I’m a member of a number of boards and commissions within the City of Phoenix. Formerly, I was the Chair of the Phoenix Citizen Transit Commission. Currently, I’m the Chair of the Phoenix Library Advisory Board, Chair of the Encanto Village Planning Committee, and Chair of the Greater Green Gables Neighborhood Association). My life is never dull or boring…

After law school, Mr. Fontes worked for the Denver DA’s Office prior to returning to Arizona to continue his prosecuting career with the Maricopa County Attorney and then the Arizona Attorney General. With the Arizona AG, he headed the Foreign Prosecution Unit in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of that office. Mr. Fontes left government service for private practice where he made his way from working in local Justice Courts, through Superior Courts and eventually to several cases before the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

Other positions included the Executive Director of the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness, Policy Analyst on Violence Against Women in Governor Napolitano’s Office of Children, Youth and Families, Division for Women, and Program Manager/State Homeless Coordinator at the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Allie took over the Coalition at a time of significant transition and has lead the organization through many changes, both internal and external, including an expansion to a dual coalition in 2013. Managing governance issues and internal staff health, as well public relations, have been central to her experiences in leadership.

Most recently she was the field director for the Arizona Wins table, a coalition of 22 organizations where she helped design and implement a legislative advocacy program for the 2017 session. As a community organizer, Anabel has worked for various issue based campaigns including Proposition 206 which increased the state’s minimum wage and gave over 1 million families paid sick time. She is an alumna of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute where she spent a year working on Capitol Hill advocating for her community and the New American Leaders Project which trains first and second generation Americans to run for political office.

In 2013 Angela and the ONE Community team launched the UNITY Pledge a concerted effort by Arizona businesses and individuals to advance workplace equality and equal treatment in housing and public accommodations for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals and their allies. Over 2,000 businesses and organizations and more than 10,000 Arizonans have taken the UNITY Pledge; the largest equality pledge in the nation. Ms. Hughey is also credited with the Multicultural Conversation with the Candidates, Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards and The State of LGBTQ Arizona collaborative report, which was released in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Antonio has spoken at The University of Arizona and Paradise Valley Community College. He has also consulted for Arizona Justice Project, and American Friends Service Committee of Tucson, Arizona.

He served in the Arizona House of Representatives for six years and was Chairman of the Environment Committee for four of those years. As Chairman, he sponsored numerous pieces of legislation protecting Arizona’s environment, including the state’s first recycling law, a law preventing Arizona from becoming the nation’s dumping ground for hazardous waste and a law protecting the Phoenix Mountain Preserves.

He also sponsored legislation protecting victims of domestic violence and legislation that increased the penalties for crimes against children. He served as a Commissioner on the Arizona Corporation Commission for nine years (1999 to 2009) and was also Chairman. In 2001, when he was Chairman, Arizona was one of the first states to enact a rule that required its utilities generate a percentage of their electricity from
renewable sources, such as solar and wind.

Bob also has served as Assistant to the President of the Arizona State Senate and Communications director at Arizona Department of Education. Further he was Communications Director for U.S. Congressman Bob Carr in Washington, D.C. Bob has won dozens of awards for his political campaign work and one video was credited with successfully pushing the defeat of 7 of 8 targeted U.S. senators. Bob continues his consulting practice as well as teaching college level communication’s courses.

Damian moved from Palm Springs Ca five years ago as a grassroots activist. Arizona is where he has started his family and home. When he is not spending time with his fiancee Sandra, their two dogs and cat; he serves as Democratic Precinct Committee Person for the Balsz Precinct, Democratic State Committee Representative for Legislative District 24, and Founder of White Hat Democrats. Damian is currently working on launching the ADP AAM initiatives in all 15 counties.

Dana started her career in Arizona in 1986 working on tax and budget issues for the Arizona state legislature. She earned her master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Darrell manages all incoming requests for legal assistance to the ACLU of Arizona. His casework includes a lawsuit challenging the City of Tucson and the Tucson Police Department’s failure to disclose information related to sophisticated surveillance systems known as StingRays.

Being a part of the Labor Movement in Arizona has been the most intense, proactive, and awe-inspiring movement I have been a part of. Seeing that women have a voice at their job, wages that matches that of a man, and ALL people are treated equally and fairly is what excites me about the Labor Movement. Equal Protection is what a Union contract attains. Being a part of MALF (Maricopa Area Labor Federation) has brought unity within all the Unions in the county, and throughout the state.

