NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 1
MEET THE JOURNALISTS BEHIND CHANGE MAKERS The Sacramento Bee newsroom — led by editors Lauren Chapman and Allison Gibson — produced this year’s Change Makers coverage. Honorees are organized by alphabetical order in this magazine. Contributing journalists included:
The Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Programs’ mission is to change the world for the better by developing a network of empowered, diverse leaders with the skills and passion for leading and for achieving catalytic change within their organizations, communities, and lives. NELP’s 2025 Impact Report highlights what’s possible when programs are specifically designed to prepare individuals for civic involvement and equip them with valuable leadership and problem-solving skills for use in their workplaces and communities. Download the report at SacramentoChangeMakers.com/ report.
Bee Staff Cathie Anderson, Economic Mobility & Editorial Writer Nicole Buss, Roseville/Placer County Watchdog Reporter Lauren Chapman, California Politics Editor Chaewon Chung, Education Reporter Camryn Dadey, Elk Grove/Rancho Cordova Watchdog Reporter Allison Gibson, Service Journalism & Consumer Editor Anne Ewbank, Service Journalism and Food Reporter Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado, Service Journalism Reporter Emma Hall, Retail/Breaking Business Reporter Lizzie Kane, Farm-to-Fork & Agriculture Reporter Tarini Mehta, Higher Education Reporter William Melhado, former California State Worker Reporter Annika Merrilees, Business Reporter Jennah Pendleton, Sacramento City Reporter Hannah Ruhoff, Assistant Visuals Editor Corey Schmidt, California State Worker Reporter Don Sweeney, Service Journalism Reporter Audience Engagement Samantha Sullivan, California Engagement & Retention Editor Kiara Adams, Local Engagement & Retention Reporter Kat Tran, Local Engagement & Retention Reporter Journalism Interns Tania Azhang , Vince Basada, Sean Campbell, Reeti Malhotra, Velvet Wu All original Change Makers stories and portraits are at SacramentoChangeMakers.com; click on “Read the Stories.” The illustrations in this magazine are based on original photographs taken by The Sacramento Bee Visuals Team, and an Artificial Intelligence tool was used to build the watercolor treatments. McClatchy Media’s AI policy reads in part “in a digital illustration where the central imagery (the center of interest) is entirely AI-generated, we will disclose the methodology or specify what parts were created by AI and what was not. This commitment to transparency will be maintained for any type of AI content generation, as we continue to adhere to journalistic editing processes.” The full policy is at SacBee.com. We appreciate your support of Change Makers, and encourage you to support us all year long by going to sacbee.com/subscribe. Chris Fusco, Executive Editor, The Sacramento Bee
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1601 Alhambra Blvd, Suite 100 Sacramento, CA 95816 sacbee.com 916-321-1000 Executive Editor Chris Fusco Managing Editor Scott Lebar Project Editors Lauren Chapman Allison Gibson Director of Community Outreach Marcos Bretón For McClatchy Media Janet Santostefano mcclatchy.com
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A Message from Scott Syphax
On behalf of the Nehemiah Leaders Programs and The Sacramento Bee, it is my honor to welcome you to this year’s celebration of the Sacramento region’s Change Makers. To every honoree named in these pages: congratulations. You represent the very best of who we are as a community — the leaders, builders, and quiet forces who see what our region can become and dedicate themselves to making it so. Your work does not always seek the spotlight, but its impact is felt in every neighborhood, boardroom, classroom, and community it touches. Tonight, we shine that light where it belongs — on you. This celebration is made possible by a partnership we treasure: the collaboration between Nehemiah Leaders Programs and The Sacramento Bee. For generations, The Bee has told the story of this region with clarity and conviction. At Nehemiah, we have spent more than a decade and a half developing the leaders who will write its next chapters. Together, we share a conviction that leadership matters, that recognition inspires, and that a community grows stronger when it celebrates its own. It is a privilege to stand alongside The Bee in lifting up these extraordinary individuals. To our honorees, our partners, and everyone gathered in these pages: thank you for the leadership you show and the future you are building. Our region’s story is brighter because of you. With admiration and gratitude, Scott C. Syphax Board Chair, Nehemiah Leaders Programs
© 2026 The Sacramento Bee and NERUS Strategies, LLC. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, republished, transmitted, displayed or otherwise used, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, without the prior express written permission of The Sacramento Bee and NERUS Strategies, LLC. This publication was produced by The Sacramento Bee News Department. All original editorial content was created by The Sacramento Bee. Artificial intelligence tools were used in the editing, modification and presentation of certain original materials. For questions or comments regarding the contest or this publication, please visit SacramentoChangeMakers.com/support.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 1
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Wendy Aguilar
DIRECTOR OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, SACRAMENTO STATE
Wendy Aguilar knows the value of a good story. • • • Soon after immigrating from Guatemala at 10, Aguilar saw the importance of up-todate news during the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. That inspired her to pursue journalism and work for a few years as a broadcast reporter — including in Sacramento. Eventually, she pivoted to public relations for government agencies. “I never imagined that I would end up here, but now that I’m here, it’s such a wonderful career,” said Aguilar. As Sacramento Fire’s former media and communications specialist, she was responsible for growing Sacramento Fire’s social media accounts. Her digital
Aguilar won several accolades for her work and was
strategy relied on people-focused content that highlighted
consulted by other agencies on their social media strategy.
those behind the uniform, from videos that spotlighted
Last year, she joined the board of directors of nonprofit
firefighters’ backgrounds to a series on cooking team
Frontline First, which provides trauma counseling and
lunches.
recovery services to first responders.
Her approach worked. Sacramento Fire’s Instagram
Aguilar was recently named director of media and
and TikTok accounts added more than 140,000 followers
public relations at Sacramento State, a role she took over as
each in the past few years. Some of her videos had millions
of Sept. 14.
of views. Aguilar was told by fire academy recruits that her social media content helped bring them into the profession. “It’s been amazing to see the growth that these accounts have had,” said Aguilar. “But most importantly, what I take pride in is people and making people feel seen.”
She also helps mentor young PR professionals through the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, with a focus on uplifting first-generation students like herself. “Once you get to these places that I’m in now, my role is to help other people get there as well,” said Aguilar.
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Tak Allen
PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY RESOURCE EDUCATION (CRE) PATHWAYS
Tak Allen was always taught to give back to her community. Allen grew up in Sacramento as one of seven children, but when her father developed a drug addiction, she said the community wasn’t there for her family. • • • “I remember watching my parents overcome all these things that really affected our lives in a way that makes absolutely no sense,” Allen said through interpreter Lorie Sims. “And to come back from something that people don’t come back from, and to rebuild and restructure.” So as an adult and a mother of five, Allen has made it her mission to change the way a community responds to young people in need, both through her work as president of the nonprofit Community, Resource, Education Pathways and as California Democratic Party Black Caucus parliamentarian, advising its members on rules of order and
As a Deaf person, Allen is also well aware of how many obstacles Deaf children face in Sacramento.
bylaws. CRE Pathways tries to help youth in Sacramento
“If you think youth have it bad in that city, be a deaf
get a foothold in public service and industry careers. Allen
child, right? Or be a deaf Black child, or be deaf trans, be
recalls one young woman who got a full time job at La
deaf anything,” she said.
Familia Counseling Center, a counseling and outreach agency for high-risk youth, after spending a year with CRE Pathways. “I have just so many moments where we cry with
But no amount of nonprofit organizing can make change without looking at issues systemically. “It’s mostly just running into those systemically designed barriers where we’re like, oh, they fell through the
them. But then those celebrations at the end we get to have?
crack. Nope, nope. We created a canyon and pushed them
That’s my favorite part,” Allen said.
in it,” Allen said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 3
• • • Cultural practice is in Almendariz’s lineage.
Long before Sacramento became a city, generations of Diana Almendariz’s ancestors were caring for the land beneath it.
She was born and raised in Sacramento. For generations, Almendariz’s family has been tending to the land and their community. Her childhood was filled with her family bringing home live salmon caught in Sacramento and her grandfather working on a ranch. When she got older, Almendariz’s grandmother, a long-time cultural practitioner, told her: “It’s time for you to do the real work.” That work would be taking care of her ancestral lands.
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Diana Almendariz CULTURAL BURN PRACTITIONER & INDIGENOUS EDUCATOR
Almendariz is Maidu, Nisenan and
“We take them out and do work on the land,”
Wintun, tribes which are all Indigenous to the
Almendariz said. “The work is gathering, tending and
Sacramento region. She is also Hupa, Yurok,
burning.”
Cherokee and Apache, she said. Today, Almendariz serves as a cultural
Almendariz works with Cal Fire on fire education, explaining the difference between cultural burning and
burn practitioner and traditional Indigenous
prescribed burns. That fire is not something to fear.
educator in the Sacramento area. She’s served
Almendariz also organizes Leok Po, a prescribed burn
the region for more than 30 years.
workshop for local fire agencies, including Cal Fire, Yolo
As shet started shadowing her
County and multiple tribal fire departments.
grandmother, Almendariz became fascinated by
Every day, she said her work is what drives her. It’s
gathering milkweed, acorns, different types of fish
what gets her up in the morning. To teach others that not
— all flora and fauna native to Sacramento.
only is fire good for the land, but that it directly helps the
“(I would write) where were the best places to go catch, and that’s kind of how it led me into it,”
region’s ecosystem. “It is something that really motivates me and gets
Almendariz said. “It changed my whole life, just to be that
me up,” Almendariz said, “(It’s about) going and doing these
and write about that.”
things, talking to people, making the calls and connections.”
Her work has taken her to multiple places in Sacramento. Almendariz first started working with the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael, leading a field day
For her, everything she does is cultural preservation, she said. “Our people and our languages weren’t based for
program. While she worked for Cache Creek Conservancy
living inside the house or going to school,” Almendariz said.
in 2004, she led an initiative to raise two acres of plants
“Our language is based on stewardship of the land.”
Indigenous to Yolo County. Almendariz said it was continuing her grandmother’s legacy. She also co-founded YoloSol, a group focused on civic engagement and environmental issues in Yolo County. With the University of California, Davis, Almendariz teaches college students about cultural burning in a higher division class known as “Keepers of the Flame,” along with the university’s faculty.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 5
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
lora anguay
SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT CEO & GENERAL MANAGER
For Lora Anguay, the transition to a cleaner energy future is not a distant goal — it’s today’s work. Under her leadership, SMUD has expanded • • •
renewable energy resources, invested in large-scale battery
As CEO and general manager for Sacramento
storage and strengthened grid reliability. Projects such as the
Municipal Utility District, Anguay has helped reshape
Hedge Solar Farm battery storage pilot have demonstrated
how the Sacramento region generates, stores and delivers
how emerging technologies can support a cleaner and more
electricity. Her leadership has been central to SMUD’s goal
resilient energy system. She has also championed smart
of eliminating carbon emissions from its power supply
meters, grid automation and advanced energy management
by 2030.
tools that improve efficiency and reliability.
Anguay oversaw more than $500 million in annual
The benefits extend beyond the power grid.
operations, including energy resource planning, power
Anguay’s work supports efforts to improve air quality,
generation, research and development, strategic partnerships
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build a more
and customer programs. Her work has played a key role in
sustainable future across the Sacramento region. She has
SMUD’s shift toward renewable energy and
also emphasized energy equity to ensure more customers
grid modernization.
benefit from the clean-energy transition.
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Anguay credits much of her success to the people around her. She says she is most proud of the relationships she has built during her two decades at SMUD. “If you think about change, not everyone likes change, and so it’s a hard thing to implement,” Anguay said. “But to have implemented change within SMUD over the Anguay said the work being done today will help
last 20 years and still have really good working relationships
future generations experience cleaner air and lessen the
across the company, I think it speaks volumes to how things
impacts of climate change.
have gotten done.”
“I also think that within the Sacramento region
Outside the utility, she serves on the Sacramento
we have an opportunity of leveraging this transition to
State Foundation Board of Directors, the Roseville Area
create jobs and to attract businesses within the clean energy
Chamber of Commerce and advisory groups including
space,” Anguay said. “I do hope that it strengthens our local
the Electric Power Research Institute Research Advisory
economy, not just from the clean-air perspective but also
Committee and the UC Davis Energy and Efficiency
through economic development.”
Institute Board of Advisors.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 7
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
’
GERMAN AYON
CASE MANAGER / PROGRAM DEVELOPER, AGENCY ON AGING AREA 4
When Germán Ayon was 7 years old, he was already challenging doctors. • • • His grandmother, Paula Casillas, knew something was wrong with her pacemaker. Her doctor didn’t immediately recognize the problem. Ayon, who translated his grandmother’s Spanish to English, refused to let the issue go. Doctors took another look. His grandmother was right. She needed surgery. That early lesson — that people are too often unheard until someone advocates for them — became the foundation of Ayon’s career. Now 29, the first-generation Mexican American and first in his family to graduate from college oversees case management and program development for Agency on Aging Area 4. He helps older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers across a seven-county region remain safely in their homes. His philosophy is simple: People seeking help should help define the solution. Under Ayon’s leadership, staff don’t simply hand callers a phone number. They stay on three-way calls, follow up and adjust plans as circumstances change. The Sacramento State graduate also brought the Care for Caregivers program to the region, providing
His influence extends beyond his agency. He led development of the Yuba-Sutter Local Aging and Disability Action Plan and, as accessibility lead for Sacramento Pride, helped add wheelchair ramps, mobility equipment, accessible seating and American Sign Language interpreters. Despite his growing resume, Ayon measures success differently. “The greatest impact,” he said, “is helping people feel seen and supported.”
personalized coaching, educational resources and one-on-
It’s a philosophy rooted in advocating for one
one support. As someone who helps care for his mother
grandmother and now shapes programs helping thousands
and an aunt with dementia, Ayon understands the strain
of Californians age with greater dignity, independence
caregivers shoulder.
and hope.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 9
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Angie Balderas
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS
As a child, Angie Balderas’s days were ruled by a single Spanish radio station. • • • Balderas said at the time there was only one Spanish radio station in her hometown of Lincoln and the DJs could play whatever they wanted. One particular DJ played the same songs at the same time everyday. Soon Balderas associated certain songs with her daily routine, particularly Antonio Aguilar songs. It was this exposure to radio that sparked her love and passion for media and advocacy for her Latino community. Balderas is the senior vice president and general manager at Entravision Communications, a Hispanic marketing agency. Her expertise lies in creating and executing marketing campaigns and events for the Latino community. For her, this work shines a light on an often overlooked
Balderas seeks to do all she can to close the
community and holds companies accountable on where they
disparities she sees in the Latino community and provide
invest their money.
impactful guidance to young Latinas. She is involved in
“When you’re doing what I do, you see the disparity of investment,” Balderas said. “Companies like Safeway and Raley’s spend thousands and thousands in advertising
Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, and is a board director for the Girl Scouts of Northern California. In all her roles, Balderas said she seeks to encourage
and yet they don’t advertise to the Latino market. … It’s
confidence in the women and girls around her like so many
important to invest, but it’s also important to invest and
had throughout her career.
hold accountable those who can invest like those people who benefit and profit from our community.”
