 Isidro D. Ortiz, Ph.D., Board President Dr. Ortiz is Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at SDSU. A political scientist by training, he pursues the study of Chicana/o political activism and educational politics and policy and has published studies in these areas. Dr. Ortiz has been recognized for his teaching and mentoring of students and community service and leadership. Among his recognitions for the latter are the UC San Diego Cesar Chavez Legacy Award for Community Leadership and the KPBS-Union Bank “Local Hero in Education” Award. He also serves as co-chair of the San Diego County Latino Concilio on Higher education and as vice chair of the Education Consortium of San Diego County. |
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 Samuel Tsoi, Board Vice President Samuel is an immigrant who is grateful for the opportunity to exercise his voice and leadership at a time when democratic institutions are threatened around the world. He is currently the Assistant Director for the 21st Century China Center at the UCSD School of Global Policy & Strategy, where he where he works to promote constructive discourse on US-China relations. He is also the Co-Founder and Lead Organizer for Welcoming San Diego, an effort to advance the civic, social and economic integration of immigrants and refugees in the region.
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 Vivienne Esrig, Board Treasurer Vivienne is currently the Deputy Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. She comes with a lifetime of experience in non profits managing and administrating one thing or another including 20 plus years at Harvard Medical School. She was the Treasurer of the Board of MOXIE Theater Company and has served on various other boards both nationally and regionally including the National Organization for Women (Boston) and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. She has a BA in Finance and an MBA in non profit management and is a life long Bostonian.
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 Victor Roosen, Board Secretary Victor Roosen, formerly with the American Red Cross, is now the Senior Emergency Planning Advisor at SDGE. He is a former regional disaster relief manager for the American Red Cross overseeing disaster preparedness, response, and recovery programs. This included staffing, volunteer management, program development, FEMA compliance, disaster planning, and community based organization relationships.
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 Norma Cazares, Board Director Norma is a 1st generation San Diego native, raised in Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego. She started community organizing at 15 years of age, and has been a dedicated and passion political, educational, and social activist ever since. Norma graduated from SDSU with a B.A. in Public Administration and a Masters of Science in Counseling Education. During her time as a student, she was actively involved in issues related to civil, human, and women's rights, and Chicano empowerment. She then went on to be employed with the State of California Employment Development Department for 15 years, then resigning to accept a position as a Counselor at Southwestern College where she served until 2015. At Southwestern, she helped countless students of underrepresented backgrounds reach their educational and career goals. In retirement, she is continually dedicated to community activism and to making San Diego a better place for all people. Norma is currently a member and the President of the Board of Directors of McGill School of Success, a public charter school of the SDUSD, and is the founding member of the South Bay Forum. |
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 Jim Gerber, Board Director Mr. Gerber is a Professor of Economics, Emeritus, from SDSU where he served for 34 years. He has been a visiting professor or scholar at universities in Tijuana, La Paz, Guadalajara, and Mexico City. Jim also served as co-editor for the Library of Congress' Handbook of Latin American Studies. His written works about the US-Mexico border include articles, book chapters, a textbook, and a co-authored book. Jim holds a PhD in Economics from UC Davis and was a firefighter for the US Forest Service before becoming a professor. |
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 Irving Hernandez, Board Director Irving is a Dreamer from the border region of San Diego, California. Arriving to the United States at the age of 6, he persevered through various barriers and ultimately graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering. Currently, Irving is a manager at an immigration law firm and an activist in the DACA movement. He has been widely interviewed by local, national, and international media outlets. He also served as a guest editor of The Guardian and has helped shape the narrative about Border Dreamers, deepening an understanding of what it means to live in the border region as a Dreamer.
