Environmental Leadership Initiative

Agustin Angel Bernabe (he/him)

Agustín, a co-founder of Leaders4EARTH, is a first-generation graduate from San Francisco State University, holding a B.S. in Health Education with double minors in Holistic Health and Community Health. Migrating from Guerrero, Mexico, he is passionate about public health, environmental justice, and community engagement. Agustín's dedication as a community organizer and youth educator began in Salinas Valley and Bayview Hunters Point, mentoring emerging leaders in environmental and social justice. He builds relationships with advocates and partners across nonprofits, government, activism, and healthcare, extending his commitment to serving the local, state, and global community. As an agent for positive societal change and environmental health activism, Agustín not only leads impactful initiatives but also enjoys hiking, exploring eateries, listening to music, and embracing the outdoors.

Ana Rosa Rizo-Centino (she/her)

Ana Rosa Rizo-Centino (ella/she/her) comes from a working class Mexican immigrant family desde Guadalajara, Jalisco. She has fought for and continues to fight for racial, environmental, economic and social justice on local, state and national levels. She is the network manager for the Central Coast Climate Justice Network, is on the Central Coast steering committee for the California Working Families Party, is the board president for the Central Coast Environmental Voters, is the national board chairwoman for Transition US, has a radio show and podcast called “¡Que Madre!” and most importantly she is the mom of two daughters: Adelita and Gloria.

Andrea Luna (she/her)

Andrea Luna grew up in Huntington Park and now lives in the City of Bell. She became passionate about social, environmental, and food justice during her first year at East Los Angeles College, where she became involved with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. Andrea then transferred to the University of California, Berkeley graduating with a B.S. in Society and Environment and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies, and a minor in Race and Law. Andrea is dedicated to challenging social, environmental, and food injustices impacting her community and communities like hers.

Blue Leopo (they/them)

Blue Clara Leopo is an urban food grower, outdoor field educator and seed keeper. They are from Purépecha descent, now residing in Santa Ana with their family. They are one of co- founders of the Santa Ana Seed Collective (@sa_seedcollective) where they support the efforts of preserving traditional knowledge surrounding care for our seed ancestors. You may find them studying native plants, seed- saving and spending time with their dog, Watson.

Carla Mays (she/her)

Mays is the Co Founder and Head of Global Policy and Research at #SmartCohort and a Founding Principal at Mays Civic Innovation, LLC in San Francisco. Born and raised in Southern California, Mays has 10+ years of experience in equitable smart cities planning, digital transformation, and transportation equity analysis, policy, program development and public sector strategy. Mays received both Bachelor and Master of Public Administration from San Francisco State University, is an alumna of UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business Executive Program, the Executive Global Cities and Future Cities Programs at the London School of Economics and Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Catherine Baltazar (she/they)

Catherine Baltazar, a native Angeleno, holds a degree in Environmental Studies and Cinema and Media Studies from Wellesley College. Post-graduation, she contributed to the Urban Heat Island Reduction Plan of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, emphasizing tree planting, green spaces, and cool roof initiatives for environmental justice. At Catalyst San Gabriel Valley, she supported the “Life is Better with Trees” project, planting 2,000 trees in East Los Angeles, Bassett, and Walnut Park, fostering environmental education and public health with local schools and organizations. During the pandemic, she immersed herself in the local bicycle community, gaining insights into cyclists' transportation needs.

Devin Murphy (he/him)

Devin T. Murphy is a collaborative leader and democracy entrepreneur dedicated to shaping a regenerative economy that fosters prosperity while preserving our natural systems and advancing a more just, inclusive democracy. With over a decade of experience in environmental and civic advocacy, Devin has contributed to organizations such as Sol Community Village, Communities for a Better Environment, and California Environmental Voters. As the Mayor of the City of Pinole and a Board Member of MCE Clean Energy, California's pioneering community choice aggregator, Devin plays a pivotal role in providing clean electricity to over 540,000 customers across Contra Costa, Napa, Marin, and Solano counties. A graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he served as Student Body President, Devin enjoys reading, long-distance walking, and quality time with his nieces, nephews, and his "Rottador", Miles.