“When somebody opens the door for you, you have to have the guts to walk through it.”
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Leticia “tish” becerra PARTNER, DEVEAU BURR GROUP
Community service is a family affair for Tish Becerra. Her grandfather, a Sacramento native, instilled in her early the importance of public service and a deep appreciation for their city. •
•
•
“I am such a die-hard Sacramentan. I am pretty aggressively in love with my city,” said Becerra. When she was a young single mother, Becerra found a job working in the state Legislature and found a sense of purpose in politics. She quickly began working behind-thescenes in policy, later rising to the role of chief of staff. “Between acts of service and our political process and policy process, you can change the world,” said Becerra. During her 20 years at the Capitol, Becerra saw a lack of institutional support and opportunity for women of color like herself. Looking to change that in the wake of the #MeToo movement, she founded the Capitol Women’s Mentoring Group and helped connect early-career staffers to female leaders. “There is a pathway for success and supporting networks for men in politics. That same structure had and has not existed for women of color,” said Becerra. Though she has left the public sector and now works in contract lobbying, Becerra still finds ways to elevate diversity in the halls of the Capitol. She’s co-founder Now, Becerra is getting ready to become a first-time
and vice president of Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) on K, which helps provide networking
grandmother and hopes to pass on the family’s focus on
and leadership training opportunities for women of color
service.
in the legislature. She also helped revitalize the bipartisan
“If we are not serving our communities, our
Legislative All-Star Charity Softball Game, which has raised
strangers, our family and friends, our neighbors, then I
over $300,000 for local charities.
don’t know what else there is,” Becerra said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 11
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
tristan buzzini
COMMISSIONER ON THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMMISSION OF ELK GROVE GENDER AFFIRMING CARE PROVIDER, PSYCHOLOGIST
Growing up in Hawaii, Tristan Buzzini’s family returned to California, where he embraced his queer identity. • • • Buzzini knows on a “cellular level” what it feels like to be discriminated against for who you are. The Elk Grove community leader leverages his experience as a transgender man to better serve others and some of California’s most vulnerable residents. Buzzini, president of the Sacramento Valley Psychological Association and a psychologist in California’s prison system, has advocated for policies and programs that take a more humane approach toward incarcerated people. “My own lived experience as a transgender person, and the visibility of that amongst these systems, gives people this really interesting kind of layer of positive association,” Buzzini said of training correctional staff on the appropriate use of names and pronouns. After growing up in Hawaii, Buzzini’s family returned to California, where he embraced his queer identity. When he was asked to leave home as a high school
He later spearheaded the push for the Respect
junior, a caring adult involved with the Silicon Valley
After Name Change Act, which allows licensed California
Children’s Fund took him in and helped him graduate.
professionals to request that former names no longer used
At San Francisco State University, Buzzini helped develop a mentorship program for youth leaving the juvenile
be hidden from public references. Closer to home, Buzzini serves as Elk Grove’s
justice system, providing the kind of supportive relationships
Diversity and Inclusion Commissioner, supporting events
that had made a difference in his own life.
celebrating the city’s growing diversity.
His advocacy has since expanded. Buzzini
Buzzini said a common thread connects his work.
successfully lobbied for the Transgender Respect, Agency,
“We all want to feel loved and safe and seen and
and Dignity Act, which allows incarcerated people to be
supported,” he said. “Being a healing presence for others
housed in facilities matching their gender identity.
right now is more important than ever.”
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Margarita Berta-ÁåA´vila
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, SACRAMENTO STATE & CALIFORNIA FACULTY ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
Margarita Berta-Ávila was a first grader when a teacher at her Los Angeles school said she’d fail if her mother continued speaking Spanish to her. School, for her, became a place that was teaching her to hate her identity. •
•
•
The Sacramento State professor and California Faculty Association president makes it a point now to wear a piece of clothing or jewelry every day that represents her Chicana heritage. The walls in her office are plastered with posters that proudly proclaim her pro-immigrant stance. Berta-Ávila took a difficult childhood experience and turned it into her life’s mission. “I chose to teach, not just because I cared for students, but because I saw teaching as a political act,” she said. “It was a way to disrupt the norm in schools.” Berta-Ávila taught grades 3-12 before she joined Sacramento State in 2001 to expand her reach. Here, she trains the teachers of tomorrow to work with students of color. Her work didn’t end at the close of the school day. After hours, Berta-Ávila actively organized as a member of the 29,000-strong CFA that represents professors,
Now, for fellow CSU faculty, she guides the vision
counselors and coaches across California State University’s
for a more just public education system by advocating at the
23 campuses.
State Capitol, Board of Trustees meetings and individual
Her goal in and out of the classroom remained the
campuses.
same: access and equity. After years of fighting on the ground for fair
Community organizing is her way of life, Berta-Ávila said, and it always will be.
working conditions for faculty and quality education for
“She doesn’t just advocate for change,” her former
students, last year, Berta-Ávila was the first Chicana woman
student Michael Lee-Chang noted. “She organizes people to
to be elected CFA president.
win it.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 13
JaNay Brown-Wood has published 32 books and counting. It’s an impressive body of work for any author — not to mention one who once disliked reading.
• • • “I’m not saying I’m proud of this,” Brown-Wood explained with a chuckle on a recent morning in her home office. “But this is my history.” As a child, even though she found herself skimming her required reading assignments, she showed an early affinity for language and storytelling. Brown-Wood wrote and illustrated a children’s book in sixth grade, and at the end of the year, her teacher predicted she would grow up to become a best-selling author.
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
JaNay Brown-Wood SPEAKER, AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR
As an adult, Brown-Wood has come to understand
Brown-Wood’s characters learn and overcome
her childhood aversion in a new light. She realized she didn’t
obstacles. Their lives, identities and families reflect the
have books, growing up, that reminded her of herself or her
diversity of real-world children. But, she said, “if you look at
family. Diverse characters made infrequent appearances, their storylines often tied to hardship rather than joy. “Every child should be able to find themselves in the pages of a book, in authentic and validating ways,” Brown-Wood said. In 2014, she published “Imani’s Moon,” a book about a Maasai girl who was teased for being small and longed to jump high enough to touch
the bulk of my books, it’s about joy.” “I want kids to be able to pick up a book that reminds them of them, that shows a character that looks like them or has a similar background as them, overcoming obstacles. Hopefully that will pull them into the world of literacy,” she said. “It’s family, and joy, and love, and community. But also some empowerment.” At her readings, she’s animated and engaging —
the moon. When the first copy arrived at the
modeling to parents how storytime can be fun for kids,
apartment in Roseville where Brown-Wood
and create positive associations with reading. Brown-Wood
lived at the time, she asked the delivery
offers workshops and presentations for parents, teachers and
worker to take photos of her opening the
librarians where she discusses literacy and diverse books. She
package.
has a free video series online called “Jammies with JaNay,”
“I just remember feeling like, ‘I did it. I finally, after so long, made this happen,’” she said. “Imani’s Moon” received a Children’s Book of the Year Award from the National Association
where she starts reading a book interactively, then gives parents prompts and resources to support discussions with their children. She’s a former board president for 916 Ink. Brown-Wood wants to keep writing and to expand
of Elementary School Principals, and a plug from Stephen
her work in childhood literacy. But she’s also exploring other
Colbert on The Late Show. Brown-Wood’s editor bought
forms of storytelling. She’s learning about screenwriting,
a second book from her, and a third — “Grandma’s Tiny
and thinks about the possibility of having her own show.
House” and “Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep.”
Her sister, Erin Brown, is a speculative fiction writer and she
Brown-Wood — who studied psychology as an
wonders if they could collaborate on a project in the future.
undergraduate and child development as a postgraduate
“I aspire to do some of the things she can do,”
student — continued teaching full time and working on her
Brown-Wood said. “I really want to see what we’re going to
doctorate in education. Then her children’s books took off.
end up doing together.”
She received more contracts, and published more.
“So, big goals,” she said. “But why not?”
Eventually she realized she couldn’t be at office hours at Folsom Lake College and at book events across the country at the same time. So she left her day job and became a fulltime author.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 15
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Yating Campbell
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS
Yating Campbell grew up in a military family, and landed in the Sacramento area after she enrolled in UC Davis. • • • After graduating, Campbell found herself working on environmental issues for the office of then-Gov. Gray Davis — not the advocacy for women and girls that she’s known for now in Sacramento County. Early on, she noticed issues such as the pay gaps between the men and women around her. Then, she became a mom to a daughter. But it was the #MeToo movement inspired her to begin her advocacy. “The structure that we live in now, that wasn’t built for us,” she said. In 2020, she became one of the inaugural members of the Sacramento County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Today, she serves as the communications director for the California Commission on Women and Girls. She received a 2026 Women of Distinction Award for her work from Mayor Kevin McCarty. Much of Campbell’s work revolves around connection. “This is a village,” Campbell said. “You just have to find your people.” One of the major challenges she saw was that many
Campbell also leads a Girl Scout troop as well as
women, especially youth and survivors of sexual assault, are
a Scouting America troop. She volunteers for My Sister’s
not aware of the services available to them.
House, an organization that assists Asian and Pacific
“How can you get help if you don’t know where to get it?” she said.
Islander women affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Earlier in 2026, she helped
As co-chair of the Sacramento County Women and
organize a special exhibition at the Sacramento History
Girls Festival, Campbell brought 100 different organizations
Museum honoring 11 overlooked historical Sacramento
together to create a space for nonprofits and agencies to
women.
network while providing information and resources to area women.
“Like the Girl Scout motto, I want to leave the world a better place than I found it,” she said.
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Lilly Cortes Wyatt SOCIOS PUBLIC RELATIONS FOUNDER
Lilly Cortes-Wyatt was always fascinated with storytelling. • • • She grew up bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish, and spent her formative childhood years living in Mexico City and before moving to Concord, California, as a teenager. Her love for storytelling led her to a career in broadcast journalism. She spent almost 20 years as an English and Spanish-language reporter, she said. “I feel like I was born with the desire to help and communicate,” Cortes-Wyatt said. “To share stories and do it in both languages.” Cortez-Wyatt is the founder of SociosPR, a womenowned public relations firm specializing in multilingual services. SociosPR is the only Latino-owned marketing agency in Northern California, she said. “There’s a lot of people like me who think in Spanish, dream in English,” Cortes-Wyatt said. “We are fully bicultural, fully bilingual. We love living here. I wanted to
Cortes-Wyatt has spearheaded numerous
have a communications firm that really connected with all
multilingual campaigns serving California residents.
audiences.”
With the Department of Aging, she led an informational
Inspiration to create SociosPR came from a mistranslation. In 2016, she spotted a “horribly translated”
campaign about support services for seniors. During COVID-19, as agencies needed urgent
bus ad. The ad was translated into Spanish for Hispanic and
assistance providing health information to non-English-
Latino residents.
speaking communities, Cortes-Wyatt answered the call.
The mistranslation surprised her. At that moment, she knew she had to do something. “I was like, ‘there has to be a change,’” Cortes-Wyatt said. “I need to solve that problem.”
Then, she led campaigns debunking myths about vaccines and encouraging vaccinations. “It’s in all of us to make this world a better place,” Cortes-Wyatt said. “All of us can do our part.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 17
Michaela Edwards once imagined changing the world from the halls of the United Nations. Instead, she discovered she could begin much closer to home — one student at a time.
• • • Edwards had ambitious goals, including becoming a United Nations ambassador, because she had always wanted to “change the world.” At 19, while a sophomore at the University of the Pacific, Edwards completed a year of AmeriCorps service as a mentor fellow with Improve Your Tomorrow. IYT mentors young men of color from middle school through college, building relationships and guiding students toward their academic and college goals, Edwards said. For Edwards, the throughline has been watching students she began mentoring years ago progress along that path.
PAGE 18 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Michaela Edwards
NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE ACCESS, ADVISING & COMPLETION, IMPROVE YOUR TOMORROW
“We wanted to make sure that we are rooted in students who are the least served and the more likely to be overlooked because they don’t have the quote-unquote college profile,” Edwards said. Edwards said she often points to one former mentee — not because his was the program’s most conventional success story, but because his progress could easily be overlooked. She met the student when he was a high school sophomore who frequently missed class and said college was not for him. Edwards developed a close relationship with him, but after she changed roles at IYT, the program lost contact with him for about a year. Then, at 17, he texted Edwards after leaving jail to say he wanted to go to college and to ask for her help. Edwards helped him make up the credits he “I could still change the world, just on a different scale,” Edwards said. After finishing her service year, Edwards returned
needed to graduate within a matter of weeks, then enroll in community college while working. “It’s so easy to hold on to the success stories — those
to IYT as a mentor in its community college program. Three
who went through and have already graduated with their
months later, she applied to become a program manager.
bachelor’s and in their careers,” Edwards said. “When I
The organization had few women on staff at the time,
think about the tough-of-the-tough stories in the uphill
Edwards said, and placing a woman in that role was “kind of
battle that we have with our students, that one always sits
unheard of.”
with me because I do take it as, not necessarily a failure, but
She got the job.
it pushes me to want to then push the organization that we
When Edwards joined the organization, its mentors
can continue to get better.”
had no shared playbook to guide their work. She created one that starts with relationship building and wellness check-ins before turning to students’ academic goals. That approach became a foundation for training staff.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 19
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Elizabeth Esquivel
VICE PRESIDENT GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, CALIFORNIA MANUFACTURERS & TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION
Elizabeth Esquivel was instilled with a sense of public service early on by her mother, who advocated for a measure to fund sidewalk construction in their hometown of Waterford, outside of Modesto. • • • “She always told me, and ingrained in me: ‘We may not have money to donate, but we have our time,’” Esquivel said. Esquivel studied social welfare with minors in education and Chicano studies at UC Berkeley, and later came to Sacramento through a legislative fellowship. After stints in the state Senate and Assembly, Esquivel took a position with the California Association of School Business Officials. Esquivel liked the practicality of the work. It was important, she said, to ensure there was long-term funding
In her day job, Esquivel now serves as vice president
for key programs — and to oppose policies that, while
of government relations for the California Manufacturers
appealing, lacked financial footing. She advocated for a $50
& Technology Association, another position influenced,
million package for court and community schools, and a
in part, by her mother, who worked at a Tri Valley Growers
$1.2 billion package for universal meals in schools.
cannery that has since closed.
