Greenlining Staff

Orson Aguilar is part of the new wave of civil rights and community leaders focused on ensuring that the American Dream remains accessible to all Americans. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Aguilar has advocated tirelessly on behalf of communities of color and youth for nearly 20 years.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in psychology from UC Santa Cruz, Aguilar obtained his Master of Public Affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He continued his education at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) and the Greenlining Institute Leadership Academy

Impressed by Greenlining’s holistic approach to advocacy, Aguilar joined the organization full-time as Program Manager at age 25. His skills and vision led to a series of promotions over the next 10 years, and in 2009, at age 35, Aguilar was unanimously selected by the Institute’s board to succeed retiring founder John Gamboa as the organization’s second executive director ever.

During Aguilar’s 11 years, the Greenlining Institute has grown into an organization with a $3.5 million budget, expanding under his leadership to have a presence in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles – leading the San Francisco and Washington, D.C Examiner newspapers to comment, “Aguilar has taken the tactics that work so well in California on the road.” He has played key organizing and advocacy roles to ensure that the interests of communities of color and low-income Americans were considered during corporate mergers and acquisitions, resulting in billions of dollars in investments for non-profits, families and small businesses.

Aguilar has become a nationally recognized advocate for communities of color on issues such as the environment, community reinvestment, philanthropy, and leadership development. He has presented in front of Congress and at countless trainings and conferences around the country. He has authored numerous reports and editorials on key issues facing the nation, including columns published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and American Banker. Aguilar regularly meets with Fortune 100 CEOs and with leading financial regulators, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair, and and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank.

Aguilar was recently honored by the New Leaders Council with its 40 Under 40 Leadership Award for exemplifying the spirit of progressive political entrepreneurship, and was named an upcoming Latino leader by the nation’s largest Hispanic newspaper, La Opinion. He chairs the Board of Directors of the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), and is a member of the University of California Santa Cruz’s Alumni Association Board.

Preeti Vissa manages our Community Reinvestment program at Greenlining.   Ms. Vissa was summer associate at Greenlining last year, where she successfully initiated a research report on equity in philanthropic giving to minority-led organizations in New York.  Ms. Vissa graduated from UCLA in 2005 with a bachelors in psychology and a minor in South Asian studies.  She recently received her Masters in Social Work with a concentration in Policy Practice and a Law Minor from Columbia University.   Ms. Vissa has had the opportunity to work on various issues affecting communities of color and low-income communities, both at the direct practice and systemic policy levels.   These issues include substance abuse and incarceration, involvement in the adoption and child-welfare systems, and social capacity building with at-risk youth.  Ms. Vissa will play a major role in Greenlining's community reinvestment initiatives aimed at building wealth, assets, and financial sustainability in communities of color.

Milicent Johnson is from Queens, New York and is a graduate of Gettysburg College where she earned a BA in Social Studies with a minor in Political Science. While at Gettysburg, Milicent participated in American University’s Washington Semester Program and received the Margaret A. Weeks Award for academic excellence and leadership. After graduating from college, Milicent worked as a Program Coordinator for the Organization for a New Equality and as a Legislative Aide for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in Boston.  Milicent is committed to empowering communities through financial literacy education and community economic development.

Danielle is the Academy Director and manages Greenlining’s multi-ethnic public policy and leadership training program for high school, college and graduate students. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing programs/curricula to train multi-ethnic leaders in low-income and minority advocacy, public policy research and analysis, coalition building and community economic development. Danielle is passionate about empowering young people to realize their full potential and has eight years of experience in the fields of education and leadership development as a teacher, program architect and manager.

Danielle has also worked as a policy analyst and researcher for the Center for the Strategic and International Studies, the Corporate Council on Africa, the Carnegie Corporation of New York and EnterpriseWorks Worldwide. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science cum laude from Spelman College and a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University in New York. Danielle is married and lives in San Francisco with her husband, Jason.

Claudia is the Program Coordinator for the Academy at Greenlining. She is a native Peruvian who has called the Bay Area home since she arrived in the United States with her family in 1986. Prior to joining the Greenlining Institute, Claudia worked as a Research Associate with UCSF's Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy. She holds a BA degree in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Public Policy degree from Pepperdine University where she specialized in social policy and economics. Claudia is dedicated to contributing to the empowerment and advancement of disadvantaged communities across social, academic, economic and political lines.

