she/her

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.

she/her

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.

she/her

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.

she/her

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.

she/her

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.

she/her

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.

Deborah Axt is a coach and strategy consultant to movement organizations and their leaders. Her imperative is to help build a multi-racial ecosystem of bold people's organizations grounded in love and belonging. After a previous life as a union organizer, Deb spent two decades helping to build the membership-based Make the Road New York, its sister C4 Make the Road Action, and eventually second generation Make the Road organizations across the country. In her roles as attorney, legal director, and then Co-Executive Director, Deb helped lead two mergers, three executive leadership transitions, a $30m capital campaign, and the building of a shared national infrastructure. Meanwhile, she led impact litigation, services, and economic justice and worker organizing. She has co-led dozens of campaigns, like those that blocked Amazon from building its "HQ2" in New York, and established a $2.1 billion Excluded Workers fund to support New Yorkers barred from unemployment and COVID relief. She is mom to Elijah and Zoe.

she/her/hers

Adriana Barboza, Partner at The Management Center, is passionate about social justice, race and gender equity, and building power through organizing, training, and great management. She was most recently the Vice President of Program Strategy and Partnerships at Re:Power (formerly Wellstone). She has over 18 years of experience in community organizing, training, and providing technical support to groups working on electoral efforts and in the democracy field. Adriana has provided technical assistance to the frontline groups engaged in fighting for judicial independence, expanding democracy, protecting voting rights, and redistricting. Adriana has also provided strategic support in designing and delivering partnership-based training and programs for leading civic engagement organizations and coalitions. Adriana was born in Jalisco, Mexico and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She holds a law degree from Depaul University and a Bachelor's from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When she is not on the road, she loves to plan her next trip and spend quality time with her fashionable and photogenic dog Pikete.

Sebastian Barreneche is a skilled marketing and fundraising professional with over a decade of experience leading creative campaigns and managing effective social impact projects. As a consultant for NLA, Sebastian leads and supports communications and fundraising efforts to drive growth and maximize impact.

Sebastian's expertise in content creation and fundraising strategy played a pivotal role in managing institutional giving relationships and grant production for United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation. And at Make the Road New York, the largest grassroots progressive organization in the Northeastern U.S., Sebastian's creative digital campaigns and project management skills helped drive successful fundraising and advocacy efforts for over 5 years.

With a diverse skill set that includes experience in social entrepreneurship, graphic design, and both digital and traditional media, Sebastian is a results-oriented professional with a deep commitment to community development. He strongly believes in mobilizing resources and investing in access and opportunity for our communities to build power with resilient joy and creativity.

Karla is an independent consultant with more than 12 years experience as a fundraiser, organizer, event planner and strategist who works with justice and equity-focused organizations and individuals to build and strategize their fundraising operation. A proud former canvasser, her entrance into the world of organizing and fundraising began more than a decade ago, doing door-to-door fundraising for issue campaigns in New York. She has a deep knowledge of the progressive organizing landscape as a result of her work in electoral and issue-driven fundraising and organizing at the New York Working Families Party, as staff at Make the Road New York and working with Movement Voter Project, Local Progress, and others. Originally from Saint Paul, MN, she spent twelve years outside of the Twin Cities, living in France and New York City. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Global Studies from the University of Minnesota. Karla lives in Minneapolis, where she regularly walks miles around lakes and along creeks and rivers with her spouse and two children.

Jay Carmona is an engagement, strategy, and base-building expert specializing in online-to-field strategies and decentralized organizing. After graduating with a degree in community organizing Jay went on to spend two decades working for progressive causes from the streets to the halls of Congress. With a career focus on stopping climate change, bringing decision making back to impacted communities, and technology-enhanced organizing spaces, Jay consults full time at their firm, Sematonic Strategies. Jay believes in passing on skills and knowledge to support the biggest and most engaged social justice communities and also takes training and coaching clients. Jay is neurodivergent and likes dogs, science fiction, and spending time outdoors.

Brittaney is a communications strategist with 15 years of experience in writing, editing, and publishing and 7 years of experience mobilizing communities for racial and economic justice. Her passion is using narrative tools to translate public policy and program design in the service of social change. Originally from rural South Georgia, she now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home. When she's not using storytelling to engage audiences in the large and small ways we can fight for justice daily, Brittaney is probably taking a lazy stroll with her seven-pound chihuahua, Ramona. Brittaney earned a Master of Public Policy degree from UC Berkeley and bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Spanish from the University of Georgia.