“While we hear good policy, if there isn’t a funding mechanism for it, it’s not going to work as intended,” she said.
“That was a devastating economic loss for those families who worked there,” Esquivel said. The association represents 45,000 manufacturing
Esquivel has worked on local campaigns in West
companies, who collectively employ 1.2 million people who
Sacramento, and served on city boards: planning, parks
build, process and package the world’s cars, drugs, airplanes,
and recreation, and the West Sacramento Rotary Club. She
food and computers.
served on the Yolo County Health Council, and campaigned
“I really do see a need and a desire to advocate for
for a school bond measure, and for city councilmembers
businesses to stay and remain in California,” Esquivel said.
Verna Sulpizio Hull and Dawnté Early.
“Because of the opportunities that it provides.”
PAGE 20 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
ashley faison-maddox FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE DIAMOND COLLECTIVE
Ashley Faison-Maddox’s mom said she could be anything she wanted when she grew up. She decided to be someone who helped people. •
•
•
Ashley Faison-Maddox is the founder and executive director of the Diamond Collective, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that provides resources to human trafficking survivors and their children. Since its launch, FaisonMaddox has helped more than 60 survivors in the Sacramento region, she said. The roots of Diamond Collective are personal for Faison-Maddox. As a survivor of human trafficking herself, she wanted to show other survivors that life is bigger than the trauma. There’s still room to dream, rediscover a sense of possibility, and live a “beautiful life,” she said. That philosophy is central to the organization’s work, creating opportunities for survivors to move forward while building community, confidence, and meaningful connections. For Faison-Maddox, healing is not simply about surviving the past, but discovering experiences and possibilities that once may have seemed unreachable. “Life can be beautiful even beyond trauma; it can contain joy,” Faison-Maddox said. “... joy disrupts trauma.” This year, Faison-Maddox was awarded the 2026 Woman of the Year by Assemblymember Josh Hoover’s
The experiences introduce survivors to new environments, build confidence, create positive memories, and provide opportunities to experience joy alongside others who understand their journeys. The group recently visited Costa Rica for one such
office for empowering survivors and helping them envision
experience, giving survivors another opportunity to see the
a future defined not by what happened to them, but by what
world through a different lens.
they can still accomplish. Under her leadership, the organization provides
“After trauma, we can look at this world with a lens of negativity,” Faison-Maddox said. “... Having hope and
healing experiences through the Sacramento Ballet,
being able to dream … always having something to look
kayaking, and horseback riding.
forward to … I want survivors to have that.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 21
• • • After Garcia graduated from high school, she didn’t
Giselle Garcia didn’t have a career mapped out or even know what she wanted to study. She simply enrolled in the first course available at her local community college in south Sacramento.
know what to do. She ended up enrolling in the first available course for summer classes at her local community college in south Sacramento, where she was raised after being born in San Francisco. The class was Intro to Sociology, a topic that was foreign to her at the time. On the first day of class, Garcia said she “fell in love” and committed to continuing her pursuit of education. In college, she started working with immigrants. She began as an interpreter for an organization helping asylum seekers in the Central Valley.
PAGE 22 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Giselle GarcIA PROGRAM DIRECTOR, NORCAL RESIST
“That is when I
During Trump’s second term, Garcia’s group
developed a commitment to
has organized to help immigrants navigate rising costs
the immigrant community,
associated with immigration cases, including fees related
and vulnerable communities at
to work permits and asylum applications. NorCal Resist
large, that I have dedicated my life
covered about $140,000 in immigration filing fees during
to advocating for and showing
the first six months of the year, Garcia said.
solidarity,” said Garcia, who
Garcia also helped develop Court Watch, a
is the daughter of Nicaraguan
volunteer-led initiative launched in May 2025 after
immigrants.
immigration arrests began occurring at Sacramento
She joined NorCal Resist,
court proceedings. Volunteers observe and document
a local advocacy group, as a volunteer
immigration court activity, provide information and
organizer in 2018 and became a full-time programs director last summer.
resources to immigrants, and activate rapid legal-response assistance when arrests occur.
There’s no typical day for Garcia, who can be found
For Garcia, evolution in her organization’s work is
running to and from the federal courthouse and the office
key, constantly listening to the community and adapting to
and fielding calls for what she said is a 24/7 operation to
meet people’s needs. Eventually, she hopes the type of work
support the immigrant community and educate the public.
she does now is not needed.
The one constant, she said: a sense of urgency. Garcia has been involved with NorCal Resist during both Democratic and Republican administrations, both of which, she said, have had negative effects on immigrant
From a personal level, Garcia said she is focused on maintaining empathy and choosing to “side with the vulnerable” every day. “For me, what is next is to keep being on the right
communities. She described President Donald Trump’s
side of things and not losing my way,” she said. “Keep
second term as “an extreme gut punch.”
building this organization and keep building the movement
“When we thought it couldn’t get worse from the first … it got extremely worse,” she said, pointing to
so we can actually have a world worth living in for the majority of people.”
increased immigration enforcement activity and rhetoric from the Trump administration that she views as antiimmigrant.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 23
Powering you for life.
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Learn more at smud.org/Community
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
joy gonzales-cabatic
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF TAX AND FEE ADMINISTRATION CHIEF OF PROGRAM AND COMPLIANCE
For Joy Gonzales-Cabatic, community involvement is a generational effort. • • • She’s inspired by the hard work and dedication of her parents, who brought her to the United States from the Philippines as an 8-year-old, and hopes to inspire her own children. “There’s always an opportunity to help others, to uplift others,” Gonzales-Cabatic said. After coming to the United States, GonzalesCabatic, 46, whose father served in the U.S. Navy, lived in Pittsburg, Alameda and Vallejo before coming to Sacramento in 1998. A Sacramento State graduate, she has been with the state Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which administers California’s sales and use, fuel, tobacco, alcohol and cannabis taxes, since its inception in 2017. Before that, Gonzales-Cabatic worked for the state Board of Equalization and has nearly 25 years of service in state government. She is the vice president of the Asian-Pacific State Employee Association and also works with My Sister’s House and the Olivia Chan Foundation. My Sister’s House offers support to survivors of domestic violence and trafficking, including shelter, counseling, legal help and a 24-hour multilingual hotline, Gonzales-Cabatic said.
The Olivia Chan Foundation, created by the parents of a girl who died of cancer, supports children, teens and young adults dealing with grief. Gonzales-Cabatic said she got involved with the organizations “wanting to give back to the community, wanting to help others, wanting to make an impact.” She credits her family and her three children for inspiring her, and said she hopes to continue working with the organizations and perhaps others in the future. “I’m really grateful for what I have now, so I think that’s what drives me,” she said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 25
• • •
First, it was just an idea in the head of then-professional boxer Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales. He wanted to build a place where Sacramentoarea youth could come to box, rather than get into trouble.
Then, it was a shared room with four heavy bags. Next, it was a 2,500 square-foot complex. Now, Flawless 4 Youth Boxing & Fitness is a nearly 5,000 square-foot gym in Upper Land Park equipped with rows of heavy bags, weightlifting equipment, a ring and wellness hub. But for Gonzales, the gym has always been about more than boxing. Much of the gym’s income goes toward Flawless 4 Youth, a nonprofit Gonzales created during his career in 2010 to provide scholarships, support and mentorship to local youth through boxing.
PAGE 26 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Brandon Gonzales
FLAWLESS 4 YOUTH BOXING & FITNESS OWNER AND SACRAMENTO STATE HEAD BOXING COACH
“Boxing is the greatest analogy in life,”
Recently, Gonzales has expanded his coaching to
Gonzales said. “All the skills that the kids
college students at Sacramento State, as head boxing coach
learn here, they take outside to their life,
and a founding member of the school’s Combat U club
they take it into school, they take it into work.”
program. In two seasons under Gonzales’ leadership, the
Flawless has expanded from
boxing team has already found success nationally, producing
an organization that only worked with
multiple National Champions. Gonzales’ daughter, Ayanha,
youth to offering classes for beginners
won a national title last season.
and competitive boxers of all ages at
“I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied,” Gonzales said of
its Upper Land Park location, at 600
his work with Combat U. “I’m looking forward to year three
Broadway, Suite E.
coming up.”
Classes are offered almost every day
While Gonzales’ 18-1-1 professional boxing record
at the gym. Profits from classes, merchandise
isn’t technically “flawless,” he said he continues to embrace
and its biannual event “Capital Punishment” are
the nickname not in its literal sense, but as it has always
put toward Flawless 4 Youth. Two of the gym’s current trainers were previously part of the Flawless 4 Youth program, a testament, Gonzales said, to the program’s impact. “Boxing is what attracts kids to our gym, families
meant to him: a way to drive continual progress. That message is continued in his work with Sacramento-area youth, he hopes. “It’s not a nickname, it’s always an expectation,” Gonzales said. “Even though perfection is impossible to
to our gym,” Gonzales said. “We use that as the catalyst
achieve, you’re always learning, you’re always getting better,
and then, once they get here, we can help them with other
you’re always elevating.”
needs.” Gonzales said the life skills needed for boxing — like hard work, perseverance and focus — are more important to teach the kids than the boxing itself. Though Gonzales himself had a successful professional career, he said those same skills have been critical to his life after retiring from boxing. “You can only do this for so long,” Gonzales said of boxing. “It’s a very short window, but then what about life? … You have a lot more time with that.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 27
A Legacy of Opportunity
Founded on a legacy of expanding opportunity, the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders
Program (NELP) develops diverse leaders with the skills, connections and confidence to make a lasting difference in their workplaces and communities. NELP’s roots reach back to the Nehemiah Community Foundation, founded in 2000, and the Nehemiah Corporation of America, which began creating pathways to homeownership and economic opportunity in 1994. In 2007, a $1 million investment launched an ambitious effort to study successful leadership programs nationwide. That work led to the creation of NELP, with its first class beginning in 2008.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Scott Syphax, Board Chair CEO, Syphax Strategic
Kristen Martin, Board Vice Chair Executive Director, Cottage Housing, Inc.
Ed Phillips
President, Phillips Enterprises, Inc.
Sam Starks
Executive Director, MLK365+
A Future of Leadership Today, that legacy continues through Nehemiah Leaders Programs
(NLP), an independent nonprofit building on more than two decades of community impact. Through leadership development, education, connection and
Pamela Stewart
Former Chair, Sac State University Foundation
opportunity, NLP fuels and delivers programs that expand diverse leadership, advancing a powerful vision for the future: communities led by the diversity they embody. Learn more from a board member you may knowor at nehemiahleaders.com.
Deneva Shelton (ex officio) Chief Executive Officer, Nehemiah Community Foundation
• • • Guerra remembers him showing up at football
Renatto Guerra still remembers the man who taught him how to drive.
games and taking him to church. More than any single moment, Guerra remembers having an adult who consistently showed up — someone willing to listen, encourage him and help him imagine what might come next. Years later, Guerra found an opportunity to do the same for someone else. What began as a desire to “pay it forward” has turned into a decade of helping young men throughout Sacramento discover something just as important as academic ability: a sense of community, new opportunities and someone who believes in their potential.
PAGE 30 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Renatto Guerra
SENIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR, IMPROVE YOUR TOMORROW
Guerra sees positive mentors as especially important for students who may have absent fathers or lack other constructive adult role models. But one of his earliest experiences with IYT taught him that students who need that connection aren’t always the ones people might expect. Guerra met a high-achieving freshman who earned good grades and appeared to be doing well. At first, Guerra wondered why he needed the program. Then he learned the student’s father was incarcerated. “Although he had good grades and was doing well in school, he was really looking for community. He was looking for other young people to have friends … he was looking for other male role models,” Guerra said. The experience changed how Guerra looked at mentorship. Today, that experience remains at the heart of Guerra’s mission: making sure
“It reminded me, every student has a unique story perspective,” Guerra said. “We don’t always know what’s happening in their homes or their families. We can only
young men have the mentors, resources and encouragement
really sometimes see what’s happening at school, but that’s
to think bigger about their futures — and the support to
not the full picture.”
get there. July marked Guerra’s 10th year with Improve
A decade into his work with IYT, Guerra is looking beyond helping students reach college. His focus
Your Tomorrow. When he learned about IYT, he saw an
includes helping more of them finish — earning degrees on
opportunity to provide other young men with the kind of
time, taking on as little debt as possible and successfully
support he had received.
transitioning into the workforce.
“A big part of it is a community that is going to
It is a goal rooted in the lesson Guerra learned from
support them and encourage them to think bigger,”
his own mentor: Sometimes changing a young person’s
Guerra said.
trajectory begins by showing up, seeing potential others may
Now IYT’s senior programs director in Sacramento,
overlook and helping that person imagine something bigger.
Guerra supports and trains mentors who work with students
The potential, Guerra believes, is already there.
across the region. Each mentor works with roughly 25 to 50
“They just need resources and opportunities,” he said.
students across school sites, with middle and high school students typically meeting with mentors every other week.
For Guerra, the mission is making sure someone is there to help them find both.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 31
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Lisa Hafoka
TO’UTUPU ‘OE ‘OTU FELENITE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
The best part of her job, said Lisa Hafoka, is giving out scholarships. • • • The money, typically $1,000 each, could go toward something important to a student’s life, such as utility bills or a new laptop. “We already know it’s hard to stay in school,” she said. “So whatever they use that money for, we just want to meet you where you’re at.” Her organization, TOFA, has given out more than 150 so far to Pacific Islander students. The organization’s name — To’utupu ‘oe ‘Otu Felenite Association, or TOFA — translates to “the youth leaders of the Pacific.” Hafoka has served on the organization’s board since 2000, when it was founded by her mother, Catherine ‘Ofa Mann. The group also runs an “ambassador” program,
Hafoka moved to Sacramento in 1996 from Auckland, New Zealand, and in her day job works as an
where school-age children meet weekly from January through
analyst for the California Parks and Recreation Department.