Chris Vaeth, Legislative Director, provides strategic direction and support for all of Greenlining’s policy and advocacy campaigns.  His current areas of focus are re-regulation of the financial sector, diversity in philanthropy, and college access; he also supports Greenlining’s efforts to bring low-income community voices to the table in telecommunications, energy, and health reform debates.  Chris has opened Greenlining’s Washington DC office, drafted bills that are now California state law (including those to prevent predatory credit card and textbook pricing on college campuses), and launched and managed Tuition Relief Now, a statewide ballot initiative effort involving 3000 volunteers.  Prior to Greenlining, Chris organized young people in the South Bronx at the faith-based Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, interned at the White House with President Clinton's Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian Community, and studied nonviolence at the King Center in Atlanta and the Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi.  He has also worked at the Open Society Institute, Democracy Matters, and NYS Tenants & Neighbors.  Chris holds degrees from Cornell University (Urban Studies, Race and Policy) and Harvard Divinity School (Religion and Social Change), where he studied under Dr. Cornel West.

Héctor Javier Preciado is the Health Policy Director and manages Greenlining’s Bridges to Health Program that aims to increase access to care and develop regional, state and federal initiatives to increase diversity in the health workforce. A product of Greenlining’s Leadership Development Academy, Héctor is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, CA and an MBA candidate at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Rosa María Martinez is from Zacatecas, México. She is a Program Manager with the Bridges to Health Team managing the Diversity in the Health Workforce initiative looking at current representation of people of color at all levels within the health field. Through this project she coordinates the Bay Area Coalition to Increase Diversity in the Heath Workforce in which she has been able to bring people together to discuss and address issues of education, research and policy that affect low income and communities of color in the health sector. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature with a minor in Business Administration from The University of California, Berkeley.

Carla Saporta is the health program coordinator for the Bridges to Health team at Greenlining, focusing on developing public/private partnerships as a means to mitigate health disparities.  Carla graduated from Occidental College with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy and recently finished her Masters in Public Health, with an emphasis in Health Policy and Management, through the Oregon Masters in Public Health Program at Portland State University.  Her work at Greenlining is informed by the understanding that every policy is health policy.

Janine Macbeth comes to Greenlining with a background promoting racial justice through print media.  She has worked for the Applied Research Center / ColorLines Magazine, and Children’s Book Press, a first voice multicultural and bilingual children’s publisher in San Francisco.  Janine received Bachelors of Arts degrees from UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) in Ethnic Studies (via American Studies) and Cultural Anthropology, where she graduated with honors.  At UCSC, Janine’s extra curricular work centered around promoting the recruitment and retention of students of color on college campuses.  Born and raised in Oakland, California, Janine is also a working artist.

Sam oversees all of Greenlining’s legal advocacy, directs the organization’s consumer protection program and helps direct Greenlining’s Legal Academy. He advocates on a wide range of issues impacting underserved consumers and small businesses at the California Public Utilities Commission and California Department of Insurance. Over the last several years, Sam has litigated several high profile cases impacting the allocation of billions of dollars in utility rates. Sam’s responsibilities also include managing Greenlining’s corporate partnerships with the CEOs and Presidents of California’s largest utilities and telecommunications companies.

Sam regularly testifies before the California legislature on legislation and policies impacting underserved and minority communities. He has also testified before Congress on media consolidation and its impact on California’s diverse communities. Sam has been interviewed and quoted in dozens of media outlets across the country, including the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Southern California Public Radio, KPIX-TV (CBS 5), CBS Radio, Insurance Journal, Asian Week, and Los Angeles Sentinel.

In addition to his responsibilities at Greenlining, Sam was appointed by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson to serve on the County Parks, Recreation & Historical Commission. He also serves on the board of directors of Anew America Community Corporation, a non-profit organization that seeks to cultivate immigrant-owned small businesses. Due to his community involvement and leadership, Sam was recently selected as one of the top, young Korean American leaders in the United States by the Network of Korean American Leaders (NetKAL).

Sam has previously worked at Public Advocates, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the United Nations. He graduated cum laude from Occidental College and received his juris doctor from the University of San Francisco where he was awarded for his work in predatory lending law. Prior to law school, Mr. Kang was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in New York City. He is the proud son of Korean immigrant entrepreneurs.

Stephanie works on consumer protection issues, focusing on bringing diversity, community investment, and more equitable treatment of low-income consumers to the energy and telecommunications industries.  In this capacity she appears regularly before the California Public Utilities Commission, and engages with the rest of the Consumer Protection team in advocacy efforts outside of formal proceedings.  She is also involved in Greenlining's work to improve diversity in the legal profession.  Outside of Greenlining, Stephanie sits on the Board of Directors for the Rising Sun Energy Center.  Stephanie received a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Dartmouth College, where her studies focused on Political Theory and American Government.  She received a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where her focus was on constitutional law and civil rights.  She also served as a Case Counsel and as Advocacy Director in the law school's student-run Moot Court Program.