Erika is a consultant focused on racial equity within nonprofit operations, fundraising, and organizational culture, with an emphasis on inclusion and employee happiness. Erika is a co-founding member of the Community-Centric Fundraising movement. They also recently volunteered their time as the Appeals Chair for the Seattle Human Rights Commission and as Vice President of Equitable Policies for AFP Advancement NW. Erika holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Miami with a major in Economics and minors in International Business and Spanish. She also holds a Masters of Public Administration and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

Bobby Clark is an independent consultant who advises funders and nonprofits on systemic communications investments, including opinion research, narrative development, and communications capacities and structures, as well as state and national issue campaigns. Previously, Bobby served as Vice President for Communications and Programs at Gill Foundation, the nation’s largest investor in LGBTQ equality work. At Gill Foundation, Bobby helped lead investments to drive the public imperative for policy change at the state and national level, including marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and countering anti-LGBTQ policies. Prior to joining Gill Foundation, Bobby co-founded ProgressNow, a national network of state-based organizations focused on multi-issue progressive media and digital communications. Bobby also served as one of the earliest staff members of Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign and helped develop the campaign’s online engagement strategies. After 26 years as a Coloradan, Bobby recently reallocated to Dallas with his husband, Shaun Cartwright.

With a background in fundraising and operations at the state and national level, Leigh Anne brings dual perspectives to clients. She specializes in working with political and non-profit clients designing structures for multi-entity organizations running programs with complex compliance reporting requirements. Through her work with MoveOn.org, United We Dream, Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO, Laborers’ International Union, Battleground Texas, GeorgiaNext and many other state based organizations, she has seen and reported it all. Prior to joining PoliOps, she spent almost 10 years in campaign politics, including Kaine for Governor, Obama for America and McAuliffe for Governor and ran the operations and finance for the Democratic Party of Virginia. She is currently the Treasurer of Emerge Virginia, an organization devoted to training diverse women candidates for local and state office. A mom to two young kids, Leigh Anne was looking for a better work life balance following the 2018 election and now splits her time between her continued work with PoliOps clients and being in-house with a non-profit progressive policy organization in Richmond, VA.

Aida Cuadrado Bozzo, based in Lansing, MI, is a cultural, transformational organizer, facilitator and trainer. For over 15 years she has worked for social justice across a spectrum of cultures, communities, movements and sectors. She specializes in designing and implementing leadership development and capacity building initiatives, in organizing, strategy, leadership development, and generative conflict communications, racial equity and innovative program and curriculum designs to the service of local, regional, and national organizations, networks, and campaigns.

Aliza Dichter has worked with social justice, nonprofit, and community groups for more than twenty years. She brings the stories, examples, ideas, and tools she’s learned into collaborations with leaders and groups to help them produce strategic plans, partnerships, and materials. Liza has developed particular experience working with social justice startup groups, coalitions, and projects, particularly over six years as Co-Founder and Co-Director of CIMA: Center for International Media Action, which cultivated coalitions, networks and alliances; five years as a Senior Strategist with the incubation and acceleration program at Citizen Engagement Lab; and as an independent consultant providing coaching, research, technical assistance, and hands-on collaboration to leaders and small teams navigating the nonprofit system.

Nijmie is a movement strategist and institution builder with 20 years of experience founding and running social justice organizations. She is a co-founder of the Media Mobilizing Project and Put People First! PA and and former Executive Director of the Philadelphia Student Union. Nijmie has been consulting on strategy, leadership development, communications, and racial equity with local, regional, and national organizations and alliances for six years. Some of her clients include the Center for Community Change and the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing. She is a member of RoadMap consulting.

Rose Espinola (they/them) is a xicana from the Florida swamplands. Rose is an expert at winning campaigns. They designed Planned Parenthood’s data-driven organizing model, developed Public Citizen’s 700-person volunteer program for trade justice, and directed field and tech for the strongest Bernie 2016 Super Tuesday state. Rose is also founder of the Movement Tech Help Desk and La Luchita Project.