May. They elect a youth president, and learn about financial
But in her work with TOFA, she’s seen the organization
literacy, career development, civic engagement and cultural
through a smattering of different programs over the course
arts.
of its existence, from counseling to scholarships to an annual Mann funded some of TOFA’s programs out of her
own pocket, with “whatever money she could throw at it,” Hafoka said. And Mann got involved in civic engagement, with Asian Pacific American Public Affairs. “She was a solo giant, walking the halls of the Capitol, representing our people,” Hafoka said. After Mann died in 2021, Hafoka was voted president of TOFA.
education conference. Some of its members were part of a women’s football team, the Sacramento Sirens. Over that time, Hafoka said she has figured out what programs TOFA does well, and chosen good leaders to run each of them. Now her mission is to help them expand those programs further. “It’s to support those leaders,” she said, “and give them a way to continue to build out their programs.”
PAGE 32 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Zaire Harris
CULTURE & INCLUSION PROGRAM MANAGER, GOLDEN 1 CREDIT UNION
Growing up in Rohnert Park, Zaire Harris joined “every girls’ math and science program you could imagine,” on the belief that one day she’d become a veterinarian. • • • But in her free time, she was preoccupied with civics. Her mother joked that she started debating as a newborn. Harris said she pursued leadership positions “anytime there was something I could run for,” and became her school’s first Black student body president. In her first week at Spelman College in Atlanta, one of Harris’ teachers implored her to switch from medicine to a political science track. Harris took that advice and never looked back, and has pursued work in policy and advocacy in the years since. Harris was in Atlanta during Stacey Abrams’ campaign for governor and she said she saw “what voter
She helped revamp the groups’ heritage months.
suppression looked like in real time.” She was a California
During Black History Month, speakers came to
Senate Fellow through the Capital Fellows Programs
Golden 1 Credit Union to speak about streetwear culture,
working with Senate majority leader at the time, Robert
Black fraternities and sororities, and members of the
Hertzberg. Then at Planned Parenthood Affiliates of
Wiltown Riders spoke about the history of Black cowboys.
California, she worked on a slate of policy recommendations
It’s rewarding, Harris said, to help people feel
in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs
comfortable bringing their “full selves” to work. And in this
v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that
day and age, when money is tight, workers want to feel that
overturned a constitutional right to abortion.
they — and their efforts — are valued daily.
After four years with Planned Parenthood, Harris
“You want to feel like it’s worth it. You want to
was hired as a culture and inclusion program manager
be seen and humanized,” Harris said. “I think that’s what
for Golden 1 Credit Union, where she oversees the credit
people need right now. I think people are going
union’s seven employee resource groups, among other things.
through a lot.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 33
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Shana Henry
DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, ELK GROVE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Shana Henry sees opportunity in every student she meets. She is one of three directors of secondary education at Elk Grove Unified School District. • • • Henry first got involved with education working as a substitute teacher in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood. She then became a teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District, and later, a principal. “Every student deserves the absolute best, regardless of race or zip code,” Henry said. “I’m going to go to any school and believe in that and create the spaces where people feel like they are welcome and connected.” Henry is now a director of secondary education at Elk Grove Unified School District, where she supervises schools and supports principals. She also served as president of the Association of California School Administrators’s Sacramento and Yolo region. Through her work, Henry discovered a gap: There was no organization dedicated to supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander educators. So, she helped
“There are no conferences where you walk in a room and everyone looks like you, and that alone can be so powerful,” Henry said. “I didn’t know we were creating an experience of healing.” Henry said her dedication to helping others comes
found and became president of the California Association of
from her parents, both immigrants who instilled in her
Asian and Pasifika Leaders in Education.
a love of education. Her father had just $20 to his name
The organization hosts conferences, seminars and a mentoring program to help educators promote into leadership roles. Henry said the organization, particularly
when he immigrated to the United States, she said, and her mother never lived out her dream to be a doctor. “Any of our kids anywhere can be anything they
the annual conference, have created a “special” space where
want to be if someone just puts time and belief into them,”
people can find community.
Henry said.
PAGE 34 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Toni Hoang
RELIABILITY RISK AND INTERNAL CONTROLS MANAGER, SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT
Toni Hoang was a shy child who never saw herself as a leader. In her mind, leaders had to have the loudest voices in the room.. • • • But the people who most inspired her were the trailblazers who led through sacrifice, resilience and quiet strength. It was through them that Hoang said she learned to be a leader — and that leadership often begins by creating opportunities for others. Along with being a reliability risk and internal controls manager for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Hoang has helped establish the Vietnamese American Cultural and Education Society, an organization dedicated to educating future generations of Vietnamese Americans about their heritage and strengthening their connection to the community. Hoang also serves on the California State Bar’s Legal Services Trust Fund Commission. “The common thread is really service,” Hoang said. “As a daughter of immigrants, I see myself as my parents’
After being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at a young age, Hoang considered herself a “professional patient.” She underwent chemotherapy treatment and was forced to reevaluate her goal of becoming a doctor. Yet through those challenges, it was her community
American dream realized. And I feel that comes with a really
that picked her up and helped her imagine a different path
deep responsibility to open doors for others and to give back
forward.
to the community, and to make sure that more families have the opportunity to succeed.”
“I wasn’t able to do the things I wanted to do, but there were mentors in the community who helped me to see
Hoang said she received that kind of support
that life beyond what I thought it was,” Hoang said. “And
growing up from the many people in her community who
I feel like it’s also my responsibility to help others who are
felt a similar sense of responsibility.
young to see that too.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 35
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
monica jimenez
SENIOR ATTORNEY, OFFICE OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE TREASURER
Monica Jimenez was always encouraged to be involved in her community. It wasn’t long after she graduated from UC San Diego that she knew she wanted to go to law school. • • • Jimeez was raised by a single mother in south Sacramento alongside three siblings. “I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do, but, you know, my thought process is always to use whatever skill set I have to, you know, help the community,” Jimenez said. Now, she does just that. After attending McGeorge School of Law, she first worked as a representative for foster kids before becoming a relocation lawyer developing affordable housing for migrant agricultural workers. Now, working for the California State Treasurer’s Office, Jimenez works with organizations including CalSavers, to help workers save for retirement; CalABLE, to help people with disabilities with financial planning; and CalKIDS, to award college scholarships to California children. She also sits on the board of the Cruz Reynosa Bar Association, which supports Latino attorneys and judges. “I’m very mission-driven,” said Jimenez,
When her son’s school, which provides support
remembering the impact of her work in housing. “They
for special needs students, was contemplating ending its
would get teary-eyed, like, because they had never had their
services for younger children, Jimenez successfully advocated
own space, or a safe space to come home to.”
for the school to stay open to younger children.
Her work is also closely tied to her personal life.
Jimenez remains grateful for the opportunities she
After her son was diagnosed with Xia-Gibbs syndrome,
has had to work with so many people. “I really value having
a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, Jimenez began
grown up here and, like, been exposed to so many different
championing causes in the community specific to special
kinds of people, the level of diversity,” she said. “I feel very
needs individuals.
blessed to have reached where I’m at.”
PAGE 36 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Olivia Kasirye, MD FORMER SACRAMENTO COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER
When people ask Dr. Olivia Kasirye how many patients she sees as a doctor, she tells them that all of Sacramento County is under her care. Kasirye served as the Sacramento County Public Health Officer for 14 years before retiring in March 2026. • • • “I tell people that I have 1.5 million patients and it’s a hard concept for them to understand,” Kasirye said. “But the role that (county health officers) play is different in that we work behind the scenes to ensure that diseases that could be deadly do not become a problem in the community.” That responsibility meant looking beyond individual patients to understand the conditions affecting the health and well-being of an entire community. Kasirye said her passion for public health began during her medical training in Uganda. During pediatrics rotations, she was required to do home visits with patients. In some areas, communicable diseases were a major concern. Kasirye realized treating the individual in the clinic was not enough. “What really attracted me to go into public health was listening to people’s stories and realizing that a lot of
Kasirye and her team led Sacramento County
what we were seeing in terms of diseases or injuries that they
through measles outbreaks, spikes in opioid addiction and
were coming up with was because of the social and family
the COVID-19 pandemic. And throughout it all, she said
environment that they were in,” Kasirye said.
it was vital to remember that relationships are essential to
It was a lesson she carried with her when she came to the United States and began her career in public health:
helping a community through medical emergencies. “That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned in public
Good health often depends on what happens far beyond the
health is that trust is important because with all the tools
walls of a doctor’s office.
that we have, we can only go so far,” Kasirye said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 37
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Clarissa LaGuardia
FOUNDER, LAGUARDIA TRANSLATION | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CAL CENTER
Clarissa LaGuardia describes her first years in the United States after emigrating from El Salvador as an 18-year-old as “very scary.” • • • “That doesn’t even cut it, actually,” she said. “It was horrifying.” Broke, without resources and experiencing intense culture shock, LaGuardia often thought about returning home. What pushed her forward? A sense of responsibility to her community. LaGuardia stayed to pursue her education one class at a time as she struggled to afford school. To fund her education, she founded LaGuardia Translation, a language service agency which now offers translation, interpretation and cultural consulting services to the Sacramento region in more than 100 languages. To her, the work is about making
LaGuardia expanded her language access advocacy
services accessible to people regardless of their native
efforts to the city, county and state level, playing a pivotal
language and ensuring they are seen.
role in developing the infrastructure in California to reach
“I saw the power imbalance between people
non-English speaking residents for the census, a challenge
receiving language services versus those giving it to them,”
in the year that the Trump administration pushed to ask
she said.
about citizenship status on the survey.
For the past couple decades, LaGuardia juggled her
Now, LaGuardia is the executive director of Cal
education, her business and her advocacy. An alumnus of
Center, an ambitious civic engagement nonprofit that
American River College and Sacramento State, LaGuardia
focuses on developing young people as community leaders.
earned her associate’s degree in 2011, her bachelor’s in 2015
Throughout her career centered on language, she recalls a
and her master’s in public policy and administration in
phrase her parents used to say: “deseo de superación.”
2021. She returned to Sacramento State this fall to pursue a doctorate in education.
“In the obstacle course that life is, I refused to give up,” she said.
PAGE 38 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
RAmOna Landeros FOUNDER, THE BENITO JUAREZ FOUNDATION
As a 14-year-old working among the strawberry fields of Oregon, Ramona Landeros received an early introduction to advocacy. • • • A group of local students posing as farmworkers were trying to help field workers advocate for better living conditions and they enlisted Landeros’s help. “It’s always been in my blood since I was very young,” said Landeros. “It came out of necessity, but also somebody sparking that interest and saying, ‘You can make a change, you can help.’ I think that really instilled that belief in myself that I can do something.” Landeros is the founder of the Benito Juarez Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advocacy and empowerment of immigrants and farmworkers. “I was a former farmworker for many many years and I understand the challenges that farmworkers face,” said Landeros. “Everything from discrimination, labor exploitation, wage theft, horrible working conditions, poor housing. It’s really important that we protect our
The foundation has also worked to tackle unpaid wages, transportation and mental health support. For Landeros, the work she does centers on the
farmworkers because they are the most vulnerable, but yet
livelihood of what she said is one of America’s most
the most vital in this country.”
vulnerable populations. Though she has devoted her life to
Landeros’ organization has been able to set up a
advocating for equity, she tries to always go the extra mile.
volunteer-run food bank that brings food to farmworkers
“The need is so much greater than we know, and
who are unable to drive due to their immigration status.
until your boots on the ground, you don’t really know what’s
Landeros said the organization feeds up to 75 families every
happening in your community,” said Landeros. “We meet
week.
the community where they are.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 39
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Maryann Lansangan
VP/CHIEF NURSING EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MERCY SAN JUAN MEDICAL CENTER
As chief nursing executive officer, Maryann Lansangan works to ensure nurses and patients are treated safely and with compassion. • • • Lansangan oversees the largest workforce at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. Her charge, as chief nursing executive officer, is to ensure nurses and patients are treated safely and with compassion. Or, in her words, “take care of the people who take care of the people.” Lansangan spent decades doing the work she now oversees — first in the Philippines, where she grew up, then in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and California. That experience continues to shape how she leads, giving her an understanding of both the demands placed on nurses and the responsibility leaders have to support them. She came to the U.S. in 1994, after picking Kansas City, Missouri, from a list of U.S. cities that were recruiting nurses through a staffing agency. She only expected, as a 24-year-old, to stay in the U.S. for a couple of years. She worked at hospitals in Kansas and Illinois before
“I’m a better person, I’m a better friend, better
moving to California, where she worked in a number of
mother — because I’m a nurse, because of what I see. Every
cities before ultimately being recruited to the hospital in
time you come to work, and you are in front of patients at
Carmichael.
their most vulnerable… it makes you just a better human
Along the way, nursing became more than a
being, I believe. Kinder, more patient, more forgiving,”
profession. It shaped how Lansangan viewed people,
Lansangan said. “And nurses are the best people. They’re
relationships and the importance of showing compassion
the funniest. They have the best sense of humor. They have
during some of life’s most difficult moments.
the resilience.”
PAGE 40 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
larry lee
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER, THE SACRAMENTO OBSERVER
Larry Lee’s father, William, co-founded The Observer in 1962. The African American newspaper has served Sacramento, winning more than 700 local and national awards. • • • In fact, Lee shares two awards with his father: the Robert T. Matsui Community Service Award and the American Leadership Forum’s Exemplary Leader Award. He called the two-generational acknowledgement “mind-blowing.” Lee said he grew up with the paper and has photos of himself at around 6 years old, working in the newsroom. Before Lee left for college, his parents asked if he wanted to become fully involved in the family business. “I told them without any hesitation that I would, not knowing fully what that meant,” Lee said. “But I had committed myself to trying to learn as much as I could about the craft of journalism, the craft of small business,
The Observer has been named Best Black
knowing the nuances of the African American community,
Newspaper in America eight times and has continued to
and understanding the historical challenges that many of us
grow — including an expansion to cover Stockton. For
have faced.”
