Staff

Ms. Allison was an early advocate for green jobs as an Oakland city council candidate in 2006, a city that later created the first local Green Jobs Corps.

As host and producer of KPFA radio's Morning Show, Aimee has discussed the green economy with top environmental and social justice leaders including Francis Lappe Moore and Winona LaDuke. She was honored by Helping Our Peninsula's Environment for providing the first San Francisco Bay Area news coverage of the aerial spraying of secret, untested pesticides on California communities. Aimee's coverage led to the halt of the pesticide spraying in 2008.

She was a featured speaker at the San Francisco Greenfest, Progressive Festival, and Craigslist Foundation. Aimee holds a BA and MA from Stanford University and lives in Oakland, CA.

Melissa is a Senior Strategist for Green For All, a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Her primary role is leading the Capital Access Program - working to provide human, social and financial capital to entrepreneurs and businesses in an effort to create, scale and sustain green jobs.

Melissa is Founder and former Managing Director of New Capitalist(TM), whose mission is to leverage human, financial and social capital to create economically profitable and sustainable individuals, businesses and communities. In this role she facilitated over $20MM in private equity transactions for seed stage companies, generated an average of 20 percent return on behalf of investors, and created proprietary investment vehicles instrumental in capital sourcing for minority-owned firms. Bradley is also the founder of Positive Impact(TM) - a collaborative initiative to promote diverse voices and visions within independent media launched at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. As part of this initiative Bradley authored "Introduction to Media Investing for the Creative and Investment Communities" - a practical step by step "how to" guide designed to give media makers detailed instructions on prospecting, receiving, managing and returning an investment. 

Melissa is also Founder and President of Reentry Strategies Institute (RSI), the only national criminal justice intermediary explicitly focused on reentry. Through the provision of training, networking, and best practice, RSI is facilitating a national dialogue on reentry and generating human and financial support for formerly incarcerated persons and their local communities. 

Melissa currently serves as an Advisor to Renewal 2 Investment Fund. She also holds board positions with Georgetown University Board of Governors, Social Venture Network (ex-officio), Green America (Chair), the Creative Capital Foundation, the Tides Network and the Tides Foundation. 

Her prior work experience includes serving as Vice President at UBS in the Private Client Group and serving as a Financial Regulatory Affairs Fellow with the US Department of Treasury.

Ms. Bradley's educational background includes graduation from Georgetown University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the School of Business, and a Master's in Business Administration in Marketing from American University.

Alli Chagi-Starr is Green For All's Senior Community Engagement Strategist and was the Event Chair of the Dream Reborn Conference. She worked previously at Ella Baker Center, where she helped implement the Solutions Salon series and other large convenings, including the Social Equity track at the United Nations World Environment Day. Alli is also the co-founder of the 8-year old Art in Action Youth Leadership Program, which offers uplifting programs for young, urban artists. Her essays about innovative activism appear in Democratizing the Global Economy, Global Uprising, Voices from the WTO, The Political Edge and How to Stop the Next War Now. She facilitates seminars on developing creative tools for global/personal transformation and movement building.

As the Political Director for Green For All, Vivian Chang MA brings her background in urban planning and over 15 years of experience with community organizing, and policy advocacy to the organization’s vision of creating an inclusive green economy. Prior to joining Green For All, Ms. Chang served as the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a nationally recognized environmental justice organization focused on building leadership in Asian immigrant and refugee communities. As a well-recognized experienced organizer in the Asian community, Ms. Chang has spoken on numerous panels as well as in media outlets including KPFA (the Bay Area’s Pacifica network radio station), National Public Radio, the most popular Chinese ethnic media outlets including Sing Tao and Channel 26 KTSF. She holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) with a concentration in regional economic and community development. Ms. Chang is a recipient of the 2007 Gerbode Fellowship and Oakland’s 2009 Woman of the Year award.

Ryan's beliefs are deeply rooted in nature. He was born and raised in Humboldt County, California amidst the towering Redwoods, rocky coastlines, rivers and mountains.  He is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz where he received a B.A. in film/video production.  Ryan has over 13 years experience making videos and short films.  He has traveled over most of the continents of the world, filming and broadening his awareness of the needs of others. He volunteered in orphanages in Africa and Tibet and a refuge camp in Thailand.  He made films to help these organizations gain support and to help enlighten others of their needs. It was while participating with the League of Young Voters in San Francisco, that he was truly inspired into political activism. Ryan is an avid long distance runner and is happiest when playing music with his family and friends. His favorite animal is the Narwhal. He channels his energy to video production so that he can communicate Green for All's dedication to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Ryan is a servant warrior and his camera is his weapon against eco-apartheid.