Donnie Fowler has over twenty years experience in Silicon Valley, the public sector and national politics. He has a perfect 3-0 record leading battleground states for Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. Donnie has worked on-the-ground in seventeen states and for eight presidential campaigns. He has served in the Clinton White House as a congressional liaison, at Silicon Valley’s TechNet, and as a presidential appointee and lawyer at the Federal Communications Commission. Since 2016, he has led Tech4America, a bridge between Silicon Valley and public leaders that includes a partnership with the National League of Cities. He is co-founder of Democracy Labs, a workshop for techies, creatives, and politicos to put better tools in the hands of groups and candidates. DemLabs has sparked groundbreaking work on voting machine hacking and social media monitoring, among other things. Donnie also teaches at the University of San Francisco and is a founding member of the Silicon Valley Blockchain Society.

Eve is the principal of Fox Strategies, a one-woman campaigns consultancy that helps progressive nonprofit organizations harness the power of the internet to advance their missions, recruit supporters and raise money. After working in women’s reproductive health and environmental advocacy, Eve joined M+R Strategic Services in 2002. In her 12 years on staff, she helped to grow the firm’s digital division from a fledgling offering with three staff to a leader in the field of online fundraising and advocacy with a staff of 60 talented individuals across the country. While at M+R, Eve helped leading national nonprofits including the Clinton Foundation, Oxfam America, the American Diabetes Association, Defenders of Wildlife, Consumers Union, the U.N. Foundation, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Save Darfur Coalition, and many more raise tens of millions of dollars online and recruit millions of supporters to their causes.

Judith Freeman is a consultant for organizations, companies, campaigns, and start-ups. Previously, she worked with the Movement & Capacity Building team at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Judith was the co-founder and CEO of the New Organizing Institute, a multi-entity training, research, and development organization for technology-enabled organizers, activists, staff, and leaders. Judith worked on the 2008 Obama digital team, managing integrations of field, digital, and technology. Prior to that, she was the senior political strategist at the AFL-CIO, where she co-founded the Analyst Institute.

Prior to joining PoliOps, Norm worked to build internal systems for some of the largest progressive political organizations in the country. These systems provided the necessary infrastructure needed to support winning campaigns as well as planned/strategic and at times unforeseen growth.

Norm's passion centers on building back office tools that support an organization's mission through targeted investments that focus resources, financial and otherwise, on scalable solutions to solve compliance and other financial and operational challenges. His experience spans 4 presidential campaigns, national multi-site nonprofits, and public service.

Having worked in the White House during President Obama's first term, Norm had the opportunity to collaborate with other White House officials to bring new technologies and a best in class CRM system so that the President could more effectively communicate with the American people. He brings this experience and strategic visioning to large and small organizations alike.

A New Jersey native, Norm lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three daughters.

Whitney Herrington has over 10 years of human capital experience across the full spectrum of human resource functions. She currently leads nonprofit human capital consulting as Vice President at NPAG, a talent strategy and executive search consulting firm. Most recently, she served as the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (a coalition of over 200 civil and human rights organization) where she led several organizational development efforts to help staff work more effectively. Prior, Whitney led people and technology at the Southern Poverty Law Center (a civil rights advocacy organization) where she directed the transformation of human resources from a transactional, personnel function to an integrated business partner supporting rapid growth and broadened national impact. Whitney has several years’ experience consulting to numerous for- and non-profit organizations on various human capital initiatives. She earned a BBA in Finance from Western Michigan University and an MBA in Human Resources from Georgia State University. Originally from Detroit, MI, Whitney currently resides in the Washington D.C. metro area and enjoys traveling.

Meredith Horton is the Founder and Principal of MPH Concepts. She is a social justice leader, consultant, and coach with over 15 years of experience supporting advocacy organizations in their efforts to be highly effective and values-aligned. As a consultant and coach to senior social justice leaders, Meredith advises on a range of issues, including management, program development, and implementation of new projects. In addition, Meredith draws on her background in recruitment and talent strategy to help organizations thoughtfully structure key staff roles and hiring processes. Meredith has served in senior leadership roles at organizations ranging from 13 to over 300 in size, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and the Texas Civil Rights Project. This leadership experience is complemented by her work as Counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Senior Advisor for Voter Protection at the Democratic Party of Georgia, and grant maker and program counsel at the Legal Services Corporation. Meredith began her legal career as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney at Venable LLP. She has a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, and a BA in Urban Studies and Political Science from Barnard College in New York City. Meredith is the Vice Chair of the board of Kindred Communities, a DC-based non-profit that brings communities together to create anti-racist and liberated schools.

