PROGRAM

BIOGRAPHIES OF SPEAKERS

Dr. Manuel Pastor, Ph.D., University of Southern California

Professor, Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity

Dr. Pastor also serves as Director of USC's Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and co-Director of USC's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII). Founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations and grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Wellness Foundation, and many others. In recent years, his research has focused on the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities in the U.S., resulting in articles published in Economic Development Quarterly, Review of Regional Studies, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Economic Issues, Journal of Urban Affairs, Urban Affairs Review, Urban Geography, and elsewhere.

He has also conducted research on Latin American economic conditions, with articles published in journals such as International Organization, World Development, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Latin American Studies, Latin American Research Review, and Foreign Affairs. His most recent book, co-authored with Chris Benner and Martha Matsuoka, is This Could Be the Start of Something Big: How Social Movements for Regional Equity are Reshaping Metropolitan America (Cornell University Press, 2009). Previous volumes include Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (Russell Sage, 2007; co-authored with Chris Benner and Laura Leete), Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America (W.W. Norton, 2002; co-authored with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh) and Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together (University of Minnesota Press, 2000; co-authored with Peter Dreier, Eugene Grigsby, and Marta Lopez-Garza). Dr. Pastor speaks frequently on issues of demographic change, economic inequality, and community empowerment and has contributed opinion pieces to such outlets as the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Business Journal, and the Christian Science Monitor. He served as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California’s Speaker of the State Assembly, and in January 2002 was awarded a Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award from the California Center for Regional Leadership. He is currently a member of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee for the California Air Resources Board and is also a member of the Building Resilient Regions research network sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation.

Lisa Margonelli, The New America Foundation 

Director, Energy Policy Initiative

Lisa Margonelli writes about the global culture and economy of energy. Her book about the oil supply chain, Oil On the Brain: Petroleum's Long Strange Trip to Your Tank, was published by Nan Talese/Doubleday in 2007. Recognized as one of the 25 Notable Books of 2007 by the American Library Association, Oil On the Brain also won a 2008 Northern California Book Award for general nonfiction.

Ms. Margonelli has been published in The Atlantic, New York Times online, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Discover, Salon, Business 2.0, San Francisco Magazine, and California Monthly, among other publications. Her column, "Money Tales," which combined economics and oral history in the San Francisco Chronicle online, won an Excellence in Journalism award from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists in 2003. In 1999-2000, she was awarded a Sundance Fellowship. She is a graduate of Yale University.

As director of the New America Foundation Energy Policy Initiative, Ms. Margonelli's work includes an examination of the promise and possibility of the post-oil world and California's unique opportunity to benefit from new technologies and policies. She is also looking at the unexpected complications of alternative fuels and energy efficiency.

Scott Turner, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Community Development 

Scott's work in community development has included performing community development assessments, coordinating the unit's research and analysis, and working with financial institution, community, and government representatives to increase community development-related services and investment in Twelfth District communities. Scott was promoted to manager of the Department's newly-formed Research Group in 2005, then given responsibility for leading the entire Department's staff in 2007 and named Vice President in 2009.

Scott joined the Federal Reserve in 2002 after spending most of his professional life in New York, initially working as Director of Research for New York City's Finance Department and then as Deputy Commissioner for Policy in the City's Housing Preservation and Development Department. He also worked in the International Finance Department for Standard & Poor's and most recently worked for Morgan Stanley, where he was responsible for analyzing sovereign risks in over ninety countries. Scott earned a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Western Washington University. 

Naomi Cytron, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Naomi joined the Community Development Department in 2005.  As a Senior Research Associate, she explores and reports on topics affecting low- and moderate-income communities, including affordable housing, workforce development, asset building, and concentrated poverty.  Prior to joining the Fed, Naomi conducted fair housing investigations and consulted on affordable housing projects.  Naomi holds a BA in Biology from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and a Masters in Regional Planning, with a concentration in Community and Economic Development, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rey León, San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Adv. & Policy Project (Valley LEAP)

Executive Director/Founder

Born in Fresno and raised in the Huron area.  Mr. León is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he obtained a BA in Chicano Studies with an emphasis in public health.  He is the founder and Executive Director of the San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement & Policy Project (Valley LEAP), a Latino Valley based non-profit organization.  Mr. León is based in Fresno for the Valley and focuses on environmental justice, air quality, energy and green jobs.  As a co-founder and active Vice-Chair of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition and Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee, he exercises his leadership to ensure that environmental justice principles are advanced in the regions institutions and culture. He is also the founder and chair of the San Joaquin Valley Green Jobs Coalition which counts on over ninety members. 