Fatima Malik (we/ours)

Fatima is a public health professional and health equity practitioner dedicated to advancing social justice in disadvantaged communities. She is an alumni of the 2021 Partners Advancing Climate Equity cohort led by SGC. As the volunteer CEO for the Del Paso Heights Growers’ Alliance, she creates poverty intervention strategies that work to directly benefit vulnerable populations. Her life’s work includes urban agriculture education, edible landscaping, organizing community gardens, and long-term neighborhood planning efforts to increase social, economic, and environmental well-being. She serves on the board of Solar Rights Alliance and CivicThread. Fatima loves to cook, garden, and travel. As the fifth of six kids, from an immigrant family, who was raised by a single-mother, she humbly supports new arrivals and those with limited English speaking skills navigate systems with dignity. Malik earned a Master of Public Health at SJSU and a degree in International Agricultural Development at UC Davis.

Hasibe Caballero-Gomez (she/her)

Itzel Flores Castillo Wang (she/her)

Itzel is a queer, indigenous, woman of color. She was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico until ten years old when her family came to Los Angeles and reunited with her dad. Her organizing journey began with the May Day March in 2006 and continued to grow as she completed her B.A. in Environmental Studies and learned more about the impacts that systems of oppression, colonialism and more have had on her and her communities. In Promesa Boyle Heights, Itzel deepened her understanding of community organizing and leadership to advocate for what they need and deserve. She currently leads the Healthy Environments work at Promesa working alongside an amazing group of Promotoras de Salud Ambiental in informing and engaging the community to build a more resilient and healthier community. Outside of work, she loves spending time with her family, dancing, and visiting Mother Nature to reconnect and reground herself.

Jamani Ashé (any pronouns)

Jamani Ashé is an Afro-Indigenous, gender-free, community organizer, earth-tender and time-traveller living in Northern California. She is a survivor and a survivalist - and has committed her life's work to building critical skills for disaster preparedness and climate resilience. She is the founder and steward of Sankofa Roots - a land-based learning and healing organization that leads outdoor preparedness and climate resilience trainings for Black, Indigenous and Queer folks on the frontlines of climate crisis and housing displacement. Their work meets at the intersections of critical survival skills, ancestral remembrance, and re-indigenizing our relationship to the land. In their free time, you can catch them foraging, making music, or swimming in the local Yuba river.

Laura Hernandez (they/them|elle)

Laura (they/them | elle) was born and raised in Stockton, California (Yokuts and Miwok lands) and moved to San Francisco where they graduated with honors with a B.S. in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism from San Francisco State University. Since then, they co-created an Air Quality Monitoring summer program for Literacy for Environmental Justice and GreenAction, and for the past 3.5 years, they have been working as the Outdoor Educators Institute Program Coordinator at Justice Outside fighting for racial justice in the outdoors. They do this work by supporting other young folks to live in their vision to achieve their goals. Outside of work, they are proud Queer Latine activist, anti-capitalist, radical rest advocate, comic enthusiast, Dungeons and Dragons nerd, and aspiring curandere.

Mark Sanchez Guerra Santos (they/them)

Hi, My name is Mark, I use They/Them pronouns and I am a filmmaker currently based in San Luis Obispo County. I come from a family activist and farm workers, and for a good majority of my life I've been trying to find my voice in relation to what activism means to me and how I can best show up for it. Being in filmmaking, much like any career path, means having to work within the constraints of capitalism, and as a result I've been searching for a group of people who are seeking to dismantle and decolonize not only their career but there lifepaths, I strongly feel I found this within the ELI fellowship :)

Miriam Eide (they/them)

Miriam Eide (they/them) is the Executive Director at Fossil Free California. They are passionate about the intersection of labor and climate which they view as critical to implementing just solutions to the climate crisis. They also are part of Rich City Rays - a Richmond "kayactivism" group combining direct action with kayaking and reconnecting with the water. In summer of 2021, Miriam returned to their home state of Minnesota to join Indigenous leaders in fighting to stop the construction of the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline. Miriam won the Hamrie Community Service award for founding a free menstrual cup program on the Macalester College campus where they graduated with degrees in Environmental Studies and International Studies. In their free time they enjoy climbing, swimming, backpacking, and reading – especially fantasy.