The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive, The United States Since 1980, Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot), and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer. His blog, ” Beat the Press,” provides commentary on economic reporting. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Since it’s opening in the Fall of 2013, the practice has provided services to women from various regions of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and has also served as a training location for Family Medicine residents and students of medicine, nurse practitioner, medical assisting, and pre-health from various regions of the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Taylor holds a Medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Master’s degree in Clinical and Biomedical Investigations from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Southern California.

She coordinated the group in Russia that drafted the first trafficking law and worked with the former head of the Constitutional Court in Kenya to create a manual to train prosecutors to prosecute cases of sexual violence against children. She is currently representing Roma IDPs in Kosovo against UNMIK and EULEX and a group of abused mothers and children at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the U.S.

Mrs. Manuel has dedicated 10+ years of her professional career working on empower the lives of families, youth and adult with Gila River Indian Community Employment & Training Department. With encouragement from her spouse Tecumseh and family Elisia received a Certificate form ASU Lodestar in Nonprofit Executive Leadership. In her free time, Elisia loves to spend time with her children, family and friends laughing and enjoying life spend precious time together.

After completing her Master of Divinity degree in Los Angeles, Erin was ordained to ministry as Pastor in Residence for the Faith-Rooted Organization, CLUE-LA (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice). Her role at CLUE was in organizing the interfaith community to support better working conditions for low wage workers, including carwasheros, hoteleras, and grocery workers. Rev. Tamayo returned to the Valley in 2013. She has served as an instructor at ASU and as the Phoenix Interfaith and Community Organizer for the OUR Walmart campaign. Most recently, Erin served as the Executive Director at Arizona Faith Network and oversaw the work of promoting peace and understanding through interfaith dialogue as well as fostering social transformation through collaborative interfaith action. One of Erin’s most favorite things is to bring together diverse peoples for a common mission such as living our faith through advocacy and collective action for justice.

Once involved in Scholarships A-Z as the School Outreach Coordinator and the Ambassador Program Coordinator, also served in the National Leadership Committee for United We Dream. Now on the board of Mariposas Sin Fronteras, Francisco advocates for LGBTQ folx in detention and out of detention by providing as much support as possible to avoid misrepresentation, and all sorts of discrimination.

Outside of the organizing world, Francisco enjoys meeting up with friends for game night, reading the works interesting and emerging authors, and enjoying family time, as well as challenging the on-going oppressors towards colored people.

Before joining Common Cause in September 2015, she was a field organizer with Change Corps, running campaigns with MoveOn.org, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Environment Arizona. Isabella has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Community and Regional Development from UC Davis.

Jay also coordinates and supports state communications strategy and represents Common Cause in coalitions on democracy reform. Jay’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, Reuters, USA Today, McClatchy, National Journal, Bloomberg News, Politico, The Hill, NPR, Al Jazeera America, The Atlantic, Salon, The Huffington Post, US News & World Report, Vox.com, VICE, Moyers & Company, Inside Climate News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Indianapolis Star, The Madison Cap Times, The Patriot-News, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and The Topeka Capital-Journal.

An Arizona native, Jevin is adept at working with community leaders and elected officials, primarily focusing on how to increase civic engagement among all Arizonans. Professionally, Jevin serves as the National Engagement Coordinator for LINK Strategic Partners. LINK Strategic Partners is a national strategic communications and stakeholder engagement firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. Civically, he serves as the Vice – Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, Chairman of Board of Directors for Booker T. Washington Child Development Center in Phoenix, AZ, and member of the Board of Directors for the Tempe Union High School Education Foundation, in Tempe, AZ.

The chapter’s national influence on the organization has recently been recognized by the announcement they are holding their next convention in PHX AZ in August of 2018. Jim currently also serves as an active member of the Executive Council of the AZ AFL-CIO where he has recently been appointed finance chair. He also serves as an active delegate of Maricopa Area Labor Federation. Jim was recently elected secretary to the TWU International Tri-State Conference where he helps vett PAC disbursements to federal labor friendly electoral candidates. Jim was also recently accepted as a fellow into the “Leading for Change” program and has begun the 8 month leadership development training program with diverse instructors including Representative Kyrsten Sinema.

Liggett brings an unusual breadth of experience and knowledge to her work. She most recently served as senior policy advisor for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton where she was instrumental in two of Phoenix’s most significant achievements: housing every chronically homeless veteran- the first city in the nation to do so, and the passage of Phoenix’s equal pay ordinance. She has a continuing role in Phoenix as chair of the Phoenix Women’s Commission.