Mr. León sits on various boards and committees including the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development and the Center on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT).  Prior to starting Valley LEAP, Mr. León organized for fifteen years advancing Latino and youth leadership.  In the past six years Mr. León has engaged in successfully building coalitions, advocacy and advancing public policy; placement of the first PM 2.5 air quality monitor on the West Side of the Valley, systems change; developing the first ever environmental justice strategy and the formation of the EJ advisory group at the air district and much more.  Through Valley LEAP, Rey continues to work with the "tree-tops" and grassroots to promote clean energy alternatives, green jobs and diesel mitigation in concentrated clusters of poverty in the central San Joaquin Valley.  Mr. León continues working with Valley communities to achieve environmental and climate justice.

Rubén Lizardo, PolicyLink

Associate Director

Mr. Lizardo leads equitable public investment efforts to ensure public investments in infrastructure generate community benefits. His work includes research and public education, training and technical assistance to strengthen community and civic participation in decision-making, and working with public officials to develop investment strategies and policies that further equity and economic vitality.  Prior to joining PolicyLink, he was the capacity-building director of California Tomorrow, where he led advocacy, training, and technical assistance efforts to address diversity and equity issues. He also served as director of the Community Planning and Economic Development Program at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.  He is a former president of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission and was awarded The California Wellness Foundation’s California Peace Prize for his work to address root causes of youth violence.  He currently serves on the boards of Californians for Justice and Justice Matters.

Tara Marchant, The Greenlining Institute

Program Manager

Tara has long been committed to creating sustainable communities. Recognizing the challenge we face in our environment and our communities, Tara sees her work in the Green Asset Program as a clear way to facilitate change. A graduate of Yale University provided her with active analysis when approaching problems. As a delegate to the California Democratic Party, she is active in local and state politics, recognizing grassroots effectiveness. Her professional coaching expertise naturally empowers others to lead. Additionally, she is working on a documentary – A film on the dismantling of the American Dream the Current Economic Crisis through deregulation.

Robin Maria DeLugan, Ph.D., University of California, Merced

Professor, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

As a socio-cultural anthropologist, Professor Robin DeLugan has long studied the factors that shape national cultural and identity. She is conducting a 10-year study, in partnership with others, into quality-of-life issues in the San Joaquin Valley, looking at how people perceive their communities when it comes to such topics as the economy, poverty, unemployment, social services, homeownership, family, education and local government. She and others are hoping to help local and state agencies see how well their programs targeted at low-income residents in both rural and urban areas are working, and to help communities understand how their citizens see their lives there.

Ms. DeLugan is also an authority in transnationalism, indigenous migration and the people of the Americas. She has focused for a time on the ongoing processes of post-civil-war nation-building in El Salvador, Central America. She looks at how emigration, indigenous migration and transnationalism are reshaping ideas about national culture and identity.  Her research allows her to look at contemporary indigenous migration from Mesoamerica to Northern California, examining indigenous intergroup dynamics. As California’s population grows and changes, her explanations of collective identity, the nation-state, migration and transnationalism, political anthropology, indigenous peoples of the Americas, social memory, tourism, museums and material culture are only going to become more relevant.

V. John White, Center for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Technologies (CEERT)

Executive Director/Founder

Since 1985, John has been the Sierra Club's Special Representative on air quality, energy, and growth management issues before the California State Legislature. Prior to starting his consulting firm in 1983, John worked for nine years as a committee consultant for the California State Legislature, working for a succession of legislative committees including the Permanent Subcommittee on Air Quality, the Transportation Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Toxic Materials Committee. He was central in the drafting, negotiation and ultimate passage of several of California's key air quality statutes including, the California Clean Air Act; the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act; the Tanner Act, that created California's air toxic regulatory program; and legislation and policy to accelerate the development and introduction of alternative fuels and electric vehicles. Over the course of his twenty-year career, John has become known as the leading legislative expert on California air quality law and regulation.  John is a member of the Board of Governors of the California Independent System Operator (ISO) and the California League of Conservation Voters.

