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Deborah is an attorney who led a prior life as an organizer. She has worked for progressive candidates, not-for-profit advocacy organizations, policy coalitions, social justice networks, and foundations. She started her career as an organizer, worked as a journalist, and is also an attorney. She left her law career in 2016 and is now the executive Director of a multi-entity organization: New Left Accelerator and NLA’s affiliated 501(c)(3), The Capacity Shop. Deborah has a law degree from U.C. Berkeley School of Law, a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University, and a M.A. in Political Science from U.C. Berkeley. She serves on the boards of Women Lawyers On Guard and Action Squared. She lives in San Francisco, and is the proud and tired mom of Ryder Jane (9) and Hudson Townes (7).

Prior to joining New Left Accelerator, Lauren led the build-out of an infrastructure hub for multi-entity organizing groups across the state of Michigan, called BOOM (Back Office for Organizing in Michigan). She also built out her own coaching and consulting organization, BolderTogether to interrogate the conditions for early career professionals and organizations to thrive. Prior to this, Lauren worked as the Associate Director on Arabella Advisors managed organizations team, providing high-touch program and operational support to a multi-million dollar portfolio of multi-entity projects. Lauren holds a BA in Organizational Psychology and a Coaching Certification, and is trained in Restorative Practices. Outside of work, you can find Lauren hanging out with her dog, Toby, designing community gatherings across Detroit, or on the soccer field.

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Jen developed a passion for process, planning, and systems through her time working for political and grassroots campaigns including the Obama Campaign and Organizing for America. She honed her skills in the nonprofit world as the Director of Acceleration Services at Citizen Engagement Lab (CEL). There she oversaw a fiscal sponsorship program that provided organizational development and fundraising services to social change start-ups, including Vote.org, 18MillionRising, and MPowerChange. Jen has extensive experience building effective grassroots organizations, running organizational systems, and nonprofit infrastructure. Jen lives in Oakland, California with her husband and dog Stanley.

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Mery Concepción Pacheco is an Afro-Caribbean immigrant, abolitionist, and writer building and thinking at the intersection of the literary arts, prison abolition, and creative storytelling. Her written work deals with themes of embodiment, familial unravelings, racial (un)becomings, and healing. Her poetry has been previously published by Newtown Literary and QA Poetry. She lives, dreams, and loves in the margins.

Shawn Fischer is based in the mountains of Southern Appalachia. They find inspiration in the role of operations by embracing principles of mutual aid, direct communication, and value integration at all levels of relationships. Shawn enjoys reframing operational support and management through a lens of possibility. They are active within their local community, veteran communities that prioritize repair and reframing, and support national organizations and leaders across the country. Shawn has a Master of Public Administration , with certificates in Nonprofit Leadership and Project Management, from Villanova University, and lived experience in rural and mountain communities across the US South. 

Amparo Herrera Hughes was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley and returned home after spending 25 years in Austin, Texas working with immigrant and low-income communities during her professional career in the nonprofit sector. She has worked with various state and local non-profit entities managing multi-entity organizations serving working people. During her career, she's developed significant expertise in movement building strategy and systems and is excited to bring her talents to NLA and TCS.

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Blake enjoys putting the "people" in People & Culture. Most recently, Blake led People and Culture at a growing nonprofit in Seattle (Duwamish land) focusing on opportunities to address organizational cultural challenges and ensure internal policies and systems were human-centered and equitable. Volunteering with nonprofits since a young age, she is particularly passionate about spaces held for grieving children and their families. She’s a Pacific Northwest gal at heart, kayaking in the summer and hibernating in the winter. Blake is excited to promote employee wellbeing at NLA with advocacy and enthusiasm!

Born and raised in New Jersey, JoJo began organizing as an undergrad at Rutgers University. There she worked on the Fight for 15 and Nike campaigns, exposing exploitative labor practices on campus and abroad. After graduating, she joined the first ever WILL Empower cohort as an apprentice and research intern. Since then, she has worked with local, national and international unions and nonprofits fighting for racial and economic equity, fair labor practices, and co-op development.

With over a decade of experience, Dana has leveraged her Master of Social Work education and diverse skill set to drive transformative change in nonprofits both locally and nationally. She is passionate about empowering nonprofit leaders through strategic project management, innovative problem-solving, and fostering collaboration. Dana deeply believes that compassion and empathy are at the heart of meaningful work, and she consistently integrates these values into her communications and the way she supports nonprofit leaders. She is excited to join NLA, where she can continue to empower individuals and contribute to making the world a better place.

Christine has years of experience in leading strategic programming, advocacy efforts, and learning. She is a community-oriented and culture leader dedicated to systemic changes through emergent learning as a collective effort. Much of her work is informed by her years leading education initiatives and amplifying diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts in education and community outreach organizations. Christine is excited to bring her inclusive approach to facilitating learning opportunities to NLA & TCS. Based in Philadelphia but proudly Cleveland-born, Christine spends her free time exploring her local community, running, traveling, and relaxing with her cat, Gimlet.