Joe spent 15 years working in extremely difficult and dangerous environments managing inmates and Officers. He has worked with male, female, and juvenile inmates; gang members, death row inmates, psych ward, trustees, inmate work crews. While assigned to various prison complexes around the state, he was also an avid labor advocate volunteering in a leadership position for a law enforcement labor union.

John is an advocate for those in need. John believes that a strong constitution defends the defenseless and is a safeguard of progressive freedom.”

In 2008 she became the Vice-President until March of 2017, when she was unanimously endorsed by The Executive Board to serve as the Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 104. Karla has served on the IBT/UPS National Negotiating Committee for 2002, 2007, and 2012, as well as the Western Region Supplemental Negotiating Committee, Southwest Package and Sort Rider Negotiating Committee. She is a Trustee on the Teamsters Joint Council No. 3 Executive Board, Trustee on the AZ-AFL-CIO Executive Council, and serves as a Trustee on the Western Region 177 Healthcare Fund as a Trustee. She also is a Trustee on the Arizona Laborers/Teamsters Trust Fund.

She enjoys community work in her neighborhood and downtown Phoenix where she helped to paint abandoned houses, plant trees and create a butterfly garden. She works tirelessly to remind people that democracy is not a spectator sport and everyone has an obligation to register to vote if they can, educate themselves, and VOTE EACH AND EVERY ELECTION.

Advocacy has to power to change the world; and any issue can be transformed by the people who live that experience and share their stories. Learning to advocate for oneself is one of the cornerstones of freedom in our democracy; and can be a liberating journey. It’s also a journey of allies and solidarity; the kinship of advocacy is what will ultimately change the world.

She is currently at work on a research project reading 5th century Athenian representations of Helen of Troy through the lens of contemporary feminist concerns about sexual violence, agency, and the discourses of patriarchy. Dr. King teaches the Human Event as well as upper division honors courses on classical drama and feminist theory, among others. In the Summer of 2016 Dr. King taught a Barrett honors study abroad class in Paris, Brussels, and Berlin which focused on national identity, materialization and the politics of colonialism and immigration. She has two large and unruly dogs.

Prior to that, LaShanda cultivated and provided stewardship for members and major donors as the Membership and Major Gifts
Coordinator at the Public Justice Foundation. She began her nonprofit career with the Library of Congress, primarily raising capital campaign funds for the Capital Visitors Center and sponsorship funding for the National Book Festival.

LaShanda holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies from the University of Maryland.

Where she spent four years focusing on K-12 education, pensions, banking and insurance issues. Her time at the Arizona House of Representatives allowed her to develop expertise on the issues and gave her great insight on the complexities of the legislative process. In this role, she was responsible for policy development, legislative research, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement. Lourdes was recently nominated by the Arizona Capitol Times for the 2016 Best Capitol Staffer award.

Working within immigrant, migrant, and indigenous communities, she strives to bridge migrant indigenous identity as relatives and original descendants of Abya Yala (‘The Americas’) through her organizing and mobilization. She is a part of the Indigenous People Power Project, which focuses on building the skill and support within indigenous communities. Locally in AZ, Máxima has been engaged in multiple social issue and electoral campaigns, which include: the historical recall election of Russell Pearce, Operation Butterfly, Stop the Bus ICE, and most recently taking Arpaio out of office in the 2016 election- an overall advocacy with and for ‘undocumented’ community.

She believes that Arizona politics is as easy to follow as Game of Thrones or fantasy football, and better than any soap opera. Melinda is also a founding member of Save Our Schools Arizona.

This lead him to Travel to Arizona State University to pursue a graduate degree. While in Arizona he was introduced to organizing through the death of Michael Brown Jr. Worried about the safety of his family he decided to get involved. He split his time between pursuing his Master’s degree and learning the hard skills of organizing. He is passionate about representation in the halls of decision making and he thinks it’s imperative that we take an active role in engaging in the communities in which we live.

Since then, Monica has become involved with the education section of Stronger Together-AZ and has become a precinct committeeperson for the Democratic party.