Daniela Simunovic, Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment

Community Organizer, Power to the People Campaign 

Daniela Simunovic works as a community organizer in Delano, working mainly on air quality issues.  She is originally from Santiago, Chile but has spent the majority of her life in the San Joaquin Valley.  Daniela holds a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Justice and the Community from St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga. Before joining CRPE she spent a year working in Fresno as a part of Fresno Metro Ministry. While at FMM she worked on air quality issues, coordinated the New Leaders for Better Health Program, and published “Creando Conecciones,” a Spanish language consumer guide to social services in Fresno County.  She has also done union organizing.

Darryl Rutherford, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Darryl joined the Community Development Department in September of 2008 as the Regional Manager for the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. He provides technical assistance and training on community development initiatives and programs. His primary initiatives include rural community development, affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, asset building, small business development and access to financial services. 

Prior to joining the Fed, Darryl worked as an affordable housing advocate providing public policy research and analysis, on-site training and technical assistance to both local governments and grassroots community-based organizations focused on issues related to affordable housing. Darryl earned a BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences from CSU Monterey Bay and a MS in Community Development from the University of California at Davis.

Alegría De La Cruz, Esq., Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment

Staff Attorney

Alegría joined CRPE in March, 2009. Alegría was born in Delano, California. The daughter and granddaughter of farmworker organizers, Alegría has spent most of her life working as an activist for social change. After graduating from Yale University with a B.A. in History in 1997, Alegría spent three years in Southeast Asia, working in economic development, but it didn’t take her long to see that the challenges developing nations were facing in Asia – poverty, exploitation of marginalized people, environmental degradation – were the same ones facing her own community in the Central Valley of California. After graduating from law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall, in 2003, Alegría went on to work at California Rural Legal Assistance in Fresno as an advocate for farmworkers in the Central Valley. Alegría serves on the board of Centro Binacional por el Desarrollo del Indigena Oaxaqueno (CBDIO), a state-wide initiative that addresses the legal needs and develops capacity in Indigenous communities throughout California.  She was a Roots of Change Fellow in 2008, working in collaboration with other fellows to creatively address the challenges facing our food system. Alegría was awarded the 2008 Hon. Thelton E. Henderson Social Justice Prize from Boalt Hall for her work.  Alegría is the proud mother of Omé, who motivates her to fight for a healthy and sustainable future every day. ¡Si se puede!

Dr. Toulu Thao, Housing and Urban Development

Operations Specialist

Dr. Toulu Thao was recruited by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a Community Builder from a National Pool of more than 20,000 candidates to join Former Secretary Andrew Cuomo’s in his plan to re-build America. Today, as an FPM Operations Specialist, Dr. Thao works with the local government and the private sector to promote homeownership, economic development, fair housing laws, clean air/clean energy and serves as contact person for the White House Initiatives on Asian Americans.

A few of his achievement with HUD includes Little Longcheng, single family affordable housing project; the International Trade Initiatives and the establishment of the Small Farm Resources Center in Fresno to assist the small farmers. Prior to HUD, Dr. Thao has been a Mechanical Engineer, a Community Advocate and a Community Leader; He has led the Hmong to a victory against the California State Automobile Association (1998) for publishing a racist profiling article on the Hmong, and resolved an anti-Hmong dispute against the Sierra Club (2004).

His past works have captured the attention of Fortune 500 companies, the media and national leaders such as Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, and President Clinton who have invited him to the White House to discuss the socio-economic challenge faced by the Hmong. Member of the “USDA National Commission on Small Farms” during the Clinton’s administration; served as an Advisor to several Financial Institutions and Public Utilities companies in California; he was the Founder of two nonprofit organizations that advocate for socio-economic justice in the Hmong community.

Dr. Thao holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering; a Master’s Degree in Administrative Leadership; and a Joint-Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership. 

Catherine Garoupa, Central Valley Air Quality Coalition

Director 

Catherine Garoupa was raised in Madera, California, and is a proud third generation Central Valley resident.  In 2001, she graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (with Honors and Distinction) and a Minor in English, spending two semester abroad programs: in Delhi, India and Bayreuth, Germany.