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Kristina Sepúlveda joins the New Left Accelerator with background in political operations, community organizing, and direct service/policy work in non-traditional education and employment programs for young adults. Prior to NLA, she was the Operations Director for the Democratic Socialists of America, the Program Director for the Brooklyn Justice Corps, and a pretty solid bike messenger. She holds a Master of Science in Urban Policy from the New School, two certifications from HR Certification Institute (PHR & DEI), and enjoys cycling, writing rom coms, and doing her part to build power for the working class.

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Maritza joins us from CASA, the largest immigrant rights organization in the Mid-Atlantic, where she was the director of education. Before joining CASA, Maritza was an educator for seven years at both the collegiate and secondary school level in the Washington, DC area. In 2003, she was selected as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Fellow working in the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives. Maritza earned an BA and MA in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MEd in Educational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Shruti Garg has worked across the nonprofit sector as a grantmaker, capacity builder, and consultant. Throughout her practice, she is committed to fostering effective and dynamic pathways for organizational resiliency. Currently a program officer at the James Irvine Foundation, she was most recently a consultant to nonprofits around the country, both in her independent practice and while at the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Shruti also oversaw Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP)’s membership efforts as well as managed the Open Society Foundations (OSF)’s grantmaking to immigrant rights, racial justice, and low-wage worker rights organizations. Shruti graduated from Smith College and received her Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern California.

Suneela Jain is the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Chief of Staff at Tides where she oversees Tides’ legal risk and compliance function, supporting organizational awareness and frameworks for risk management that center Tides’ mission and values. Prior to joining Tides, Suneela worked as an attorney at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and Gunderson Dettmer, and as a pro bono attorney at The Nature Conservancy. In those roles, she advised individuals, non-profits, and a range of private and public actors about issues relating to corporate governance, stakeholder relationships, investments, and structuring joint venture and other partnerships. At Cleary, she also advised small businesses as chair of the Microenterprise Project at Volunteers of Legal Services and served as a member of the Pro Bono, Diversity & Inclusion, and Mentoring Committees.

In addition to her role at The New Left Accelerator, Suneela is also a member of the Investment Committee at Realize Impact, and a member of the Ethics Task Force of the Council on Foundations. Suneela received her JD from Yale University, and her BA from UCLA.

As Justice Funders’ Senior Innovation Director, Mario partners with philanthropy and field practitioners to design, pilot, and scale both innovation and collective action that advances social movements through our Movement Commons Lab. Mario comes to the organization via Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), as well as Guidestar, where he held the position of Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He is the founder of the movement-building technology platform Giving Side. In 2010, Mario co-founded the New American Leaders Project. He has held leadership positions at the Kapor Center for Social Impact and the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. He built significant community organizing experience as the National Coordinator of Racial Justice 911 and at CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in the Northwest Bronx. He is a graduate of Columbia University.

Marj Plumb, DrPH, MNA, (She/They) is a non-profit consultant, executive coach, and trainer specializing in public policy and policy advocacy, community engaged research and evaluation, strategic design, and organizational and leadership development. Marj served as Director of the Women’s Foundation of California’s Solis (formerly Women’s) Policy Institute (SPI) for 16 years, training over 500 diverse nonprofit cisgender women and trans leaders in public policy advocacy, passing 35 statewide bills into law. Marj has created other training programs focused on administrative policy advocacy, replication of the SPI in other states, and for specific communities.

Guillermo is the Executive Director and Managing Weaver of the Partnership for Democracy & Education, LLC helping facilitate synergy among various organizations and programs, weaving together 501c4, 501c3, and investment capital; organizing donors, funders, and investors towards more generative and democratic forms of politics and solidarity economy. Before joining The Partnership, he was Senior Fellow and Founder of the Independent Resource Generation (IRG) Hub at Amalgamated Foundation. Earlier and for several years, Guillermo was the Program Director for both the Solidago Foundation, a public charity, and the See Forward Fund, a 501c4 social welfare foundation where he contributed to the development of independent political organizations (IPOs). Guillermo currently serves on the boards of the Proteus Action League and the Boston Impact Initiative. Guillermo holds a Master in City Planning from MIT and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras.

Maya is the principal and founder of Mandala Change Group, a consulting practice that provides change management and organizational development strategy services with a DREI lens. Maya brings more than 20 years in philanthropy and working with nonprofit and public entities to support organizations and leaders in their efforts to align their organization’s practices, policies, and cultures to values-based mission and visions. She was previously the Director of Racial Equity Initiatives at Borealis Philanthropy where she led the Racial Equity in Philanthropy fund (REP), the Racial Equity to Accelerate Change (REACH) fund, which supports nonprofit organizations in advancing racial equity practices, and the Racial Equity in Journalism (REJ) fund. She spent nine years at the Women’s Foundation of California where she supported organizations doing systems-level change work at the intersection of gender and racial justice.