Chandra Larsen uses the power of art and creativity to ignite transformative experiences for people and organizations. For over 20 years, she has worked with people committed to tackling pervasive social issues resulting from systems of oppression and violence. She specializes in facilitating people and groups with visualizing bold strategies for a just society, personal and collective liberation, and nourishing thriving ecosystems. She founded Visualizing Change in 2017 to help individuals and organizations explore personal and collective strategies for transforming toxic beliefs, behaviors, and structures rooted in white supremacy and patriarchy as it plays out and is reinforced within dominant culture. Chandra first partnered with NLA in 2019 in their pursuit to mindfully grow the organization in centering deep equity. Together, we’ve worked to identify, disrupt and address habits of dominant culture within the organization, paving new personal, cultural, and structural practices and policies to support intentional change and growth.

Abby Levine is the chief strategist at Levine Nonprofit Solutions, LLC. For more than 20 years, she has worked hand in hand with thousands of nonprofits and foundations across the country, providing customized training, coaching, written resources, and technical assistance—all with the goal of supporting organizations to be strategic, bold, courageous, and legally compliant advocates. Abby’s expertise focuses on lobbying, election-related activities, ballot measures, grantmaking, and other advocacy strategies for 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations. Most recently, Abby served as Senior Director of the Bolder Advocacy Program at Alliance for Justice (AFJ) for more than 18 years. Before that, she was the Public Policy Analyst at the National Council of Nonprofit Associations and an associate in the tax department at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cleveland, Ohio. She has a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a B.A. from American University. Abby proudly serves on the board of directors of Opportunity Action, The Keegan Theatre, and Nonprofit VOTE.

Mo Manklang is the Policy Director for the USFWC, the national grassroots membership and advocacy organization for worker cooperatives. Mo leads federal policy efforts and advises on state and local initiatives. Mo has been a local and national organizer around cooperatives and social justice issues in a variety of roles, including Philadelphia's social impact news and events group Generocity.org, the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, and the Alliance for a Just Philadelphia.

Susan Misra is the co-founder of Aurora Commons, which nurtures a society that embodies a Whole Planet - Whole People - Whole Power approach. Aurora Commons believes that liberation, justice, and equity will come when our social norms, policies, world views, structural incentives, and relationships enable all of us to be both different and whole together. Aurora Commons partners with movement-building organizations and networks to become more equitable, sustainable, and strategic. In particular, we design and manage capacity building and grantmaking initiatives on a range of topics such as sharing leadership and strengthening sustainability for grassroots power-building organizations and transforming civic engagement groups to become equitable democratic organizations. Aurora Commons strategically shifts the field towards liberation through communities of practices and writings on advancing equitable systems change, expanding shared leadership, and building the capacities for building power.

Nicole Neditch has dedicated her 20-year career to building infrastructure and programs that strengthen our civic institutions, drive community impact, and support engagement and participation at the local level. Nicole has led the City of Oakland’s digital transformation, crisis response, and community engagement efforts. As an early member of the leadership team at Code for America, she helped build the civic technology field both in the US and abroad. She partners with local governments, community based organizations, coalitions and networks who are working to realign power and reimagine our systems of collective care.

Marissa Q. Paine is hopelessly addicted to helping accomplished leaders make the transformational shifts they need to create the life and business results their hearts truly desire but their heads struggle to make happen. A proud social worker by trade and expert in intra- and interpersonal relationships, Marissa’s clients include service-based business owners, nonprofit CEOs and other executive leaders; plus couples, business partners, management teams, boards of directors and beyond. She has served as chief executive in both large and small nonprofits, advised numerous boards of directors as the interim CEO responsible for managing organizational turnaround and transition, and is a certified BoardSource consultant. Marissa has also designed leadership development programs for philanthropic support organizations to execute strategic change plans in governance and racial equity, and has provided organizational transition consulting to organizations centered on racial justice including Forward Through Ferguson, We Power, We Stories, City Garden Montessori, Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund members, For the Sake of All and National Conference for Community & Justice.