Lee, it was necessary to provide the civic fabric that helps
Lee is the publisher and president of the Observer Media Group. He’s led the organization through changes in technology and news consumption, but through it all Lee
connect a community to social, institutional and political knowledge. “I get to live a life and do work that is purpose-
has approached these challenges with a community-centered
driven and can have impact outside of my immediate circle
strategy allowing for the legacy paper to prosper.
and my immediate walls,” Lee said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 41
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
adonai mack CEO, CHILD ACTION
Education was the core of Adonai Mack’s upbringing. • • • His father was a superintendent in the Del Paso Heights School District. His mother was the head education coordinator for SETA Head Start, a nonprofit that offers learning and development resources. Growing up, Mack learned about the value of education and saw firsthand how it could change the trajectory of a child and a family. Today, he follows in his parents’ footsteps, carrying their commitment to education into another generation and continuing a family legacy rooted in creating opportunities for children. In 2023, after spending 20 years in public education policy, Mack changed careers. He said that instead of shaping policy, he wanted to implement it firsthand and see its impact directly in the community. Mack is the chief executive officer for Child Action, a Sacramento County-based nonprofit that provides affordable child care resources to low-income families. The nonprofit offers referrals to child care facilities and affordable care for families. Under Mack’s leadership, Child Action has served nearly 20,000 children in Sacramento County, working hand-in-hand with 4,500 providers and 11,000 families, he
By providing child care, families can focus on
said. For Mack, those numbers represent children getting an
a child’s education, he said. And by making child care
earlier start and parents gaining greater stability.
affordable, parents can focus on employment, bringing
Mack said he sees his role as helping reshape a
them a step closer to escaping poverty.
child’s academic outcome. He’s working to bridge learning
“There are children who look like me that aren’t
gaps for Sacramento’s youngest residents, from birth to age
performing well in school,” Mack said. “At a minimum,
5, when early experiences can have a lasting influence on
we’re going to close achievement gaps by focusing on the
learning.
earliest of learners.”
PAGE 42 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
Congratulations, Adonai Mack Child Action proudly congratulates our CEO, Adonai Mack, on being named one of The Sacramento Bee’s Top 60 Sacramento Change Makers. Adonai’s leadership is helping transform how our region sees child care, not simply as a family need, but as essential infrastructure for a thriving economy. Under his leadership, Child Action has expanded its impact, strengthened its voice and brought partners together around a shared vision for children and families. Today, our work reaches more than 34,000 children, families and child care providers and generates an estimated $425 million in regional economic activity each year. That progress is a testament not only to Adonai’s leadership, but also to the talented Child Action team working every day to turn that vision into impact. Congratulations, Adonai. Your leadership and the work of the team you lead are creating lasting change.
Quality Child Care Impacts Everything.
(916) 369-0191
10540 White Rock Road, Suite 180 Rancho Cordova. CA 95670 childaction.org
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGEMAKER
Congratulations, Dr. Steve Martinez.
Thirteen years of leadership. One clear mission. A legacy that will last. For thirteen years, Dr. Martinez let with a simple, unwavering mission: our children deserve the best. He guided the district through financial recovery, dramatically improved student outcomes, transformed facilities, and expanded opportunities for future generations. Peregrine Strategies proudly celebrates Dr. Martinez’s dedication to the Twin Rivers community.
Sacramento is better today because a leader put students first, every single time. That is the true mark of a changemaker.
PAGE 44 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Steve Martinez
SUPERINTENDENT, TWIN RIVERS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Steve Martinez began his career in education in 1998 as a teacher in Mendota Unified, a rural district west of Fresno. He became interested in how school leadership could shape the conditions around teachers and students. • • • Martinez had been drawn to Twin Rivers by what he saw as underserved communities that needed people to believe improvement was possible. When he arrived, he found a district worn down by the failed promises to deliver the sense of shared purpose people had hoped for. What he noticed, though, was not only exhaustion. There was still hope that the district could function differently. “Everyone was tired of being tired. When I came in, it was just the right time for someone from outside to see the potential within the district, within the community,” Martinez said. “Everyone wanted Twin Rivers to improve.” He focused on building a shared purpose around students, the community and the possibility of collective
Ultimately, Martinez said three things made the
change. In the 2013-14 school year, Twin Rivers’ graduation
transformation possible: a shared purpose centered on
rate was roughly 76%. In recent public data from 2025, the
students, stronger systems to support classrooms, and
district’s graduation rate was about 92%.
investment in people so those closest to the work could help
Martinez pointed to the district’s dual enrollment as another example of how Twin Rivers tried to build
lead the district forward. “Our kids, our children in this community deserve
students’ belief that college was possible for them. Through
the best,” Martinez said. “Everyone should be leaning
the program, students have the opportunity to earn a degree
forward to ensure that they have the best opportunities, the
before high school graduation.
best facilities to reach their dream.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 45
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Marie Mertz PROPRIETOR, TODO UN POCO BISTRO
Marie Mertz says her life has always been “by accident.” • • • Fresh out of college, she didn’t expect to open a restaurant. She took a job in an entirely different field. Mertz was applying to graduate school when she and her now-husband went on a trip to her native Mexico. On that trip, when they were “eating tacos everywhere,” she said she told him: “It would be so great to open a restaurant.” He took it literally. He called her one day and said he found a location. They signed a lease for Todo Un Poco, their Mexican-Italian restaurant in Elk Grove. “Little did I know I went to Todo Un Poco University, and I am still enrolled,” Mertz said. Mertz’s menu at the 28-year-old restaurant is inspired by her childhood. Her father had a friend who was Italian and would bring spaghetti and meatballs to their house. When there were leftovers, Mertz’s mother would dress them up with Mexican ingredients. That same mixing of traditions still defines the menu. Familiar dishes cross culinary borders, with combinations such as cheese ravioli with carnitas, Mexican lasagna and pizza topped with chorizo, jalapeños and
Mertz also partnered with the Rancho Cordova
cilantro. The result reflects the kind of cooking Mertz grew
Food Bank for six months this year to take its extra food
up with — food unconstrained by labels and shaped instead
and make ready-to-eat meals to give to those in need. She
by what tasted good together.
said her kitchen has saved 14,000 pounds of food, serving
Sustainability is at the core of Mertz’s restaurant’s mission. It is a zero-waste kitchen — using ingredients in their entirety and bringing anything they are unable to use
more than 16,000 meals. Mertz hopes to extend the program. “For us, Todo Un Poco is more than a restaurant,”
to a local farm. She is teaching her employees her ways,
Mertz said. “It is a restaurant that was based and founded
Mertz said, aiming for them to bring this mindset to their
in community and has always been involved in the
next jobs.
community.”
PAGE 46 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Aniesha Mitchell
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS, SACRAMENTO STATE
When a Sacramento State student gets into their dream graduate school, they often call Aniesha Mitchell to share the news. • • • When a student is experiencing a mental health crisis, Mitchell leads the school’s care response. For the 31,000 Hornets the university serves, Mitchell — as senior vice president for student affairs and inclusive excellence — is in charge of curating the outsidethe-classroom experience and ensuring a supportive campus environment. Since 2023, she has overseen student engagement and retention efforts, housing and access to basic resources, counseling and wellness services, and programs for students from diverse communities. “Our students never cease to amaze me and it’s my highest honor to advocate for them,” Mitchell said. “My goal is to remove academic barriers so they can persist, thrive and graduate.” Licensed to practice law in her home state of Michigan, Mitchell realized higher education was her real
Mitchell was instrumental to the launch of the
calling when she worked in student retention at her alma
Black Honors College — a first-of-its-kind institution that
mater Oakland University in Michigan early in her career.
provides a specialized educational experience for students
As she helped students who were struggling academically
interested in Black history, culture and contributions. She
and behaviorally, she was motivated by a strong desire to
also transformed the school’s affinity centers from regular
protect their right to due process.
lounges to vibrant spaces that offer academic and emotional
“(She) is passionate about student rights, restorative
support.
justice, and equity,” said her colleague Chao Vang. “She
Up next, her goal is to address the loneliness
chose a path in higher education, dedicating her career to
students are experiencing on campus. Her focus, Mitchell
empowering students and investing in the future of the
said, is curating experiences that facilitate the formation of
Sacramento community.”
lifelong bonds.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 47
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
jag nagendra
PRINCIPAL ENGINEER, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES
Jag Nagendra says he has an addiction of sorts, and his fix makes the Sacramento region better. • • • Nagendra likes helping others and seeing people in his community better themselves. It’s something, he said, that started at a young age, first by helping classmates, then through his career, and now through decades of community engagement. “It’s very, very addictive. And that’s been the case for 45-plus years,” he said. The 55-year-old moved to the United States from India when he was 29. He first lived in Davis, where he began getting involved with community organizations, primarily hyperlocal and citywide groups. In Davis, he participated in several organizations, including the India Association of Davis. When he moved to unincorporated Sacramento County, he joined the sheriff’s office outreach board. Now a Folsom resident, Nagendra
“I’m changing the perception towards Indians in
is often at Folsom City Council meetings, sharing his
such a way that we are not just doctors,” he said. “We are
perspective on local issues, including charter amendments.
also in the community. We are also leaders.”
His involvement extends well beyond his immediate
When he isn’t volunteering with local organizations,
community. Nagendra served on the California Expo and
Nagendra works as a principal engineer with the California
State Fair Cultural Advisory Council and is involved with
Department of Water Resources. There, he manages a team
the Project Management Institute’s Sacramento Valley
of engineers and information technology professionals
chapter. For him, participating in different organizations
working on California’s water infrastructure.
is both a way to contribute and an opportunity to better understand the communities around him. Through that work, Nagendra said he also hopes
Whether through engineering, civic organizations, or simply showing up at a City Council meeting, Nagendra said the motivation remains much the same: helping
to challenge stereotypes and demonstrate the many ways
communities become stronger and encouraging others to get
Indian Americans contribute to civic life.
involved.
PAGE 48 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Lauren Oto
CALIFORNIA ASIAN PACIFIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Small business owners face all sorts of challenges, from mental health to finding the right employees to paying rent. •
•
•
Lauren Oto — through her work as the executive director of the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce Foundation — aims to tackle these challenges by creating an “ecosystem” of sorts. The chamber advocates for businesses to reduce barriers and provides technical assistance workshops, Oto said, while the foundation helps build the workforce pipeline to diversify what leadership looks like within organizations. This type of work, she said, became increasingly important in 2020 — at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic — when violent anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 125%, according to the California Department of Justice. “Over the last six years, we’ve really dove deep into the work to understand that now a lot of our small business employees and employers have become victims of some sort of hate crime,” Oto said. Oto and her colleagues also work to provide mental health services for small businesses. She said 100% of the businesses she works with don’t have a fully-funded budget for mental health resources, but each of these businesses are
Oto is Japanese American herself and grew up in
open to providing something at low to no cost, sparking the
the Sacramento region. She said she enjoys working in the
organization to take action.
nonprofit space, so when the opportunity to work at the
“We have a platform, a digital platform that we’ve
chamber came, she jumped at the opportunity.
launched providing free access to our small businesses to be
“Our work has grown. My role has grown. The level
able to go on and take assessments as it relates to their stress
of impact that I’ve been able to make in the community has
level, depression levels, anxiety levels,” Oto said. “From there
grown,” Oto said. “I really think where I’m at now is really a
it automatically will populate some resources based on their
great opportunity for us to continue growing and continue
assessment of how they maybe can minimize the stress on
growing in the ways that we show impact in
their job.”
the community.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 49
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Jennifer N. Overbey, MD CHIEF OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY, METHODIST HOSPITAL OF SACRAMENTO
When Dr. Jennifer Overbey was in medical school, the lifestyle associated with her chosen specialty was considered undesirable. • • • The hours worked by OB-GYNs were known to be long and unpredictable. People encouraged her to pursue other paths, such as anesthesiology. Indeed, during her clinical rotations, Overbey regularly worked 100-hour weeks. When her alarm went off after her first night working labor and delivery, she cried. But she wasn’t deterred. “I love it,” said Overbey, now the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Methodist Hospital of Sacramento. “You never know what’s gonna walk in through your door… I like to always know that I’m going to be on my toes.” Overbey played a key role in establishing Methodist Hospital of Sacramento’s obstetrics emergency department
“For a lot of women, you build this relationship with your OB-GYN forever,” Overbey said. “You’re building this long-term relationship with people. You should be personable.”
— the first in the region for the health system, Common
Methodist leaders now want to expand the in-
Spirit — where anyone 14 weeks pregnant or more, with a
hospital program and the obstetrics emergency department.
pregnancy-related concern, can be seen right away.
To do so, Overbey said, they will first need to recruit more
And when Methodist looked to outsource its obstetrics in-hospital work — which would be responsible for
doctors. She wants to ensure the programs are well-staffed and that employees don’t feel overwhelmed.
having a doctor available for labor and delivery at all times
“A lot of my efforts are to continue to find ways to
— Overbey spoke up, and advocated for the hospital’s own
make — I mean, I think our group is attractive, but make
doctors to form a group to cover those duties.
it more attractive. Or get people from other parts of the
Overbey describes herself as a “chatty” doctor, a
country who might want to come to Sacramento,” Overbey
demeanor informed by her own experience as a patient.
said. “I don’t think that for us there’s any shortage of
Early on, she decided she wanted to become the kind of
patients, it’s just making sure that we have the right people
doctor that she herself would want to see.
to take care of them.”
PAGE 50 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
gloria partida CITY OF DAVIS, COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 4
A role in politics was the last thing Gloria Partida pictured herself having. • • • But after years of community activism, it became her calling. Partida moved to Davis in the early 1990s as a lab manager for the University of California, Davis, serving as a neurobiologist for 30 years. While her job was “not in politics,” she connected to public service and increasingly found herself advocating for neighbors whose voices she felt were not always heard. As a resident and community leader, Partida passionately advocated for marginalized communities in Davis. She said she urged city policy changes and later learned she could be the one implementing that change. “I realized that I spent a lot of time in front of the dais asking for policy changes,” Partida said. “...It occurred to me that, if I were behind the dais, I would be the one making those decisions.” Partida was first elected to the Davis City Council in 2018, becoming the first Latina on that board, where she serves District 4. During her mayoral terms in 2020 and 2022, she
The experience made the work deeply personal and strengthened her determination to build a community where people feel safe and accepted. She said Davis needed
was the first Latina mayor in the city’s century-long history.
to acknowledge diversity, equity and inclusion across the
As mayor, she made several equity changes in the city,
board.
including creating a department of social services to address homelessness. She also runs the Davis Phoenix Coalition, which launched in 2013. The nonprofit focuses on hate crime
The coalition organizes Davis’ Gay Pride festival, hosts workshops for immigrant communities and leads antibullying initiatives at local schools, she said. “We wanted to focus on all marginalized groups,
prevention. Partida said she started the group after her son
because we really felt that there was a connection between
was the victim of a homophobic hate crime.
all these issues,” Partida said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 51
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
amagda Pe´ rez
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION
For Amagda Pérez, her career began with a childhood question: Why couldn’t everyone have the “magical papers” that made people safe? • • • Growing up in Kelseyville as the daughter of immigrant farmworkers, Pérez watched undocumented workers in her community live in fear of immigration enforcement. The experience inspired her to learn about a legal system she once believed held special protections. More than 30 years later, Pérez has become a leading advocate for California’s immigrant, farmworker and lowincome communities. She began her career at California Rural Legal Assistance and joined the CRLA Foundation in 1996. There, she developed citizenship and legal services programs that helped thousands navigate the legal system. As executive director of the CRLA Foundation, Pérez expanded the organization’s reach through legal representation, education, litigation, leadership development
Pérez said, in a soft tone with a calm yet controlled manner, that humility comes from staying grounded in her identity, history and community. “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness,” she recalled
and policy advocacy. She later became co-director of the
reading on a card she received years ago — a message that
UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic, where she strengthened
has stayed with her throughout her career.
community partnerships and helped train the next generation of public-interest lawyers. Her work has expanded access to justice in
Pérez said she challenges stereotypes of lawyers as loud and aggressive. “For me, some of the most effective lawyers have
underserved communities, addressed gaps in rural legal
been those that really work with kindness and justice
services and earned numerous awards and honors.
and respect for everyone,” she said. “I think these are the
Despite those accomplishments, students and colleagues often point to her humility.
qualities that really resonate with me and are true to who I am.”
