By Allison Don

Char­lie Gillig and Jes­sica Nare of the San Diego Lead­er­ship Alliance (SDLA) 2013 Class have been appointed to the City of San Diego’s Human Relation’s Com­mis­sion, which, among other activ­i­ties, works to ensure that all city res­i­dents have equal access to eco­nomic, polit­i­cal and edu­ca­tional oppor­tu­ni­ties and equal access to ser­vice pro­tec­tion and accom­mo­da­tion in all busi­nesses and pub­lic agencies.

“I am proud to serve on the Human Rela­tions Com­mis­sion because I fully believe in its mis­sion to pro­tect the basic human and civil rights of all San Die­gans,” Gillig says. “I am excited to learn from the other expe­ri­enced and ded­i­cated Com­mis­sion­ers and I hope to soon con­tribute in a mean­ing­ful way.”

Adds Nare, “I am truly hon­ored to serve on the Human Rela­tions Com­mis­sion and I look for­ward to being involved in dis­cus­sions about human rights in San Diego. My aca­d­e­mic and pro­fes­sional career has been cen­tered on exam­in­ing oppres­sion, specif­i­cally the ways in which women, LGBT pop­u­la­tions, and peo­ple of color are often mar­gin­al­ized. I am eager to learn more about dis­crim­i­na­tion on a local level in San Diego. The Human Rela­tions Com­mis­sion is uniquely sit­u­ated to hear from the com­mu­nity and respond to expressed needs. It is an oppor­tu­nity to have gen­er­a­tive con­ver­sa­tions about iden­tity, access, and edu­ca­tion that are des­per­ately needed in our diverse community.”

Jes­sica L. Nare holds a bachelor’s degree in polit­i­cal sci­ence from Ohio Wes­leyan Uni­ver­sity and a master’s degree in women’s stud­ies from San Diego State Uni­ver­sity. She cur­rently works at Jew­ish Fam­ily Ser­vice of San Diego where she super­vises the Youth Lead­er­ship Depart­ment. Jes­sica has trav­eled widely to study women’s issues with schol­ars and com­mu­nity orga­niz­ers through­out Europe and Asia. She brings these expe­ri­ences to her work as a core fac­ulty mem­ber in the Col­lege of Let­ters and Sci­ences at National Uni­ver­sity and a lec­turer in Women’s Stud­ies at SDSU.

Char­lie Gillig is an attor­ney and entre­pre­neur. He is the co-​founder of RemitRight, LLC, an online mar­ket­place cre­ated to assist immi­grants with inter­na­tional money trans­fers. As a Skad­den Fel­low, Char­lie founded and directed Casa Cor­nelia Law Center’s satel­lite office in the City Heights neigh­bor­hood of San Diego, pro­vid­ing free legal ser­vices and rep­re­sen­ta­tion to indi­gent immi­grant vic­tims of human and civil rights abuses. Char­lie cur­rently serves as on the Board of Direc­tors for the San Diego Chap­ter of the Amer­i­can Con­sti­tu­tion Soci­ety and the Karen Orga­ni­za­tion of San Diego, a non-​profit orga­ni­za­tion that pro­vides ser­vices and advo­cacy on behalf of refugees from Myan­mar. He is a mem­ber of the Pacific Coun­cil on Inter­na­tional Pol­icy. Char­lie is a grad­u­ate of George­town Uni­ver­sity Law Cen­ter and Johns Hop­kins School of Advanced Inter­na­tional Stud­ies (SAIS). Prior to grad­u­ate school, Char­lie served as a United States Peace Corps Vol­un­teer in Togo, West Africa.

SDLA trains its fel­lows on how to effec­tively apply to and par­tic­i­pate in civic orga­ni­za­tions such as a city com­mis­sion. “I need to give a shout out to the SDLA for encour­ag­ing Fel­lows to be active civic par­tic­i­pants,” says Gillig. “The ses­sion on Boards and Com­mis­sions inspired me to serve where I do today!”