Garoupa graduated with her Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from California State University, Fresno. As a graduate student intern, she worked with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the Fresno Center for Nonviolence (FCNV) coordinating free educational programs and collaborating with other community-based organizations on issues of peace and social justice. FCNV honored her efforts with their 2004 “Way of Peace” award. During her second year placement at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, Garoupa explored the functioning of local government, politics, and policy. She was also actively involved on campus through student organizations, by serving on the President’s Commission on Human Rights and Equity, and as an employee of the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute.

Upon graduating with her MSW, Catherine served as an American India Foundation Service Corps Fellow and was placed with Panchayat Rule and Gender Awareness Training Institute, a non-governmental organization that informs women about local self-governance and political empowerment. She lived and worked at this Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India based NGO and assisted in many capacities, documenting fieldwork, editing a book and facilitating its publication, and researching and writing a grant. Garoupa loves to read, travel, enjoy nature, spend time with family, and walk her weenie dogs.

John A. Capitman, Ph.D., California State University, Fresno

Dr. John Capitman brings an extensive background in research and is nationally renowned for his work in health disparities, long-term care, substance abuse and racial and ethnic disparities in cancer care. Capitman was formerly a professor and director of long-term care studies in the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

He has conducted research on increasing the participation of elders in health and long-term care decisions, supporting informal caregivers for persons with disabilities, and limiting sales of alcohol and tobacco products to minors. Capitman has taught and wrote about how social location influences health and the use of health services. He has published extensively in the areas of: financing, organization, and delivery of community long-term care.

Capitman has had more than 20 years of experience in health policy research and analysis, including appointments at the Virginia Center on Aging, California Department of Health Services, Medical College of Virginia/ Virginia Commonwealth University and Brandeis University.

Capitman is currently working closely with university resources to develop a new option for graduate study in Health Policy and Administration in the existing Master of Public Health Program at California State University, Fresno. He will lead a health policy leadership program at Fresno State that will engage leaders from throughout the region in exploring opportunities to address regional health problems.

Rainer Aringhoff, Solar Millennium LLC

President

Mr. Aringhoff is of German descent and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past four years.  He leads Solar Millenniums’ US CSP project development as President of Solar Millennium LLC out of his office in Berkeley. Rainer holds masters degrees in Economics and Political Sciences from the Universities of Cologne, Marburg and Regensburg.  Mr. Rainer has been an energy economic scientist in Germany’s largest National Research Centre, has developed strategic energy supply studies for the Governments of Brazil, Venezuela and the Latin American Energy Organization, OLADE. 

Mr. Aringhoff is co-founder of the solar company FlagSol and has been active in the development of many other projects before he joined Solar Millennium in 2001 as General Manager.  Here he led the development of AndaSol, Europe’s first commercial parabolic trough plants in Spain, featuring the largest solar fields ever built, worldwide. The AndaSol projects also deployed for the first time ever, large-scale molten salt-based thermal storages. Rainer has also been Secretary General of the European Solar Thermal Power Industry Association (ESTIA) and has participated as California’s Solar Industry Representative in the Cal. Energy Commission’s RETI (Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative) since Sep 2007.  Rainer is currently a member of the “California Desert & Solar Working Group”, working towards a compromise on environmentally acceptable and economically feasible land use for utility-scale solar projects in Southern California.

Lilia Chavez, San Joaquin Valley Workforce Funders Collaborative

Program Officer

A native of Fresno County, Lilia has been actively involved in addressing community issues that impact underserved residents. She has a degree in Child Development from California State University Fresno and a Masters Degree in Administrative Leadership and Organizational Development from Fresno Pacific University.

Lilia was formerly a District Representative for Assembly member Juan Arambula of the 31st Assembly District. She has worked in Fresno County government as a Principal Administrative Analyst which has given her a generalist prospective of community issues. In that capacity she oversaw the development of the first Fresno County Report Card on the well being of children. This document has served as a model for other like data driven reports which assess progress towards a set of community wellness indicators. She is also a founder and former Executive Director of Arte Americas the Latino Cultural Arts Center in Fresno.  Lilia is married to Victor Chavez a Federal Public Defender; they have two daughters Veronica Luz, a student at Pacific University in Stockton and Arianna Paz, a student at the University of San Francisco.