Ali'a is new to the Bay Area having recently relocated from Atlanta, GA. Her commitment to social justice and actualizing progressive ideals brought her to Green For All. Her most recent work experience was with Be Present, Inc, a nationwide network that has been breaking new ground – by utilizing the Be Present Empowerment Model, a unique process that guides personal and collective transformation. Free spirited and idealistic, Ali'a has found her home in Oakland to be an exact fit for her soul and is filled with joy every day that she lives in such an extravagantly beautiful environment. Ali'a is filled with pride and gratitude for being the mother of a brilliant and beautiful son.

Nick comes to us from the private sector, and seeks to engage the power of the business community to further Green For All's social mission. He serves as the manager of the Capital Access program, which is committed to mobilizing financial, human and social capital to help create, sustain, and scale green jobs in the U.S. Nick brings a wide variety of business experience to the organization, having previously worked in both real estate private equity and investment management. He has also worked in business development and operational roles within the sports industry, for the former Seattle Sonics as well as the PGA Tour. This unique background serves him well in his role as the lead for business incubation and engagement. Nick holds both an MBA and a BA from Stanford University, and lives in San Francisco.

Diana is the Finance Director for Green For All, as well as a founding member of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Diana received her B.A. in Social Welfare and her J.D. at Hastings College of Law. While she is not focused on Green For All and the Ella Baker Center, she is operating a private community criminal defense practice, and serving on the boards of Bay Area non-profits Machen Center and TURF (Together United Recommitted Forever.) This San Francisco native is also a real estate broker, supporting activists and other members of her community to empower themselves through homeownership.

Jeremy manages Green For All's efforts to identify, connect, support, and engage people around the country that are working on green-collar jobs issues. He was previously the National Organizing Director at the Apollo Alliance where he helped state and local coalitions of environmentalists, labor unions, civil rights groups, and businesses advocate for good jobs and clean energy. Jeremy has broad experience organizing multi-stakeholder efforts to address poverty, environmental issues, and economic development. He has worked a program director for Urban Strategies Council--a community building organization in Oakland, California; as a project manager for the Governor's Oregon Solutions program; as a policy researcher for the Assistant Secretary of Environmental Justice at Cal/EPA; and as an organizer or technical assistant in a variety of other community development and environmental justice initiatives. He has master's degrees in City Planning and in International Development from the University of California--Berkeley, and is a co-author of Green-Collar Jobs: Building Pathways out of Poverty and Careers in the Clean Energy Economy (2008).

As Policy Associate, Stacy is primarily responsible for supporting efforts at the local and regional level to win concrete program and policy changes that support the development of an inclusive green economy. She also contributes to broader policy analysis and research, and to federal and state policy advocacy efforts. Stacy joins Green For All with a background in public interest environmental and social justice policy and law. A graduate of Yale University and Lewis & Clark Law School, she has worked as environmental policy advisor to two New Jersey governors and pro bono attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid in San Francisco.

Ying-sun is a longtime leader in the Bay Area progressive movement. As a longtime core staff member of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, he was a key figure in nearly every major campaign within the local youth-and-student and prison-reform movements of the young century. Now, he is lending his strategic and communications expertise to Green For All. A native San Franciscan, he is also a musician and writer. Currently, Ying-sun is lead guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter for the San Francisco rock group Dialectic.

Ken Lewis is excited and honored to be a part of Green For All’s Strategic Growth Team. With a background in finance and customer relations he looks forward to supporting Green For All’s development activities. He has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Sports 4 Kids, and the Alameda County Computer Resource Center. He is a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, MN where he played football and studied abroad in Mexico and Spain. He lives in Oakland, loves riding BART, and enjoys exploring and discovering all of the great things the Bay Area has to offer.

Stephen has over ten years experience as a systems administrator and information technology specialist with companies like Forte Software and Sun Microsystems. After leaving the corporate sector in 2001, Stephen worked as an IT consultant to many non-profits in the Bay Area including Youth Uprising, Bayanihan Community Center, Citizen's Housing Corporation, and Forest Ethics before finally settling down at Green For All in June of 2008. A native of Oakland, Stephen is also an avid photographer, musician, and independent filmmaker.

Josh Lynch is Green For All's Campaign Manager. In 2008 he designed and managed "Green Jobs Now", the nation's first national day of action for green-collar jobs. As Co-Founder and former Partnerships Director of Energy Action Coalition, Josh was instrumental in building a youth-led alliance of 50 national and regional organizations that has become a force in national politics. In 2005 he led a successful campaign to pass a comprehensive green building and clean energy policy at Cal State University, the world's largest university system. A 2002 graduate in Philosophy from the College of Wooster in Ohio, he now lives and works in San Francisco.