PAGE 52 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
ashley randolph GLO PREEMIES FOUNDER
Ashley Randolph, has spent much of her life turning personal adversity into advocacy. • • • Sacramento resident and GLO Preemies founder Ashley Randolph draws on her experiences as both a preemie and the mother of three premature children to help other families navigate challenging moments. Born in Berlin while her father served in the U.S. Air Force, Randolph was delivered at 33 weeks. Her family later settled in south Sacramento, where she lives today. Randolph enrolled at Xavier University in New Orleans to study biology and pre-medicine while pursuing public health studies at Tulane University. Her plans changed when she became pregnant during college. Faced with limited support, Randolph left school before completing her degree. Her son Aiden was born at 34 weeks. Two daughters followed, both also born prematurely after complicated pregnancies.
Today, Randolph is an advocate for Black maternal and infant health. She co-founded the Alliance for Black
Randolph encountered barriers to care, inadequate
NICU Families, serves on advisory boards connected
support, and racial disparities in maternal and infant health.
to Stanford University and the National Institutes of
Those experiences inspired her to create GLO Preemies,
Health, and has helped shape neonatal research and policy
short for God’s Little Ones Preemies, in 2014.
nationwide.
What began as a support group has grown into
Despite numerous accolades, Randolph said her
a national nonprofit providing education, care packages,
greatest accomplishment is seeing her children thrive. Her
resources, and guidance for Black families with
guiding philosophy remains simple: “Your voice matters,
premature babies.
and it’s never too small, no matter how big the room is.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 53
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Annette Reed
DEAN OF STUDENTS, WILEETY NATIVE AMERICAN COLLEGE, SACRAMENTO STATE
Annette Reed believes everyone has a gift. • • • For her, it’s teaching. Reed’s journey to higher education started when she was 19-years-old. After serving in the last class of the Women’s Army Corps, Reed enrolled at San Francisco City College. There, she fell in love with Native American Studies. Reed later became one of the first Native women to earn a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, and more broadly in California. She pursued higher education despite discouragement from college counselors. Reed is a citizen of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and serves as the dean for Sacramento State’s Wileety Native American College. She taught for more than 20 years as a
“As a community, we need to encourage people
professor and was the chair of the ethnic
to figure out what their gifts are,” Reed said. “All of us
studies department.
have gifts. The thing about life is knowing what they are
In 2025, Reed came out of retirement to lead the Wileety College, the first and only Native-centered institution in the California State University system. American Indian and Alaska Native students make
and figuring out how to utilize your gifts into something meaningful for ourselves.” The college focuses on supporting the next generation of Native leaders. Programs at Wileety are
up 1% of Sacramento State’s student population. In 2018,
crafted by Reed. They include cultural teaching sessions,
a university climate survey revealed Native students felt the
a monthly class dinner and a speaker series for students
most unsupported on campus, according to Reed.
featuring Native leaders from various industries.
Through her career and Wileety, Reed helps Native American students find their own gifts.
Her work is to inspire Native students, to show them that they can succeed, she said.
PAGE 54 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Gina Richardson
MEMBERSHIP MARKET DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, GOLDEN 1 CREDIT UNION
It was a humble beginning for Eugenia “Gina” Richardson. • • • Originally from Chicago, her family had “more months than money,” she said. Her family grew up on food stamps, Richardson was raised by a single mother and her grandfather juggled multiple jobs to take care of her. It wasn’t until she saw how her wealthier cousins lived that she was driven to improve her own financial situation. Richardson started working at the age of 12, selling candy bars. After working job after job in her teenage years, she found a passion for financial coaching. For the past 20 years, Richardson has worked as a financial educator. She currently serves as the membership market development officer for Golden 1 Credit Union. “I want to make sure people have a better start, because a lot of times…we’re not learning about finance,” Richardson said. “Money is the most emotional thing
She also wears multiple hats. For the city of
that we deal with, so I wanted to help people balance that
Sacramento, Richardson serves as a commissioner for the
emotion.”
Sacramento Children’s Fund and supports city programs for
Richardson also hosts her own podcast, Mindfully Rich, which focuses on dispensing financial advice and has more than 100 episodes. “I wanted it to be my love letter to everyone, giving
at-risk youth. She is also the director of fundraising for Single Mom Strong, an organization that supports single moms through childcare resources and educational programs.
them the right information because I know the wrong
“I wanted to be a fighter,” Richardson said. “I
information is out there,” Richardson said. “People are
wanted to be a voice for the middle-class mom who needs a
searching and hungry for something that’s right.”
space for her children to go.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 55
• • • The founding engineer at Sacramento-based startup TenYour never attended college. He graduated from an
At 28, Adeyemi “Ade” Ritchards proves that talent doesn’t always follow a traditional path.
independent study high school after struggling in the classroom, describing himself as a “terrible student.” Yet today, he leads engineering for a fin-tech company while spending much of his free time helping others break into the same field. “School is not a summary of one’s value or intelligence,” Ritchards said. “If you’re willing to sit in front of a computer and be bad at something … you will eventually be really good at (programming) and get a veryxx high-paying job.”
PAGE 56 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Adeyemi “Ade” Ritchards FOUNDING ENGINEER, TENYOUR
Ritchards, who grew up in Sacramento’s
As a board member of the nonprofit Playful
Meadowview neighborhood, was more
Programming, Ritchards created a free local coding
interested in teaching himself visual effects
bootcamp last year after seeing how cost and lack of
software than doing homework in high school.
mentorship keep many people out of the engineering
Those self-directed skills eventually led him to
profession. The four-month program provided instruction
team up with friends and launch a small digital
comparable to expensive university bootcamps, Ritchards
media business after he graduated.
said, while ensuring that finances never became a barrier.
While later working at Apple’s Elk Grove call center, he recruited co-workers to stay after
Several graduates are already pursuing internships and Ritchards expects the program to continue growing.
their shifts and study coding together. That group
His commitment extends well beyond the classroom.
became a launching pad into engineering careers
He mentors aspiring software engineers one-on-one, speaks
for Ritchards and several others.
to students about alternatives to traditional college pathways,
Today, at TenYour, Ritchards oversees
organizes local technology meetups and volunteers his
engineering, code quality and software development for a
technical expertise to nonprofits serving social justice causes
startup that offers a subscription-based financial safety net
throughout Sacramento.
designed to help workers weather layoffs while encouraging long-term savings. The goal of most tech startups is to get people to
Ritchards said every opportunity he has received came because someone believed in him, from his mother Toni Newman-Hentschke to mentors who encouraged him as
keep scrolling or to persuade them to spend as much money
a young worker to the entrepreneurs who took a chance on
as possible, Ritchards said. But the mission of TenYour is
him.
“deeply morally grounded.” “We’ve partnered with cities across America —
Now he has become that person for others. “I … tell anybody who wants to learn how to code:
Nashville, Atlanta, D.C. — so that we can get this product
‘I will teach you,’” Ritchards said. “That’s what was done for
to the folks who need it most, which in our belief, are the
me.”“You can be a great leader if you surround yourself with
people who are going through the financial empowerment
great people,” he said. “My intentions are, in many ways,
programs that most cities sponsor,” he said.
caring about people.”
As excited as he is about TenYour, Ritchards’ greatest passion may be expanding access to technology careers.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 57
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Rolando F. Roberto, MD
PEDIATRIC SPINE PROGRAM MEDICAL DIRECTOR, SHRINERS CHILDREN’S NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Early in Dr. Rolando Figueroa Roberto’s career, he learned that there is joy to be found in the world of healthcare. • • • He worked at Camp Goodtimes, a summer program for children with cancer, and an Easterseals camp, where he worked with children who had muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy. As a biology student at UC Irvine, he volunteered at the university hospital, where he copped to some “unsanctioned” wheelchair races. “I just thought, ‘What a great vocation — to take care of other humans,’” Roberto said. Just before starting medical school, Roberto visited his uncle, a neonatologist who ran the largest neonatal intensive care unit in Guatemala. “He was a kind man, with a good heart, who wanted
On a recent afternoon, a hand-drawn thank-you
to give back to his country,” Roberto said. “It just seemed
card was taped to the whiteboard in Roberto’s office,
like a great career — to devote your life to the care of others.”
from a foothills patient with severe scoliosis. A Spiderman
Nowadays, Roberto is “Dr. Ro,” to his patients, and
sticker covered most of the doctor’s badge, affixed there by
chief of pediatric spine at Shriners Children’s Northern
a patient. As he circulated through the hospital, Roberto
California. The hospital treats about 175 major pediatric
greeted one of his patients, and asked: “Are you having fun
spine cases per year, sparing patients from pain, and in some
today?”
advanced cases, degraded lung function.
“It’s a lot of fun, making rounds here,” Roberto said.
Roberto’s patients have gone on to become
“They can play. They can go to school. It’s actually enjoyable
cheerleaders, dancers and skaters. One just finished
for most. It sounds rotten, but kids are pretty resilient. And
training to become a firefighter. For Roberto — himself a
they seem to have a ball. There’s a lot of joy in taking care of
skier, swimmer, runner and backpacker — it’s a rewarding
kids, and particularly helping them through a very stressful
proposition.
period of time in their life.”
PAGE 58 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
For more than two decades, Rolando Roberto, MD, has been a transformative force in the lives of children across Northern California and beyond. He has dedicated his career to giving young people the chance to stand tall, move freely, and live fully. Dr. Roberto cares for some of the most complex and vulnerable young patients. As a leading pediatric spine surgeon at Shriners Children’s Northern California — one of the region’s premier pediatric specialty hospitals — he cares for children with spinal trauma, osteogenesis imperfecta, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, and other rare and complex conditions. As a researcher and the Medical Director of the Pediatric Spine Program at the UC Davis School of Medicine, Dr. Roberto has been changing pediatric specialty care for the future – focusing on clinical excellence, innovation, and compassion — and bringing the most advanced treatments to children when they need it most. Dr. Roberto — known to his patients as “Dr. Ro” — helps children be more mobile, independent and enjoy a robust quality of life. Thank you, Dr. Roberto, for being a pediatric healthcare Change Maker!
916-453-2191
2425 Stockton Blvd. Sacramento, California, 95817 shrinerschildrens.org/northern-california
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
DERRELL ROBERTS CEO, ROBERTS FAMILY DEVELOPMENT CENTER
For the first 17 years of his life, Derrell Roberts lived in the St. Bernard Projects in New Orleans’ 7th Ward. • • • Though the housing complex was demolished after Hurricane Katrina, Roberts begins his story there. The second oldest child of six siblings, Roberts belonged to the second family of the three his father would have. Stretched across three apartments, they were cared for by his late mother, a “family person by nature.” “I always had a house full,” he said. “Family has always meant a lot to me.” At 17, Roberts bid goodbye to New Orleans for California, where he attended Crenshaw High School, Chapman University and the University of Southern California. He first arrived in Sacramento 43 years ago for a graduate school assignment. He never left and he’s become a community pillar in North Sacramento. But it was 25 years ago when Roberts, along with
Roberts’ service extends even further than the
his wife — a specialist in prenatal care and mental health
center. Roberts took over organizing the annual North
— founded the organization that cemented his position in
Sacramento-Del Paso Heights Dr. Martin Luther King
the community: the Roberts Family Development Center.
Jr. March, and championed park clean-ups to create the
Drawing on his commitment to family, youth development
“neighborhoods that we think our kids deserve, our
and violence prevention, and a member of the Children’s
neighbors deserve, our seniors deserve.”
Defense Fund Freedom Schools network, the center provides holistic support and educational opportunities for young people and their families. “We support them, we love them,” Roberts said. “We try to create a safe environment for them.”
Yet he downplays his role, crediting family, friends and community leaders who came before him. “You can be a great leader if you surround yourself with great people,” he said. “My intentions are, in many ways, caring about people.”
PAGE 60 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Sergio Robles
ELK GROVE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER & CALIFORNIA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER
For Sergio Robles, public service is less about writing policy than making sure people can feel its impact in their lives. • • • Across government, nonprofit work and military service, the Elk Grove councilmember has built a career around bringing people together to tackle problems ranging from food insecurity and housing affordability to infrastructure and economic development. “Policy is important, but ultimately people want to know what it means for their family and their neighborhood,” Robles said. “My focus has always been on turning ideas into something tangible that improves people’s lives.” That approach helped Robles address two significant Today, as an Elk Grove councilmember, Robles helps
challenges in Elk Grove. He played a role in securing city funding for the Elk Grove Food Bank & Family Services
oversee policy and budget decisions affecting more than
network and led development of the city’s first down
180,000 residents. His regional board service also touches
payment assistance program, creating another path to
transportation, environmental sustainability and long-term
homeownership for first-time buyers.
growth.