Monica has worked as both a teacher and school administrator serving students across all grade levels.
Monica is a Senior Program Coordinator at ASU. In this role, she works in the office of Entrepreneurship + Innovation focusing on K-12 education initiatives. She has worked with Title I high schools in New York, Boston, Baton Rouge, Chicago, and Arizona to help students make their ideas a reality. She has also worked as a policy advisor fellow for State Rep. Bolding. Monica was elected last November to serve as a school board member for the Tempe Elementary School District. Monica is a passionate educator and advocate who is committed to fighting for educational equity for all students in Arizona.

Morgan continues to find herself empowered to change her community after teaching overseas, an endeavor that allowed her to travel the world and experience a multitude of other cultures.

It is during her work with youth that Naketa realized the gap in services provided for youth leaving foster care ages 15-21. This inspired her to start a non-profit to fill the void left my legislators and organizations. Naketa is a proud military mom and as well as a mother of a child with special needs.

Yearning for movement building, she joined her brothers and sisters in the immigrant rights movement in Arizona. For the past year, she has been volunteering with Puente, who has been on the front lines of immigration justice for the past decade, not only in Arizona, but also nationally. In 2016, Parris was an Organizer on the historic Bazta Arpaio Campaign to unseat Sheriff Joe Arpaio, which focused on reaching disenfranchised poor and working class voters of color. Aside from door-to-door engagement, she spent many days in classrooms, talking with students and building relationships.

Spearman became the first openly lesbian member of the Nevada Legislature. She was re-elected in November 2016, and serves as co-majority whip since. Regarded as one of the most liberal members of the Nevada Senate, Spearman has introduced bills that provide equal pay for women, support LGBT rights, and support veterans. Moreover, she was involved in the process of establishing the Nevada Revenue Plan during the 2015 session and was instrumental in the passage of Equal Rights Amendment in Nevada in March 2017.

Prior to earning his doctorate in 1991, Hirt worked extensively as an environmental activist and organizer in Tucson. While serving as a university professor, Hirt continues in his private time to advocate for environmental responsibility and social justice.

An optimist, she is also a nature lover who loves change and butterflies. She is the mother of two nine year old girls who fill her life with joy, laughter and insanity. And she feels fortunate to be the wife of a humble, amazing, intelligent, easy-going, loving man who can fix almost anything and supports all of her wild ideas and interests.

He’s spoken nationally addressing issues including race power and privilege, among many other issues. Mr. Crews’ work in equity has been featured by The Collective Impact Forum, Living Cities, and the Stanford University Social Innovation Review among other spaces. Currently he serves as the interim convener to Cultivate South Phoenix (CUSP), a coalition working to create health equity in South Phoenix, and serves on Sheriff Paul Penzone’s African American Advisory Board for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Crews is an Alliance Fellow with Vitalyst Health Foundation, as well as a Strive Together National Equity Education Fellow working to create equity in education in communities across the United States, and was recently recognized as being among the Top 40 Diverse Leaders Under 40 by the Young Professionals of the Greater Phoenix Urban League

She studied at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and graduated in 2011 from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences earning a Bachelor of Arts in African & African American Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Ms. Banks went on to complete her Masters in Social Work at the University of Houston, in Houston, Texas.

He joined State Farm Insurance right out of college and currently is a Sales Manager for the company. He received his BA in Economics from Denison University and attended graduate school at The Ohio State University. Outside of work, Sadi has served as President of OCA- Asian American Pacific Islander Advocates in Phoenix; Chairman of Adopt-a-School and Diversity and Inclusion Council in Newark, Ohio; Counselor of
Business Week in Colorado and Ohio; a member of McLean Leadership in Bloomington, Illinois; participant of Project All in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Sadi enjoys outdoor activities and is an avid cyclist and traveler. He has visited 4 continents and plans to set foot on the others soon. Sadi is passionate about education and the arts. He believes education is the ticket to freedom and opportunity and arts speak to the soul about our ideals and values.

She has worked actively on environmental protection issues in Arizona for the past twenty-seven years, both as a volunteer and as staff for various organizations. Sandy monitors and advocates on environmental matters at the Arizona legislature and state and federal agencies. She recently received the 2016 Scrapping Bear Award from the Arizona Chapter of the Wildlife Society for her advocacy work relative to wildlife and the Arizona Interfaith Power and Light 2017 SAGE award. Sandy has an associates in applied science in civil engineering, a bachelors in environmental studies, and just completed a masters in legal studies.

Sarah is the proud wife of Mark Richardson, the Executive Director of The Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts and the mother to three wonderful children. She now spends her free time advocating for the teachers and students in Arizona, and working to improve the public education system in our state.