Barbara has a successful track record with more than 25 years experience as a coach and consultant, working with the leadership of emerging and established for profit and nonprofit organizations to achieve growth, scale, and impact. In addition to having her own consulting firm, Barbara was a co-founder of UpStart, a nonprofit accelerator providing ongoing business strategy development and fostering innovation for social entrepreneurs. During her tenure at UpStart, she worked with over 50 social entrepreneurs giving them the tools to develop and execute on their organizational strategies and goals. Barbara holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from UC Berkeley. She serves on a number of boards, including the Board of the Northern California Association of Strategic Planning and Facing History and Ourselves (SF region). Barbara enjoys hiking, bicycling, and skiing, and treasures her time with her husband and sons.

Paul Rivera is a Democratic activist and strategist from New York, with more than 20 years of experience in government, elections, and public advocacy. Paul got his start in politics at the 1992 Democratic Convention held in New York City, and served in the Clinton White House from 1994 through 2000, before moving back to New York. Paul is a veteran of four presidential elections (1992-2004), six national party conventions, two gubernatorial elections in New York (2002 and 2006), and five election cycles for the New York State Senate Democratic Conference (2008-2016). As an independent consultant since 2013, Paul has worked on impactful campaigns and independent expenditure efforts across the United States. Paul also served as Communications Director and Senior Advisor to the New York Senate Democratic Conference from 2009-2012, helping close record budget deficits and working to pass critical progressive and reform legislation.

Julien Ross co-founded and helped lead two immigrant justice organizations, Workers Defense Project in Austin, Texas (2002-2006) and Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (2006-2017). At Workers Defense, Julien helped start Austin’s first worker rights center, which has grown into a statewide power achieving fair employment through education, organizing, and direct services. Julien raised critical seed money in the early stages to grow the organization and managed 4 full-time staff.

In Colorado, Julien helped grow the coalition from a budget of $120,000 to $1.1 Million and from a staff of 1 to a team of 14 with 5 offices statewide. Julien supported an immigrant-led Board of 15 Directors and launched a new 501(c)(4) CIRC Action Fund in 2012 which achieved key victories on driver's licenses, in-state tuition and repealing the show-me-your-papers law.

During Julien’s tenure, CIRC participated in multi-year anti-oppression and Diversity-Equity-Inclusion engagement to strive toward a culture that reflected the values we were fighting for in the world.

After transitioning from the Colorado coalition in 2017, Julien was tapped by the Four Freedoms Fund and State Infrastructure Fund to provide executive and organizational management coaching, training, and facilitation to grantees. Julien received coaching training at Rockwood Leadership Institute's Yearlong Fellowship and recently graduated from Rockwood's inaugural 2022 Growing White Leadership For Racial Equity cohort.

Julien was born and raised in the traditional lands of the Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo people, known today as New Mexico. Julien is fluent in Spanish and able to coach and/or train in Spanish. He was a proud restaurant worker for 10 years growing up and is an avid skier, swimmer, and meteorologist/storm forecaster.

Toby is a nonprofit consultant with a focus on executive leadership coaching for startup non-profit executives and leaders of innovative program initiatives.  She is also the Founder of UpStart, an accelerator for early stage nonprofits. During her 10 year tenure as CEO, she built a team of leaders that brought UpStart from an idea to start-up to a high-impact, paradigm-shifting national organization. Prior to founding UpStart, Toby spent 7 years at the BJE-San Francisco filling a variety of roles, including an executive leadership role. Toby holds an undergraduate degree in Political Sociology from UC-Santa Barbara and a J.D. from the University of San Diego.  She currently lives in Marin County to feed her hiking habit, and enjoys nature with husband, Robert Rubin, and visits from their three amazing young adult daughters.

Justine Sarver has over 25 years of experience in social justice advocacy and campaigns. After working in the labor, reproductive health, and civil rights movement sectors, Sarver worked in the Obama Administration in 2009-2010, and then went on to run the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center for eight years. Sarver founded her consulting practice, Supernova Strategies, in 2018. She works with clients ranging from national, state, and local political organizations to philanthropic institutions, as well as supporting local non-profit advocacy and launching national narrative shift campaigns. Justine advises philanthropic institutions on state landscapes and where to consider investments, co-creates electoral and advocacy strategies, manages messaging research and communications projects, supports ballot measure planning processes and post-campaign analysis, conducts state legislative campaigns, management and leadership coaching, and builds new programs and political capacity for organizations or teams.