“Housing stability can change the trajectory of a
His service extends beyond government. Robles
family for generations,” Robles said. “When we remove
serves on the board of City of Refuge, supporting programs
barriers for working families, we’re investing in the long-
providing job training, housing assistance and resources
term strength of the community.”
for vulnerable populations. He also serves in the California
While serving in the office of U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, Robles was a primary liaison to Sacramento County,
Army National Guard. “No one organization or level of government
working with elected officials, agencies and community
can solve these challenges alone,” Robles said. “Progress
organizations on infrastructure, economic development and
happens when you bring people together, listen to what the
public service initiatives.
community needs and find a way to move forward.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 61
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Jenny RodriQuez
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & SEED PARTNERSHIPS REPRESENTATIVE, SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT
Jenny Rodriquez wants to help Sacramento thrive, and she’s giving back to her community to make that happen. • • • Rodriquez is a supplier education and economic development partnerships representative for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, or SMUD. Through the SEED program, she helps small businesses connect with SMUD, hosting workshops and events designed to help entrepreneurs navigate opportunities and build relationships that can lead to new business. “If we can keep the lights on and also continue to do business with businesses in our area, then it’s a win-win,” Rodriquez said.
Her community involvement extends beyond SMUD. Rodriquez serves on Elk Grove’s diversity and
Rodriquez was born and raised in Sacramento and
inclusion commission, where she contributes to efforts to
has been with SMUD for more than 20 years. She started
strengthen connections among residents. Outside of her
in customer service and worked in departments across
professional and civic roles, she is a wife and mother of four.
the utility while earning her undergraduate and master’s
For Rodriquez, those roles share a common
degrees through SMUD’s tuition assistance program. That
purpose: creating opportunities for people who might not
experience gave her an understanding of the organization
otherwise know where to find them and helping others see a
from both the customer and employee perspectives.
path forward.
She also co-founded an employee resource group at
Rodriquez said she wants herself and members of
SMUD called Latinos Unity Network for Action — LUNA
the organizations she serves to blaze a path and open doors
for short, which is also a family name of Rodriquez’s —
for those who come after them.
and serves as president of the Sacramento chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America.
“Things are going to be good, better than they were at least, from when I showed up,” Rodriquez said.
PAGE 62 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
maria baptista soria
FIVE STAR BANK VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY IMPACT AND INCLUSION
Knowing how to play golf can be an advantage in business. Maria Baptista Soria knew it, and she didn’t like seeing coworkers, often women, miss valuable face time with other professionals. • • • So Soria, who played the sport at St. Francis Catholic High School and Sacramento City College, created an employee golf group at Five Star Bank. It gave colleagues who had never picked up a club an opportunity to learn the game, build confidence, and participate in a setting where business relationships are often formed. “You’re getting all this quality time with these people when you play golf, even if you’re not that great,” Soria said. “And once we talked about that, more and more Through those organizations, Soria worked
people within the organization — men included — were like, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve never played, I want to learn.’” For Soria, the golf group reflects a larger philosophy
alongside entrepreneurs and community leaders, helping connect people with resources, relationships, and
that has shaped her career: Opportunity matters, but so does
opportunities to grow. The work also gave her a close look at
making sure people feel comfortable stepping through the
the challenges facing small and minority-owned businesses. For Soria, however, the work has always been about
door. Soria has spent her career working to expand
more than business. It is about people, relationships, and
opportunities for California professionals and business
helping others find opportunities they might not otherwise
owners. Before taking on her current role leading
have.
community impact and inclusion efforts at Five Star Bank,
“This might sound kind of cliché, but I felt like I
she spent much of her career at the California Hispanic
was supporting family,” Soria said. “I think, ultimately, my
Chambers of Commerce and the Sacramento Asian Pacific
life goal was to just be able to help people in some
Chamber of Commerce.
way or another.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 63
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Sam Starks
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MLK365
As a Black man living in America, seeking justice is a part of Sam Stark’ dynamic, a part of who he is. Starks said he can’t walk into a room without thinking how to empower his community and other marginalized groups. • • • “The throughline of what I’ve done has never been about me,” Starks said. “It’s always been about empowering people, so that they can make the change that they need … that they would like to see in the world.” As part of that advocacy, Starks once worked for SMUD as a community engagement representative, creating multiple diverse employee resource groups for the organization. He brought the notion of solidarity and community to the nonprofit organization MLK365, which Starks founded and currently serves as executive director. The nonprofit was created to honor the mission of Martin Luther King Jr. year-round, Starks said. He uses the nonprofit to spearhead critical conversations in Sacramento’s Black community. Starks works with California Forum Crossroads, a nonprofit that encourages “intracultural” discourse to strengthen Sacramento’s African American institutions, according to its website.
When Starks first took over, the march was a small 250-person event at the former Florin Mall. In the two decades since, Starks has transformed it into one of Sacramento’s largest events with thousands of people participating. And, Starks said, he has seen the march become more diverse. He’s seen Sacramento evolve. “Seeing people come together mentally, emotionally, physically,” Starks said. “You see generations: people who
For the past 25 years on Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
are now grandparents whose grandchildren are now
Starks has led the six-mile “March for the Dream” from
marching … I’ve seen America grow. I’ve seen
Sacramento City College in honor of the civil rights leader.
Sacramento grow.”
PAGE 64 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Timothy Swaney CEO, WATCHUR6 & PRESIDENT OF VETS
When Timothy Swaney moved to Sacramento from San Diego in 2019 after nine years in the U.S. Navy, he wasn’t sure where he fit in. • • • “I felt lost and kind of alone,” Swaney, now 36, said. “I didn’t know where my people were.” Swaney found connections with a group of San Francisco military veterans, but when the opportunity to help form a local group to aid fellow veterans came in 2025, he stepped up. He understood firsthand how important that sense of community could be for veterans navigating life after military service. “We needed something like that here,” Swaney said. “We didn’t want people to feel that way anymore.” Swaney co-founded Veteran Entrepreneur Tribe of Sacramento, or VETS. The community organization helps military veterans and their allies start and grow their own businesses, while giving them a place to connect with others
Swaney founded WatchUr6, a cybersecurity
who understand the challenges of moving from military
company, in 2022 after seeing news reports about a hospital
service into entrepreneurship.
crippled by a cyberattack.
The organization provides resources, education and other assistance from the earliest idea through scaling up, Swaney said. It serves the greater Sacramento area and has partnerships with local businesses and service organizations, creating a network where veteran entrepreneurs can find guidance, connections and support. For Swaney, entrepreneurship also became a way to apply his own experience and skills to solving problems he saw affecting businesses and communities.
The company helps businesses create their own cybersecurity systems. “We help them secure that which is most important to them, which is their data,” Swaney said. Swaney, who had founded other companies in the past, decided he was ready for another challenge after a hiatus from running his own businesses. “I was ready to jump back in, doing something I love to do,” he said.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 65
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Jenny Tan
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, CITY OF DAVIS
Jenny Tan didn’t realize she had attained local fame until the pandemic began to wane. • • • As the world reopened and she ventured out on normal errands again, strangers approached her in coffeeshops and grocery stores. At first she asked herself, “Do I know these people from somewhere?” She didn’t. Those enthusiastic folk were loyal, daily viewers of the videos she had produced for Yolo County, for months, informing the public about caseloads, deaths, vaccines and the latest health restrictions. “I just didn’t realize that so many people were depending on these videos and that information,” Tan said. “It was just the right thing to do.” Tan’s job was demanding. She estimated that she gave 10 interviews a day for a year and sent out news releases every other day. She worked on producing informational graphics in a smattering of different languages. After four years with the county, Tan needed a change. After a brief stint with the California State
“I really want people to know that there are people that work in government that are doing it for the right
Association of Counties, she took a public affairs job with
reasons, who really are committed to the service, the work,
the city of Davis, where she had attended college, met her
the transparency,” Tan said.
husband and had always wanted to live long-term. There are challenges still. It’s tough to correct
Tan is a board member for the Yolo Community Foundation. She volunteers on a committee for the
misinformation and when state or even global issues
Sacramento Region Community Foundation. She does free
take over the local conversation, it’s difficult for the city
graphic design work for Empower Yolo.
to provide answers that offer residents resolution. The
Her penchant for public service came in part, she
community “may butt heads” from time to time, Tan
said, from her own mother, who was a “foundation” for her
acknowledged, but it’s only out of a desire to collectively
family, and worked seven days a week as a hairstylist while
achieve the best for Davis.
Tan was growing up.
PAGE 66 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Malissa Tayaba
VICE CHAIR, SHINGLE SPRINGS BAND OF MIWOK INDIANS, TRIBAL COUNCIL
Culture. That’s the one word that Malissa Tayaba has kept front of mind when pursuing her work for the last decade and as she continues moving forward. • • • Tayaba is the tribal council vice chair and director of traditional ecological knowledge for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. She said her tribe’s culture was almost lost after the government forced them from their homes in the 1800s and prohibited their religious and cultural practices. Now, she is bringing back her community’s traditions, history and sovereignty so they can be passed from one generation to the next and are never at risk of being lost again. “My tribe has grown from having nothing to having something,” Tayaba said. Tayaba was one of the first children to live on the reservation when California gave land back to her tribe in 1980, when she was 2 years old. It’s why she said she’s so rooted in her community. Growing up poor on the reservation in
Tayaba regularly moves between worlds, she said,
predominantly white and wealthy El Dorado County
from helping members of her tribe on the reservation
shaped her, Tayaba said. She remembers being in classrooms
to showing up for her community at the state Capitol to
where she was the only brown person, an experience that
educating non-Native groups about the tribe.
strengthened her connection to her identity and community. She’s been a council member for more than 20 years and has worn many different hats in the tribe. She is the current director of traditional ecological knowledge, a department focused on preserving Indigenous
Through those roles, she works to ensure tribal knowledge and traditions remain relevant not only to the tribe today, but to generations that will follow. Tayaba said her work never ends. “We are not going to stop,” Tayaba said. “The tribe
ways learned through interactions with
was here before and we are here now, and we are going to be
the environment.
here in the future.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 67
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
anthony uribe WILTON RANCHERIA DEPUTY COO
Anthony Uribe knew he always wanted to create and lead. • • • Those are the passions he said drove him to Sacramento, the epicenter of California politics. While attending a DACA rally his senior year of college, he found an internship opportunity for U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove. For nine years, Uribe worked in almost every role in Bera’s office, gaining an up-close understanding of how government can affect communities and the people who call them home. “I’ve always been getting involved,” Uribe said. “I found myself in a great city and surrounded by people who genuinely wanted to … change community aspects of things.” Uribe once organized a taco fest supporting 64 small Latino businesses in Del Paso Heights, a neighborhood in Bera’s district. It was a neighborhood Uribe grew to love, and the experience reinforced his belief that public service could mean creating opportunities for people in tangible, everyday ways.
He works directly with tribal citizens, helping them navigate tribal and state resources designated for Native
With Bera’s office, Uribe also assisted in the
Americans. The position has allowed him to continue
congressman’s annual Brain Health Forum for people with
the community-focused work that first brought him to
dementia and their families. Uribe said he served more
Sacramento.
than 700,000 residents in Bera’s district. In 2026, Uribe
Uribe, who is Mexican American, said his work
was awarded the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s “Young
ethic comes from wanting to help the Latino community.
Professional of the Year.”
As he navigates his own career, he said he aims to always
Uribe currently serves as deputy chief operations officer for Wilton Rancheria, the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento. In this role, he oversees multiple departments within the tribe.
support other Latinos and help create pathways for those coming behind him. “We can’t be shooting ourselves in a barrel; we’ve got to climb this ladder and help the person behind us.”
PAGE 68 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Nilda Valmores
SENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER, THE CENTER AT SIERRA HEALTH FOUNDATION
Nilda Valmores was born in Hawaii, but after nearly 30 years in Sacramento, she has built deep roots in the community she calls home. • • • For 18 years, Valmores served as the executive director of My Sister’s House, an organization that assists Asian and Pacific Islander women affected by domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. She stepped down in 2022. In that time, My Sister’s House went from having only three staff members and a tiny budget to an organization that offers support and job training for women, along with four shelters, including one specifically dedicated to Muslim women. It wasn’t easy, Valmores said. “We not only had to show the greater community
Today, Valmores is a senior program officer at The
there was a need for these domestic violence services, but
Center at Sierra Health Foundation. She has led initiatives
we also had to justify it within the Asian/Pacific Islander
such as Stop the Hate and the Behavioral Health Responsive
community,” she said.
Services Program. In addition, Valmores is a member and
Cultural mores kept some women from seeking help,
former president of the Sacramento branch of Soroptimists
or if they did go to larger shelters, “they weren’t getting the
International, an organization that advocates for women
services they needed, because they didn’t feel like they could
and girls across the world.
relate to others. They didn’t feel safe.”
Valmores has also been supporting the local effort
“We felt like it was important to have culturally
to build the region’s first Filipino community center. In a
appropriate shelters,” she said, even if that meant making
parallel to her life’s work, she hopes the center will provide
them smaller. But “that hominess was really important” in
“important services that community members are afraid to
helping women get back on their feet.
get right now because of language and cultural issues.”
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NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 71
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Carolyn Veal-Hunter PARTNER, SLOAT HIGGINS JENSEN & ASSOCIATES
As a young undergraduate, Carolyn Veal-Hunter understood the importance of showing up and fighting for her community. • • • Veal-Hunter found her voice as an advocate early, serving on her university’s Student Affirmative Action Committee and participating in political activities, including sit-ins at the chancellor’s office that sometimes led to her arrest. But even then, Veal-Hunter said, she wasn’t necessarily the person leading from the front. She describes herself as a natural leader, but one more comfortable working behind the scenes. “You’re not going to see me being the loud one with the megaphone,” Veal-Hunter said. “I’m going to be the one behind the scenes digging in, looking at the policy aspects of things and figuring out how to get it done from an organizational standpoint.”
“I always tell people I love to win. I love the fight,” Veal-Hunter said. “(Lobbyists) represent different interests
For Veal-Hunter, that means understanding how
before the Legislature and I always make it clear that every
decisions are made, identifying where change is possible
entity deserves a voice. Everybody has a right to be heard
and doing the often unseen work required to move an issue
and as lobbyists we give our clients a right to be heard.”
forward. It is a leadership style that has shaped her career.
But some of the work Veal-Hunter values most
Veal-Hunter, a partner at Sloat Higgins Jensen &
extends beyond legislation and policy. She said her proudest
Associates, said being a lobbyist has provided a means to
accomplishment is the number of people she has mentored
advocate for groups and interests that impact the daily lives
in the lobbying and legislative workspace, helping others
of Californians. She has helped keep costs low for students
find their place in the profession.
at California State Universities and advocated for women-
“Giving back has been ensuring the success of and
and minority-owned businesses to compete for contracting
growing the number of African-American lobbyists and staff
work at some of California’s largest gas and electric utility
and helping them understand the tricks of the trade,” Veal-
companies.