In 2010, Sara graduated Arizona State University in political science, and with her experience in nonprofit management, she strives to bridge the divide between the elected officials and their constituents.

He currently serves as the Vice President for the Foundation for Service Dog Support, and achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Northern Arizona University.

Prior to Gen Next, he worked to steward effective philanthropists and strengthen social enterprises at the venture philanthropy firm, Social Venture Partners Arizona. A Phoenix native, Mr. Minor continued his education in the Midwest and is an alumnus of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he studied English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. He is also a member of Class IV of the American Express Leadership Academy through the Arizona State University Lodestar Center for Nonprofit Innovation.

In 2008 Shannon was selected as a Co-chair for the Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus, holding the seat for two consecutive years. Shannon has conducted and hosted lectures on the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the State Capital of Arizona and for Arizona State University (ASU) and numerous local colleges in Arizona and California. He has participated in political and social justice actions in North, Central and South America. During his time as Co-chair Shannon was instrumental in assisting the implementation of the United Nation Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Additionally, Shannon played a crucial role in assisting two local Arizona Indigenous Nations in adopting the UNDRIP into their constitutions (Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community). Currently, Mr. Rivers is a Native American Traditional/Cultural Advisor to the Indigenous inmate populations at the County, State and Federal Prison(s) and Jails in Arizona.

She holds a Ph.D. in literature and rhetorical studies, with which she teaches and publishes on women’s literature, poetics, and public discourse. She is the mother of two school-aged children and is a strong advocate for public education.

Currently, Siman serves as the director of health policy at Children’s Action Alliance, an advocacy organization focused on the health, education, and security of Arizona’s children. Siman’s career has taken her all over the world, from working in international policy in Washington, D.C. to Nassau, Bahamas as a director of health and safety for a large private company. Siman earned her bachelor’s degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

Her work has looked at the justice issues emerging from climate change both internationally and domestically. Since 2009 she has been an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

My parents were part of the cast of the labor film classic, “Salt of the Earth”. I became a copper miner in Southern Arizona in 1974 and was elected to the executive board of United Steelworkers of America, Local 6912. On strike in 1983 along with the strikers against Phelps-Dodge, for three years.

She dedicates her time both within Planned Parenthood and beyond to connecting with people, communicating about pressing issues, and catalyzing action like picking up a pen, the phone, a megaphone, or a picket sign. With an art history degree by way of a Philly college, Tayler brings a curator’s eye and gritty spunk to her communications approach. Find her on social media, on a downtown Phoenix dancefloor, or at brunch. She’s always up for coffee which she prefers like her “lives matter”, Black.

Terry has written and spoken about Southwestern law enforcement and election integrity issues. He is a shareholder at Goddard Law Office PLC and involved in the restoration of an historic church in downtown Phoenix as a mixed-use community center.

Usama is a Professional Engineer and holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MS degree in Nuclear and Energy Engineering, both from the University of Arizona. Usama has over 25 years of college teaching experience and has several published technical papers. Usama is married and has two sons and one daughter.

He still actively represents political defendants. He serves on the board of Radio Phoenix, an all volunteer internet radio station, and teaches English to teachers of English in other countries in the summer.

He not only brings his experience as a mental health professional to his role on the board, but Wade also brings a background in research design and analysis to bear on issues that affect the Latino and migrant communities.

With his strong passion for the broken and oppressed to find redemption through Jesus, Remnant South Phoenix was strategically planted to see the renewal of this community through a gospel-centered and intercultural-church. He is grateful for his beautiful wife and partner in ministry Chrystal and their three gifted children.

Prior to joining the ACLU, Will worked with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, serving first as a public policy advocate, lobbying on a broad range of policy issues ranging from sexual and domestic violence to reproductive rights, LGBT rights and poverty issues, and most recently served as the organization’s staff attorney, where he continued to promote the organization’s domestic relations agenda down at the Arizona Capitol.

Through these mediums, Zaira advocates for an end to repressive policies which put corporate profit before human need including: a just and humane immigration reform, an end to mass criminalization of immigrants and people of color, an end to border and police militarization, a national living wage, universal healthcare, and a strong and equitable public education system.

During her time at the CCC, she called for President Barack Obama to ban questions about job seeker conviction history in federal employee contractor applications. In 2015. Zulema has worked on social justice issues such as immigration reform, workers rights and restoring voting rights.