Joseph W. Oldham, City of Fresno

Sustainability Manager, Planning and Development Department

Mr. Oldham is currently the Sustainability Manager of the Sustainable Fresno Division of the Planning and Development Department within the City of Fresno and is chairman of the Fresno Green Team.  He is actively involved in implementing the plans and strategies of the City of Fresno’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy as part of the DOE Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.  Previously, Mr. Oldham served as the Fleet Acquisition Supervisor for the Fleet Management Division of the General Services Department for over eleven and a half years.  Mr. Oldham was instrumental in the City of Fresno’s deployment of the largest alternative fuel and low emission fleet of vehicles in the San Joaquin Valley. 

Mr. Oldham graduated from California State University, Fresno in 1975 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology.  Mr. Oldham has been very active in promoting alternative fuel vehicles, renewable energy projects, and “green” living through his involvement with the San Joaquin Valley Clean Cities Coalition, the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, and the West Coast Diesel Collaborative.

Rafael Aguilera, The Verde Group

Principal

Rafael Aguilera is a trailblazer for Latinos seeking climate justice. As one of the lead advocates of California’s landmark climate bill, AB 32 (Nuñez), Rafael helped negotiate the first economy-wide carbon cap in the world with community and public health protections, provisions that call for an equitable share of investments in disadvantaged communities, and a standing environmental justice advisory committee. Working on this top priority issue for a leading national environmental non-profit, Rafael was able to persuade legislators and community groups that global warming was real, and that it was time for California to take action.

Due to popular demand, Rafael co-founded the Verde Group in 2007 and began offering his consulting and lobbying services to progressive non-profits who shared his vision of starting a clean energy revolution in California. Rafael has worked on behalf of the two largest and most prominent regional environmental coalitions in California (Central Valley and LA), climate and clean energy advocacy non-profits, as well as community-based social justice organizations. He has focused on three broad areas of policy advocacy: 1) reducing toxic impacts to EJ communities from incinerators, power plants, refineries, and goods movement-related diesel emissions; 2) promoting public and private investment in “Green Assets” for disadvantaged communities such as urban parks, low-income energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, and localized economies; 3) popularizing the clean energy revolution amongst Latinos and people of color through the promotion of “green” cultural and ecological values, grassroots community activism, and applied ecological economics.

Mario Rendón, Pacific Gas & Electricity Company

Principal, Strategic HR Programs, Power Pathways

Mario Rendon was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the U.S with his family when he was three years old.  He grew up in Sunnyvale and San Jose, and lived for a number of years in San Carlos.  He now makes his home in the foothill community of Oakhurst, outside Yosemite National Park, with his wife Julie and their two furry children (a border collie mix, and an All-American Mutt). 

His undergraduate years were spent at the College of Notre Dame (now Notre Dame de Namur University) in Belmont, during which time he served as with an intern at then Assemblywoman (now Congresswoman) Jackie Speier's Office.  He postponed law school for a year to work with her staff and graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1997, by which point he was working for Congresswoman Anna Eshoo.  In January 1999, Mario went to work for newly elected San Mateo County Supervisor (now Assemblyman) Jerry Hill as his Chief of Staff.  In 2007 Mario was recruited to work at PG&E as a Government Relations Consultant, and a year later he was recruited to work with PG&E Human Resources.  He is currently a Manager in the Workforce Development Department and helps coordinate various external training programs under the PowerPathway umbrella.

Sarah Sharpe, Fresno Metro Ministry

Environmental Health Director

Sarah Sharpe is the Environmental Health Program Director for Fresno Metro Ministry, a multi-faith, multicultural organization that promotes social, economic, and environmental justice to create a more respectful, compassionate, and inclusive community.  The Environmental Health program seeks to achieve environmental justice, restore air quality and improve environmental health in the Fresno area through policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, community education, and research. Currently serves on the Central Valley Air Quality (CVAQ) Coalition’s steering committee, Californians for Pesticide Reform steering committee, and on the board of the Central California Environmental Justice Network. 

Sarah has also served on the Air District’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee representing Fresno County for over 3 years.  Sarah has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Communication and Latin American and Iberian Studies.  She is fluent in Spanish and attended Brooklyn College to attain a Master’s degree in Teaching Spanish with the New York City Teaching Fellows Program.