Naomi Lopez (she/her)

Naomi is a forward-thinking public policy professional interested in the intersection of affordable housing and environmental justice. She earned her Master of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside, in June 2023. With a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Development from the University of California, Davis. She was recently employed at UCR's Office Sustainability hosting environmental justice educational workshops for undergraduate students. Over the summer, she worked to create outreach workshops for UCR's climate vulnerability assessment and report. Naomi brings a robust social justice lens to her diverse project roles. A leader in various organizations, Naomi is dedicated to community building and uplifting community voices and has worked with the undocumented community of the Inland Empire. Her hobbies include hiking, finding new vegetarian recipes, and visiting art galleries and museums.

Robin Gilliam (she/her)

Robin Gilliam is a lifelong resident of South Los Angeles and Co-Founder of the South LA Tree Coalition, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to closing equity gaps throughout LA’s urban forest and facilitating the preservation, protection and growth of South LA’s tree canopy through progressive advocacy and community-based efforts. Throughout her career, her work has centered on social and environmental justice, access, and equity with a specialization in meaningful approaches to community outreach and engagement. Robin serves as Council District 8 Representative for the City of Los Angeles Community Forest Advisory Committee (CFAC) and is a member of the Los Angeles African American Women's Public Policy Institute. She holds a Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from the University of Southern California.

Shana Coleman (she/her)

Shana Coleman is an Environmental Justice Program Coordinator for Pacific Power, Southern California Pacific Islander Community Response Team’s (SoCal PICRT) environmental justice program. She uses this role to advocate for her pacific islander communities back home in the islands as well as here in Southern California.

Sherif Musaji (he/him)

Sharif grew up as a mixed race Muslim in the midwest, which led to many formative encounters and experiences with race. After film school and several years of service in Americorps, his interests and passions were coalescing around social justice, food sovereignty, and addressing the climate crisis. This led to an apprenticeship at Pie Ranch in 2014, and then working as assistant and co-farm manager in 2015. At his first Pie Ranch barn dance, he met his future partner. Yes, really. He left Pie in 2016 to get his Master’s in Social Justice Education from the University of San Francisco and to start a family. He taught Ethnic Studies, U.S. History, and Photography at Berkeley High School, until returning to Pie Ranch as Food and Youth Programs Director. Although he loved being a classroom teacher, he's excited to be back at Pie working on food systems change.

Sim-Marcel Bilal (he/him)

Sim Bilal is a Gen-Z climate organizer from South LA, raised by a single mom. He is a Korean, Black, and Chickasaw. Currently, he serves as a Los Angeles County youth climate commissioner and the lead organizer for Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles. Sim has been a climate activist for over six years, working on banning oil drilling in his neighborhood and fighting for green spaces, green social housing, and climate literacy. Sim is busy in his community fighting for the enrichment of other local South LA youth, supporting elementary, middle, and high schools through mutual aid programs, and volunteering as a robotics and coding instructor for the past three years. Sim has been working on integrating tech, activism, organizing, and legislation into addressing the climate crisis in Los Angeles. As a youth climate organizer, Sim has organized climate strikes in southern California, mobilizing thousands of LA youth to call on divestment from fossil fuels and investment into green jobs, infrastructure, and spaces.

Spenser Jaimes (he/him)

Tina Calderon (she/her)

Zoe Cunliffe (she/her)

Zoe Cunliffe serves as the Environmental Justice Program Coordinator at Black Women for Wellness, a community based non-profit in South LA. She works to address the disproportionate health burdens and reproductive harms borne by Black women and girls, as caused by pollution and toxic chemicals from the built environment. In this role, Zoe’s main areas of focus are the elimination of neighborhood oil drilling, plastic pollution and its impact on health, and water equity.

Juan Flores

Juan is a Community Organizer for the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment (CRPE) and is lead organizer for CRPE’s Climate Justice Campaign to stop fracking and other extreme methods of oil extraction. Under his leadership, Juan has led organizing efforts to achieve a comprehensive state law that will provide a 2,500 feet buffer zone from oil extraction in California’s communities.

Darryl Molina

Darryl is the Executive Director for Communities for a Better Environment, a 45-year-old statewide environmental justice organization based in California. She co-chaired the Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling-Los Angeles Coalition (STAND LA) to end neighborhood oil drilling in the City of Los Angeles and was instrumental in leading the passage of Clean Up Green Up, a City of Los Angeles ordinance that is one of the first Environmental Justice Green Zone Policies in the nation. She has worked on the passage of statewide energy and climate policy and has worked to advance local clean energy and transportation goals. Darryl serves on the boards of the California Environmental Justice Alliance and the Climate Justice Alliance.