Hunter said.
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2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Cirian Villavicencio POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, SAN JOAQUIN DELTA COLLEGE
At San Joaquin Delta College, Cirian Villavicencio teaches students about American politics, international political economy and governments world-wide. • • • What he actually wants them to take away from his classes is how to become engaged citizens who use their voices to amplify their communities’ needs. Villavicencio has been teaching for more than two decades. For about as long, he has advocated for the rights and representation of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. That passion took root in high school. In the Bay Area’s Filipino American hub of South San Francisco and Daly City, 40% of the student body at his school was
He worked on human trafficking legislation and
— like him — of Filipino descent. Despite that, he didn’t see
advocated for Filipino World War II veterans to receive
anyone who looked like him in leadership positions.
the Congressional Gold Medal. Later, Villavicencio helped
“I started questioning that: Why have our
to create an ongoing program to support the needs of
communities been invisible? And I wanted my career to
California’s first-generation, low-income AAPI students in
address that,” he said. “Representation matters. I’ve always
the community college system.
been combating the invisibility of our communities.”
Now, as a faculty representative on the California
That experience shaped both his work in the
Community College board, his aim is to be a voice for
classroom and his advocacy outside it, where he has
students from historically marginalized communities
pushed to ensure communities often overlooked in broader
— extending the same belief in representation that first
conversations have a seat at the table.
inspired him as a high school student.
As former chair of the California Commission on
“His service reflects a lifelong commitment to
Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, Villavicencio
empowering communities, fostering leadership, and
helped pass legislation to disaggregate public health data for
advancing equity well beyond the scope of his professional
diverse AAPI groups that were otherwise lumped into a few
responsibilities,” said Khydeeja Alam, who currently serves
major categories.
as CAPIAA’s executive director.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 73
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
anica walls
SEIU LOCAL 1000 PRESIDENT | SACRAMENTO CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL PRESIDENT CALIFORNIA LABOR FEDERATION OF UNIONS VICE PRESIDENT
Anica Walls spends her days fighting for nearly 100,000 workers. When she needs a break from the bargaining tables, meetings, and protests, she turns up the music. • • • Anica Walls holds many titles. She is president of SEIU Local 1000, president of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, and vice president of the California Labor Federation of Unions. She’s also a certified Zumba instructor. “It’s what I call my other happy place,” Walls said, laughing. Having grown up in a family of carpenters and construction workers, she was always encouraged to stand up for what was right. At UC Santa Cruz, Walls planned to study medicine. But, she said she quickly discovered that her strengths lay elsewhere, eventually double majoring in Latin
Walls said her work varies widely from day to day,
American and Latino studies, and community studies. After
from talking to members in-person and on the phone, to
participating in a field study in Mexico teaching Indigenous
sitting in meetings, fighting for resources, and even leading
children, she started working at Mission Neighborhood
protests, as she did in June in response to Gov. Gavin
Centers in San Francisco. It was there that she realized she
Newsom’s return-to-office order.
wanted to keep doing community work. “It was never the goal to be the president of anything,” said Walls. “It was just my values and what I felt
To Walls, it’s crucial that workers collaborate across sectors on issues they have in common. “We’re not going to agree all the time, but we could
like our people, my people, people of color in this country
at least sit and have the conversations and support each
deserve.”
other in some of these fights,” she said. Walls emphasized the importance of what she calls
the “bread and butter issues” — wages, working conditions, and workplace treatment and harassment.
Her plans for the future aren’t complicated. “The goal is to keep doing what I’m doing,” Walls said. “Continue inspiring and motivating.”
PAGE 74 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Zenja Watkins, MD KAISER PERMANENTE OB-GYN
Dr. Zenja Watkins was working late at the hospital on Independence Day one year. In the middle of the night, she delivered a baby. Just then, fireworks went off. • • • It felt reflective of the joy she finds in her work in obstetrics and gynecology. It is mostly, she said, a “very happy specialty, where good things are happening.” “People are becoming parents. Babies are coming into the world. You get to see them open their eyes for the first time. And it’s like, ‘You’re here now. Make the best of it,’” she said. In January, Watkins began participating in the “Dr. When women like Serena Williams and Beyoncé
Me” program, intended to teach children about medicine and help them imagine themselves as future healthcare
talked about their pregnancy complications, Watkins said,
professionals. Watkins and other physicians held a white-
their stories highlighted research that shows factors like
coat ceremony for a fifth-grade class at Charles Mack
high education or socioeconomic status don’t protect Black
Elementary School. Each student received a stethoscope and
women from experiencing greater levels of complications.
a white coat with their name and the Dr. Me logo on it, and
“It just shined a light on the bigger problem,”
from January to June, they learned about different areas of
Watkins said. “Bias is unconscious and it happens on a level
medicine, such as gastroenterology and pulmonology.
that you can’t even recognize. That’s why it’s important that
“They got a real glimpse into the science and the
we have trainings and that we bring it to light.” Watkins has been an OB-GYN for 28 years and has
art of medicine, and a lot of them said they wanted to be doctors,” Watkins said. Watkins also offers training and lectures for other Kaiser Permanente workers on the topic of African
played piano at her church for 20 years or so. She drew a parallel between the two: Music and medicine, to her, never get old.
American health disparities. She covers a range of areas,
“It can change your mood. It can change your
but has taken a special focus on maternal morbidity and
outlook, just like having a good doctor’s visit can,” Watkins
mortality disparities in recent years.
said. “You go in a little hope, come out with a lot of hope.”
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 75
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Tiyesha Watts
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR POLICY ADVOCACY, CALIFORNIA HOUSING PARTNERSHIP
Tiyesha Watts is in love with policy and the change that comes with it, she said. • • • Her passion for public policy started as a legislative aide. While working for former state Sen. Richard Pan’s office, she supported rental moratoriums and helped people navigate housing resources. With the California Academy of Family Physicians, Watts advocated for and secured funding for a family medicine residency program focused on filling health care gaps and bringing doctors to communities where access to care was limited. Watts is also an adjunct political science professor at Sierra College. She has advocated for policy initiatives involving education, public safety and housing for the California Community Colleges. Her work across those areas has reinforced her belief that policy can make government more responsive to people who might otherwise struggle to be heard. “I really felt that public policy was a place for me,
Watts is now the associate director for policy
because it allows me to create solutions for constituents that
advocacy for the California Housing Partnership, a
have my same background I grew up (in),” Watts said.
nonprofit focused on advising agencies on affordable
She grew up low-income household. Her mother worked multiple jobs to keep a roof over her head, and her family lived in Section 8 housing and received CalFresh
housing initiatives. With the partnership, Watts spearheads lobbying and advocacy efforts. “I wanted to ensure that those who don’t know
food benefits. Those experiences gave Watts a firsthand
how to navigate the system, who don’t know how to
understanding of how important public programs can be —
navigate bureaucracy, are able to access benefits and receive
and how difficult they can sometimes be to navigate.
resources,” Watts said.
PAGE 76 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
Congratulations We are proud to celebrate these Change Makers who are Made at Sac State Lora Anguay
Renatto Guerra
Chief Executive Officer, SMUD
Senior Program Director, Improve Your Tomorrow
German Ayon
Program Manager and Disaster Response Coordinator, Agency on Aging Area 4
Maria Baptista Soria
VP, Director of Community Impact and Inclusion, Five Star Bank
JaNay Brown-Wood
Clarissa Laguardia
Ramona Landeros
Supplier Education and Economic Development (SEED) Partnerships Representative, SMUD
Marie Mertz
Founder and Executive Director, MLK365
Executive Director, California Center for Civic Participation CEO, Laguardia Translations
Farmworker Advocate and CEO, Benito Juarez Association
Award-winning children’s author, educator and literacy advocate
Michaela Edwards
Lauren Oto
Executive Director of the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Owner, Todo Un Poco Restauramt
National Director of College Access, Advising & Completion, Improve Your Tomorrow
Jenny Rodriguez
Samuel Starks
Anthony Uribe
Deputy Chief Operations Officer, Wilton Rancheria
And these Sacramento State faculty and staff whose vision and leadership have a lasting impact on our students and community Wendy Aguilar
Director of Media and Public Relations
Margarita Berta-Avila
President of the California Faculty Association and Professor of Education
Aniesha Mitchell
Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Inclusive Excellence
Annette Reed Dean of Students, Wileety Native American College
csus.edu/made NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 77
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
simon yeH
SOUTH SACRAMENTO INTERFAITH PARTNERSHIP FOOD CLOSET EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Simon Yeh traded corporate success for a different kind of return — helping feed hundreds of Sacramento families every day. •
•
•
On a Thursday morning distribution at the South
“I did very well in the corporate world, but it wasn’t satisfying,” Yeh said. Yeh left a substantial salary and benefits behind to work for the small nonprofit initially as a supervisor, eventually working his way up to executive director. In addition to the
Sacramento Interfaith Partnership Food Closet, Executive
daily distribution grind, Yeh works to create
Director Simon Yeh weaved through small spaces packed
relationships with grocery stores and local
with volunteers, clients and literal tons of food — doing
institutions to expand SSIP’s reach. When
everything it takes to serve 250 families in two and a half
he started at the food closet, they averaged
hours.
about 70 clients a day. Now, a typical food At the supply intake area, Yeh saw a new volunteer
awkwardly unpacking a package of beans layered two cans deep, wrapped in plastic. “What’s your name — Barry? Barry is taking my job today. Can I show you something?” Yeh took the utility knife from the volunteer’s hand and made four swift cuts around the perimeter,
distribution serves 250-300 clients. Each client receives a heavy box of goods including fresh produce, frozen food, USDA shelf-stable goods and eggs or dairy products. Families of more than five receive twice the amount. The only thing required to receive a box is a form of identification. The morning operation is a well-oiled machine
quickly and elegantly releasing the product in a way that
operating within around 1,000 square feet. Every day,
makes it obvious he’s done it thousands of times. Then
volunteers and (the few) employees check in clients,
he demonstrated his method for opening boxes of bagged
process deliveries, sort thousands of pounds of food,
lentils — with his keys, so that the bags don’t get pierced.
package hundreds of boxes and allocate them to clients
This life of addressing client needs, stacking eggs
while simultaneously preparing for the following day’s
and sorting out logistics at a food bank has been Yeh’s for
distribution. Yeh, on any given day, touches any or all of
around seven years, a marked departure from his previous
these tasks as needed.
career. A decade ago, Yeh was at the top of corporate
Dyhana Stewart began volunteering four years
America, managing billions of dollars for Hewlett Packard
ago, after she saw Yeh on TV news. She said it has been
and SunPower Corporation as treasury consultant.
rewarding to see Yeh’s evolution as a leader.
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“He is a servant leader,” she said. “He’s not only
“When you’re in the corporate world, you’re not
someone who says, ‘can you do this, this, and this?’ He
choosing the company because of the mission, you’re
actually gets in there and will do this, this, and this. He
choosing because of the pay,” Yeh said. “In nonprofits, you’re
leads by example.
here because of the mission because you know the pay’s
Yeh and his team together overcame one of the food closet’s most challenging periods when SNAP funding went
never going to match, but you go home and say, ‘that was darn rewarding.’”
dry last fall, SSIP made sure they could feed an increasingly desperate clientele. Those months were challenging, but they made it through thanks to a committed group of volunteers, a strong client community and Yeh’s leadership.
NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM | PAGE 79
2026 SACRAMENTO CHANGE MAKER
Shelton yip
YOLO COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION TRUSTEE
Now retired, the longtime educator still serves as a trustee on the Yolo County Board of Education, a position he has held for more than a decade — where he continues helping support students, educators and families. Retirement, for Yip, has meant stepping away from a full-time career without stepping away from the work that has defined much of his life.
Shelton Yip didn’t plan on becoming an educator. •
•
•
When Yip works with educators or administrators across the state, he starts those conversations by asking them: “What is your ‘why’?”
Initially, after moving to Davis from Stockton
He asks this question to understand what
to pursue a degree in Asian American studies at the
drives educators and why they work with young
University of California, Davis, he hoped to be an artist.
people.
But that career path didn’t seem like a viable way to support
“My ‘why’ is about changing for greater
his young family. Not knowing what he would do after
good,” Yip said. “I want to make sure that our
graduating, Yip talked with a mentor who encouraged him
students, and our families, and our community
to fill out an application for a teaching credential program.
through my actions have something that will change,
More than 50 years later, Yip recalled, “I had my credential by the time I was 22 and never looked back.” Yip, 75, has since had a storied, multi-decade
make life a little bit better for them.” Throughout his nearly three decades with the Dixon Unified School District, Yip wore a number of
career in education, working for several school districts
different hats. He helped develop new ways of working with
in the Sacramento region. He’s held nearly every position
students with disabilities as a special education teacher, he
in education: classroom teacher, counselor, vice principal,
coached soccer for 10 years and he stepped up to serve as
principal and district-wide administrator.
the principal of one of the district’s high schools when the
Along the way, those different roles gave Yip a broad
former principal died unexpectedly.
view of education and the many people it takes to help a
Those experiences reinforced a lesson that would
student succeed. Whether working directly with students
follow Yip throughout his career: Education is about far
or helping shape decisions at the administrative level, he
more than what happens in a classroom. Students bring
developed a philosophy centered on listening, building
with them different circumstances, challenges and needs,
relationships and finding practical ways to remove barriers
and schools are often where those needs first
for young people.
become visible.
PAGE 80 | NEHEMIAH LEADERS PROGRAMS | THE SACRAMENTO BEE | 2026 SACRAMENTOCHANGEMAKERS.COM
One of Yip’s lasting contributions to young
His ability to connect with others is reflected in the
Californians is his work with Breaking Barriers, a
number of former students he still communicates with and
collaboration between youth-serving organizations
his regular presence at Davis-area events.
and leaders, like Yip, which has helped expand mental
For Yip, those connections are another extension
health services for young people. This work was part of
of the role he has played for decades — bringing people
Yip’s broader efforts advocating for initiatives focused
together, identifying resources and helping someone find the
on supporting foster youth and students in alternative
person or organization that can make a difference.
educational and juvenile justice settings. Yip is a longstanding champion of student advocacy and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community
“I’m a connector,” he said. “I’m not the one with all the answers, but there are people out there with the answers.”
in the region, which has won him deep respect in the Davis region where he has lived for many years.
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