked for the Senator since 2006.

Jeremy Addis-Mills--Constituent Communications Director, San Diego City Council District 8

Jeremy Addis-Mills currently works for the San Diego City Councilmember David Alvarez's Staff. Jeremy's primary role is to develop and manage Councilmember Alvarez's communications and consitutent outreach efforts.

Johanna S. Schiavoni--Partner, Jacobs & Schlesinger LLP

Johanna S. Schiavoni is the Co-Director of the Board of the San Diego Leadership Alliance. Schiavoni has been involved with SDLA’s benchmark program, the New Leaders Council Institute, since 2010, and is a former Chair of the Institute in San Diego. In her day job as an attorney, Schiavoni is a partner with Jacobs & Schlesinger LLP, a boutique San Diego law firm, where she specializes in appellate litigation and strategic counseling in high stakes litigation matters.

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