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 Rev. Beth Johnson, Board Director Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson has served as minister of Palomar UU Fellowship in Vista since 2004. She works on intersectional justice issues, including immigration, racial and worker justice, climate and environmental justice, and reproductive justice in San Diego and nationally. She is the past co-president of the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice and currently serves on the board of UURISE (the Unitarian Universalist Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education), the steering committee for Faith Leaders for Reproductive Justice, and the steering committee of the UU Environmental Justice Collaboratory. Dr. Johnson also provides spiritual direction, workshops, and retreats for faith leaders and activists in order to foster personal and systemic transformational change. Dr. Johnson received a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Claremont School of Theology and is committed to sacred activism - linking spirituality and radical social change. |
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 Lee Ann Kim, Board Director Lee Ann Kim is an immigrant from South Korea, mother, yogi, artist, and longtime media professional. For more than 12 years, she reported and anchored the news for KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, during which she earned an Emmy for investigative reporting and California's highest award for educational reporting for her coverage of bilingual education. Lee Ann also founded the San Diego Asian Film Festival in 2000, which evolved into a year-round nonprofit media arts organization, Pacific Arts Movement. During her 16-year tenure as Executive Director, she raised more than $10 million to run the organization and helped produce more than 100 local youth documentaries. Currently, she runs her own production company and is a social justice retreat facilitator for the Fieldstone Leadership Network of San Diego. She has helped several nonprofits with board development, marketing, and fundraising strategy. |
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 Ken Malbrough, Board Director Mr. Malbrough is a proud native of Southeast San Diego. He retired in 2012 as a Deputy Fire Chief of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department after 31 years. He is an active community leader and now serves on the boards of the State of California Board of Registered Nursing, the Black American Political Association of California San Diego Chapter (BAPAC-SD), and the San Diego Parks Foundation. |
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 Maribel McKinze, Board Director Maribel has been a Union Organizer at United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 135 since 2011, and was elected by the executive board to be a Vice President on December 2017. She is responsible for improving the lives of the workers by informing them of their rights and helping them organize to achieve a collective bargaining agreement with their employer. Maribel grew up in southeast San Diego and is first generation American. You can find her on the front lines fighting for what is in the best interest of our union members.
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 Dr. LaWana Richmond, Board Director Dr. Richmond holds a Bachelors in Business Administration from SDSU, a Masters in Information Systems from National University, and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from UC San Diego/CSU San Marcos. She is dedicated to ensuring our young people have every opportunity for equitable learning, opportunity to learn of our communal past and opportunity to embrace who they are as individuals. Her passion for futurism, in general and Afrofuturism in particular, is driven by the times we live in; Times when the adversity and the opportunities it presents beckon us to rise above ourselves.
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 Denise Serrano, Board Director Ms. Serrano is an experienced policy advocate, community organizer, and fundraiser who is a product of a binational and multicultural border region. She is currently the Director of Public Affairs for UCSD where she is responsible for overseeing comprehensive advocacy and government relations. She previously worked at the San Diego LGBT Community Center and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties. |
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 Ashley L. Walker, Board Chair Emeritus Ms. Walker is a longtime resident of San Diego, who has dedicated her entire career to building community. Ms. Walker recently retired as the Executive Director of the City of San Diego’s Human Relations Commission, which is devoted to issues of equal opportunity, conflict resolution, violence prevention, multiculturalism and diversity. Prior to that position, she was an administrator at the YWCA for 13 years, where Ms. Walker pioneered programs and created resources to eradicate domestic violence. Currently, Ms. Walker serves on the board of the Family Justice Center Alliance, and the San Diego Domestic Violence Council. She previously served as a member of the Grants-making Committee of the San Diego Foundation for Change and the Gay and Lesbian Funding Partnership Committee of the San Diego Foundation, and as the Chair of the Board of the San Diego Women’s Repertory Theatre. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her unwavering commitment to social justice. |
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 David J. Miles, Ph.D., Board Chair Emeritus Dr. Miles moved to San Diego over 20 years ago as a post-doctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute. He soon joined Invitrogen Corporation where he managed key teams and departments, including technical support, quality assurance, manufacturing, contract research, and finally product marketing. He retired as a business unit director to attend the California School of Culinary Arts, and become a Cordon Bleu chef. He used this new training to work for Father Joe’s Villages in San Diego serving as the dedicated chef for the teen residents of the Toussant Academy. He has served on the board and as president of the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation. In addition to other volunteer work, he has most recently been a member of the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative Advisory Committee that helps raise and make grants to fill funding gaps for HIV/AIDS services in our county. |
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 Danell Scarborough, Ed.D, Board Chair Emeritus Danell was formerly the Executive Director of the San Diego Human Relations Commission-a Commission devoted to issues of equal opportunity and access, mutual respect, and inclusion. She was also the Executive Director for the City's Citizen's Review Board on Police Practice. Danell was appointed by the Mayor to support the Human Relations Commission in advocating for and advising the Mayor and City Council on social justice issues, conducting activities that foster mutual understanding and inclusion, and protecting basic human and civil rights. Danell is a trained and experienced mediator. For the past 20 years, Danell has led public sector organizations in organization development initiatives in the area of leadership, management and board develop development, diversity, strategic planning and community involvement process. She serves as President of the Board for the California Association of Human Relations Organizations (CAHRO) and on the board of Leadership California, a women’s leadership network.
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