Enrique Gallardo works on consumer protection, energy, telecommunications and advanced technology issues. He advocates for the interests of underserved communities and promotes community investment. Most of his work consists of regulatory advocacy before agencies such as the California Public Utilities Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and others. Enrique received his Juris Doctor degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. Enrique’s previous experience includes work on environmental justice issues as Staff Attorney for the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment and employment litigation as Staff Attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Braelan Murray is from San Francisco, CA. He is a graduate of The University of California at Santa Cruz where he received his BFA in Film and Video Production. Braelan is committed to finding ways to advocate for social justice by means of new forms of technology and communication.  With nearly a decade of experience using media as a tool for creating social change, his portfolio includes work for local unions, progressive non-profits and cutting-edge design firms. In addition, he has extensive experience producing independent documentaries.

Bruce Mirken brings two decades of journalism and communications experience as well as a long history of activism to his position as Media Relations Coordinator. An award-winning writer, Bruce's work has appeared in wide range of publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Men's Health, and The Advocate. From 2001 through 2009, he served as Director of Communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. In that capacity, he appeared frequently on radio and television, including ABC World News, Anderson Cooper 360, and The Rachel Maddow Show, and was quoted in newspapers and magazines worldwide. His activist career began in the LGBT community (starting just out of college with the campaign against Proposition 6, which would have fired gay or lesbian schoolteachers in California) and quickly branched out to a wide array of social justice issues.

Originally from Merced, California, Dyana Delfin-Polk is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, earning a Bachelor’s degree in History with a minor in Chicano Studies. Currently, Dyana is the executive assistant to Robert Gnaizda, co-founder and current consultant of the Greenlining Institute. Her future plans include continuing her education as well as working in the realm of political and social justice.

Arcelia Gallardo is Program Director for Casa, a student residential leadership program located blocks from the UC Berkeley campus. Her aim is to help Casa evolve into an academic-residential, collaborative center that promotes social justice, leadership development in a very respectful, hands-on and engaging environment.  Her goals are to recruit, matriculate and retain first generation, low income and under-represented students at the University of California, Berkeley.  Arcelia is originally from Los Angeles and holds a BA in communications and spanish literature from UC Berkeley.

Alicia works on consumer protection issues, focusing on ensuring more equitable treatment of low-income and minority consumers in the energy, media, and telecommunications industries. In this capacity she is involved in matters pending before the California Public Utilities Commission and Federal Communications Commission. Alicia received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from University of Virginia, with a minor in sociology. After graduation, Alicia moved to Hong Kong to work for the general counsel of a multinational global supply chain company, which focused on commodities trading, trade finance, and shipping. Alicia received her Juris Doctorate from the University of California Hastings College of the Law, with a concentration in international law. She served as executive editor for the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review and participated in the Jessup (2009), Stetson (2009), and NAAC (2008) moot court teams. Alicia is licensed to practice law in both California and New York.

Michelle Romero is from Redwood City, California and graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in World Literature and Cultural Studies and a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. While at UCSC, Michelle worked to focus university attention on immigrant student issues and affordable access to higher education. She served on the UC Student Association Board of Directors and was the student representative to the UC Board on Admissions and Relations with Schools. She also participated as an organizer for the Movement for Immigrant Rights Alliance and helped to co-found the Bay Area Dream Act Coalition. Michelle is passionate about public policy issues and hopes to make a significant contribution to policy research and advocacy around equal opportunity for low-income and minority communities.

Michael Gallin is from Vallejo, California and is currently attending the University of California, Los Angeles where is will receive his BA in African American Studies with a Political Science concentration in June 2010. While at UCLA, Michael was an honor student, resident assistant and participated as a student representative on the Academic Senate. He has worked as a research and policy intern for the Campaign for High School Equity, as a program intern for the Center for Progressive Leadership and a fellow at Young People For. A former Greenlining intern, Michael is passionate about holistic community development for under-represented communities through job creation, education and representation.

Chia-Chia (C.C.) Song is from Taipei, Taiwan. C.C. graduated from The University of Michigan in 2008 with a B.A. in Political Science and Creative Writing and a minor in Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies. She worked as a fellow and summer institute dean at the Sadie Nash Leadership Project and as a programming co-chair at the National Asian American Student Conference. Most recently, she worked as a senior project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group where she focused on designing outreach strategies for national environmental groups. C.C. is interested in deepening her environmental justice knowledge to ensure fair policies that will ultimately improve our homes, businesses and quality of life.

Ryan Young is from San Francisco, California and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Law and Society. Ryan is currently attending University of California, Hastings College of Law and will receive his Juris Doctor in May 2010. His demonstrated leadership at UC Hastings earned him an appointment as development editor for the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal. Ryan also worked as an intern for the California Public Utilities Commission, where he researched and provided analysis on energy issues and represented Commissioner Simon’s office at meetings of the Governor’s California Green Jobs Council. Ryan is passionate about improving environmental law and access to renewable energy.