Grace Anderson

Grace is a queer dreamer, network weaver, and strategist working at the intersection of racial justice, healing justice, and environmental justice. Her commitment to building and maintaining relationships and networking weaving has positioned her to provide a unique and niche perspective on the field and insight into what’s needed to build towards authentic, transformative, and joyful justice. She is unapologetic in her commitment to centering communities of color in her work. Grace approaches her work with intention, deep curiosity, limitlessness, and an unflinching orientation towards abundance and justice.

Angela Mooney D’arcy

Angela is Acjachemen, born in her ancestral homelands whose traditional territories include the area now known as Orange County, and raised in the ancestral homelands of the Osage, Kaw and Wichita Peoples. She has been working with Native Nations, Indigenous Peoples, grassroots and nonprofit organizations, artists, educators, and institutions on environmental and cultural justice issues for over twenty years. She is the Executive Director and Founder of Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, an Indigenous-led, grassroots environmental justice organization dedicated to building the capacity of Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples to protect sacred lands, waters, and cultures.  She co-founded the United Coalition to Protect Panhe, an alliance of Acjachemen people dedicated to the protection of the sacred site Panhe and served on the Board of the Blas Aguilar Adobe Museum & Acjachemen Cultural Center for nearly a decade.

Sandi Matsumoto

Sandi is The Nature Conservancy’s Director of the California Water Program. She leads a multi-disciplinary team focused on securing a sustainable and resilient water future for California. During her 19 years with TNC, she has worked at the nexus of water, agriculture, and the environment across the state, including by launching BirdReturns and TNC’s efforts to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. She was a member of the first cohort of the Water Solutions Network, serves on the Advisory Council to the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, is a board member for the Water Education Foundation and serves as an advisor to the emerging Environmental Leadership Initiative.

Amelia Vigil

Amelia is an Urban-Indigenous/Xicano, Two- Spirit, poet, outdoor educator, and identical twin. Their indigenous heritage is Picuris Pueblo from her father and Purepecha from her mother. Mixed Spanish/New Mexican. They have been involved with Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit (B.A.A.I.T-S) since 2013 and joined the Board of Directors in 2015. Their advocacy and support of Indigenous self-determination are a constant in their life. Recently appointed the Liberated Paths: Youth Access to Nature (YAN) Grant and Program Manager. Amelia has earned degrees from Feather River Community College, Mills College and Institute for American Indian Arts with an MFA in Poetry.

Hazel Davalos

Hazel is the Co-Executive Director at the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) leading social, economic, and environmental justice work in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Hazel has received recognitions for her social change work, receiving a Latino Legacy Award “Community Advocate” Award as well as the “Women Taking Creative Risks” Award from the Santa Maria Women’s Network. Hazel lives in Santa Maria, CA with her partner Guillermo and two children. She serves on the board for 805 UndocuFund, a disaster relief fund for undocumented immigrants and People Self-Help Housing, the largest local non-profit housing provider on the Central Coast.

Taylor Thomas

Taylor (they/she) calls Long Beach home, where they were born and raised, and continues to deepen their roots. They have supported organizing quality and affordable education, as well as working with folks experiencing homelessness. Taylor began their journey with EYCEJ as a member shortly, thereafter, eventually becoming an intern before transitioning into a staff role. They aim to combine art, sustainability, compassion, and social justice into a movement of love. Taylor was EYCEJ’s Research and Policy Analyst and now serves as a co-director.

Michael Mendez

Dr. Mendez is an assistant professor of environmental policy and planning at the University of California, Irvine, an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and Visiting Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). He previously was the inaugural James and Mary Pinchot Faculty Fellow in Sustainability Studies and Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of the Environment. In 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Dr. Mendez to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board which regulates water quality in a region of 11 million people.

Hop Hopkins

Hop is a Social Movement Strategist and Scholar who has been organizing for over twenty-five years at the intersections of race, class, gender and the environment. As director of organizational transformation at the Sierra Club, Hop is helping the largest, oldest and most influential organization in the environmental sector evolve into a commitment to anti-racism. He is a board trustee for The Midland School and sits on the Los Angeles Food Policy Council’s Leadership Circle and has served on the boards of the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, Western States Center, and People’s College of Law.