Mahfam comes to Green For All with a background in environmental education and activism and a strong passion for social justice issues. Her life pre-Green For All included serving as Program Manager at environmental group Circle of Life; getting hands-on experience with solar panels, hydro-electricity, and pot-bellied pigs while house-sitting in Humboldt County; slinging espresso and reading poetry at her favorite green coffeehouse, Nomad Cafe; developing, fundraising for, and implementing the La Manzanilla Environmental Education Project in Jalisco, Mexico; and getting a B.A. in Film Studies from UC Santa Barbara. Her dream is to see her home country of Iran once more in this life.

Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ada came west for love and adventure, and instead wound up at Green For All. She helped organize the Dream Reborn, was the Online Organizer for Green Jobs Now, and currently works in online communications for Green For All. Previously, Ada worked in Washington DC in youth development and video. She graduated from Harvard with a BA in Social Studies in 2006. She is thrilled and honored to be doing this work with such amazing people at such a critical time.

Julian is an Oakland native raised behind the redwood curtain of Humboldt County. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University who came to Green For All through his organizing work with The League of Young Voters. Julian’s passion for saving our people and our planet finds a vehicle in his work as Green For All's Field Organizer.

Julian works with people around the country who are putting government investment dollars to work on a local level to build the green economy. He trains local leaders to build the green economy from the ground up by serving as the facilitator of the Green For All Academy. He trains leaders with the tools they need to communicate the promise of the green economy and to engage disadvantaged communities in support of green jobs and climate protection strategies. Julian works everyday to link local partners, lift those local best practices and models to national prominence, and leverage the success stories for large-scale change. Julian has been featured in The Nation, Wiretap magazine and The San Francisco Xpress, and has been recognized by the California Labor Archives for excellence in writing.

Melinda's background as a bookkeeper for over 20 years with a client base of non-profit organizations, homeowner associations and law firms will serve Green For All well, with her strong accounting skills to set up, clean up and maintain computerized bookkeeping records. Melinda received her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and was recognized as "Entrepreneur of the Year." She is a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers and a former Board Member of Women's Initiative for Self Employment. She also owns and operates a pay telephone business and is starting an Independent Elderly Living Facility.

As Policy Associate, Pauli helps shape and advocate for the policy changes necessary to help build an inclusive green economy that works for all. Pauli comes to Green For All with a background in community organizing, youth activism, and policy advocacy. Before working at Green For All, Pauli was a community organizer at Breast Cancer Action, where she mobilized women and men to take action on important breast cancer issues such as environmental health and access to health care. She's also had experience teaching environmental education for the San Francisco Department of the Environment and coordinating tours and activities for the Golden Gate National Park's Crissy Field Center. Pauli is motivated by a passion for connecting people with the tools they need to make change, and for a desire to see a healthier, more equitable world.

Harris Rashid is a Web Developer and Designer with extensive experience working with new media technologies. He previously held the position of Web Developer at the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education where he was instrumental in building new platforms for both organizations to expand their online presence. He also led the web development of the Chauncey Bailey Project, the groundbreaking investigation into the death of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey. Harris has a passion for working with open source web technologies, particularly PHP, MYSQL, AJAX, Drupal, and Wordpress. Before gravitating toward the world of web development, Harris spent time working as a Program Associate with the Native American AIDS Prevention Center, as a Teacher in Malaysia (his country of birth), and as Program Assistant with The World radio program at the BBC / WGBH-Boston. Harris is a graduate of Tufts University and is from New York City.

Julia H. Rhee is a first generation movement builder and has been training students across the country on issues grounded in racial justice, anti-oppression, and building student power for the past seven years. She joins the Green For All team to leverage youth leadership in the environmental justice and equity movement and brings youth work experience hailing from New York City, Oakland, CA and Tacoma, WA.

A graduate of Eugene Lang College of the New School, she is a proud alumnus of the National Asian American Student Conference (NAASCon) and Young People For (YP4) Leadership Academy Fellowship.

Kristin is leading the effort to build Green For All's structure and strategy. In this capacity, she is responsible for designing programs and managing operations, finance and HR. Formerly the Director of Programs for Bioneers, Kristin developed leading-edge work there, including the youth, satellite conference, and diversity programs. She is a social change leader with strong communication, program development and management skills. She has over ten years of professional experience in strategic partnership building, organizational development, project management and marketing. Kristin's passion is bridging and building inclusive networks for positive change.

