Our Board
return to About Us
EMPOWER San Diego Board of Directors
 |
|
 |
Cory Briggs, TreasurerAttorney, Briggs Law Corp* |
 |
Estela De Los RiosExecutive Director, Center for Social Advocacy*
Estela De Los Rios also serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Social Advocacy in San Diego, which fights hate crimes, the civil rights violations experienced by newly arrived immigrants, human trafficking, youth alienation, and poverty. |
 |
Nora VargasVice President of Community Engagement at Planned Parenthood of the Pacific SouthwestNora E. Vargas is an accomplished public affairs and political management professional, with over fourteen years of experience working with government entities, NGO's, foundations, corporations, grasstops and grassroots organizing. Ms. Vargas currently serves on the Boards of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), the Parent Institute for Quality Education, San Diego Planned Parenthood Action Fund and as a Senate Pro Temp appointee to the Dental Board of California. Ms. Vargas is a graduate of the University of San Francisco. She has completed graduate work in both Public Administration and Latin American Studies at San Diego State University and has a Master's Degree from Claremont Graduate University. |
 |
Jose PreciadoDirector of Academic Achievement, SDSU* |
 |
Evan McLaughlinPolitical Director, San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO* |
|
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
|
Lori ShellenbergerCivic Engagement Attorney, at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial counties* Shellenberger brings a breadth of legal, nonprofit and community organizing experience. She practiced law in the Appeals Bureau of The Legal Aid Society in New York City, litigated numerous cases before New York’s highest court, the Second Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court, and worked to overturn New York’s death penalty. She is admitted to practice in federal and state courts in New York, Ohio and California. Shellenberger founded and directed PSLawNet, a nationwide non-profit that greatly expanded legal services opportunities for lawyers and law students. She has advised and served on the boards of numerous nonprofits and founded a non-profit serving the needs of victims of Hurricane Katrina. She has extensive experience in grass roots organizing and voter protection efforts in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio, where she oversaw voter protection efforts in East Cleveland during the 2008 election. She attended New York University School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar. |
*Affiliations or provided for identification purposes only.
Past Presidents
 |
Ken Grimes, PresidentAssociate Director, City Heights Community Development Corporation* Ken has worked throughout his career in the public and nonprofit sectors to strengthen local communities and improve the quality of life, particularly for low income residents. He has extensive experience helping neighborhood groups work in partnership with local government and increasing community participation in decision making. As Executive Director of one of the largest community based nonprofits in Wiltshire, England he led a team of community development specialists delivering social, economic and environmental programs funded by European, regional and local government agencies. In this capacity he served on the boards of a number of regional and national organizations in the UK, and worked with nonprofits and public sector agencies in Russia, Japan and Brazil. A former housing planner at the San Diego Housing Commission, he played a leading role in developing and implementing the Housing Trust Fund, and the citywide inclusionary housing program. He has co-authored a number of articles on housing and community development which have appeared in the Journal of the American Planning Association and other planning publications. He received his Masters degree in City Planning from San Diego State University and holds an undergraduate degree in sociology from the University of Bath. |
return to About Us