As a strategist, technologist and communicator Bari comes to Green For All with a strong foundation in assisting non-profit organizations to leverage information technology and the Internet to further their mission. In 2003, Bari launched a groundbreaking online project based on newly available, disaggregated U.S. Census data. In the form of a searchable online database, the work made critical connections between socio-economic disparities and health care in Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the United States. In 2005, he launched the South Asian Forum (southasianforum.org), another groundbreaking online resource that documents the history of community organizing by South Asians in North America and provides current resources to community-based organizations, activists and individuals in the South Asian diaspora. He holds a Masters degree in International Relations with a focus on global economic justice issues. Bari brings his passion for social justice work to his personal life as well. He has worked extensively on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation between 1998 and 2000 where he remodeled a home for transitional children and later built a straw-bale home for a Lakota family. Bari has also studied and taught Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed techniques to examine and heal personal and societal oppressions.

Sarah Shanley Hope is honored and excited to direct Green For All's strategic relationships with financial partners and stakeholders. Prior to joining Green For All in January 2009, Sarah managed customer insight research and corporate brand strategy for Cargill. In May 2007, Sarah received her MBA in social entrepreneurship and strategic marketing from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Since Fall 2005, Sarah has also led numerous consulting engagements on brand strategy, marketing communications and fundraising for a range of government and non-profit clients in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, Buffalo, NY and Oakland, CA. Before business school, Sarah worked as the Individual Gifts Manager for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Arianna Huffington Campaign for Governor during the California recall election.

Ladan Sobhani is a Program Manager at Green For All where she is developing a Community of Practice, a program established to connect practitioners so they may share expertise and collaborate in order to advance their work while contributing to the national effort to build a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Ladan graduated from UC Davis with a major in International Relations and minor in Environmental Economics. Following graduation Ladan spent a life-transforming year in Venezuela teaching English and learning Spanish. Her eye-opening travels in Latin America led her to work for two years at the International Forum on Globalization where she researched and wrote about the environmental impact of economic globalization and helped to organize large teach-ins on the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. Ladan went on to spend five years at the human rights organization, Global Exchange where she worked on a variety of campaigns including: a response to the California Energy crisis, organizing protests against the war on Iraq, and leading political fact finding delegations to Iran (the country of her birth), Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel.

Vien Truong is the Senior Policy Associate at Green For All.  She has worked with a California State Senator, researching and developing state law, and a U.S. Chief Magistrate, researching and analyzing issues before the federal court.  Vien was the founding instructor for the Legal Assistance Program for Clarita Career College, a legal training program for entering legal professionals. She also taught Street Law at Castlemont High School, a program that teaches law to high school students.  She was the Community Economic Justice Law Fellow at the East Bay Community Law Center, helping to develop innovative, long-term economic development solutions to address the systemic problems confronting low-income communities.

Vien currently serves as a City of Oakland Commissioner on the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth Planning and Oversight Committee.  Vien is also an Associate Attorney for the New Business Practicum at the UC Berkeley School of Law.  She serves on the boards for the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC).

Vien holds a B.A from the University of California at Berkeley. She also holds a J.D. from the University of California at Hastings College of the Law.

Jason was previously State Policy Director for The Workforce Alliance, a national coalition advocating for public policies that invest in the skills of America's workers, where he worked on a range of federal and state workforce development legislation, including the Green Jobs Act. Jason has also been the Director of the Affirmative Options Coalition, a Minnesota-based anti-poverty coalition, as well as a union organizer with SEIU and UNITE, and a policy fellow for the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. He's a graduate of the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota.

Social entrepreneur, philanthropist, journalist, political organizer, Wimsatt is best known for founding the League of Young Voters which organized more than 3000 youth in 33 states to create 300 voter guides and impact 29 state and local elections or pieces of legislation. He also co-founded the Generational Alliance and over his career has helped move more than $8 million to grassroots organizing. Wimsatt has consulted for Rock the Vote, MoveOn.org, Hull Family Foundation, Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing. In 2008, he ran the Ohio Youth Corps for the Ohio Democratic Party / Obama For America, which deployed 50 staff throughout Ohio. He has written for Vibe, Chicago Tribune and published five books with 100,000 in print including No More Prisons, Winner of the 1999 Firecracker Book Award. He has spoken at Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Stanford, was named by Utne Magazine as "Utne Visionary," to The Source Magazine's "Power 30," and completed Rockwood's year-long leadership course. Green For All's mission is his life's purpose and he is honored to serve.

As the Strategic Growth Manager with Green For All, Jen leads the Strategic Growth Team’s individual donor strategy and infrastructure. Prior to Green For All, Jen was the Individual Giving Officer at Planned Parenthood Golden Gate in San Francisco, one of the largest Planned Parenthood affiliates in the country. Since 2003, Jen has managed a variety of collaborative fund raising, membership building and public policy strategies and initiatives at national and community non-profit and political organizations in New York City and Hartford, CT.

Jen received her MA in Gender and Politics from NYU's Gallatin School for Individualized Studies and holds a BA in French and Political Science, with a focus in Gender Studies, from Loyola College in Maryland.