Meet the 2022-2025 Policy Advisory Council Members

Meet the Policy Advisory Council members who advise MTC on current and future transportation policies.

Carline Au.

Carline Au
Economy Representative

“I believe that achieving meaningful economic inclusion in the Bay Area requires intentional and sustained investments in both physical and social infrastructure in low-income communities of color. I am looking forward to joining the council on realizing a future where there are no barriers to access the Bay Area’s tremendous economic opportunities.”

 

Carline Au serves as Head of Planning & Strategy at East Bay Economic Development Alliance (EDA). She draws on her decade of experience in urban planning and economic development to lead East Bay EDA’s multi-faceted regional economic development portfolio. Carline brings to her role a collaborative and connected ethos that centers people and communities in advancing a more equitable, sustainable and resilient economy.

Michael Baldini.

Michael Baldini
Representing the Low-Income/Environmental Justice Community of Napa County

“My many years of service in Napa County provide experience in considering the needs of a diverse range of communities and the impacts of transit policies on economic opportunities.”

Michael Baldini is the chair of the Napa Valley Transportation Authority’s Citizen Advisory Committee. He has also served on the Napa Valley College Board of Trustees since 2002.

Diana Benitez.

Diana Benitez
Environment Representative

"Low-income and people of color deserve to thrive in healthy, safe and affordable neighborhoods. These populations face the brunt of climate and environmental injustices. Our local and regional plans must include these populations."

Diana Benitez is a Berkeley resident and Senior Manager of Advocacy and Engagement at Canal Alliance in San Rafael. In her role at Canal Alliance, she works alongside low-income and communities of color to create healthy, safe and affordable communities in the County of Marin. She has worked on general plans, racial equity, early care and education, and greenhouse gas reduction analyses in the academic, non-profit and private sectors. Diana is a member of the Steering Committee of the American Planning Association (APA) California Planners4Health Initiative. She obtained a Master's degree from UCLA and a Bachelor's degree from CSUN in Urban and Regional Planning.

Gabriel Borden.

Gabriel Borden
Environment Representative

"To its own detriment, the environmental movement has not met the average person where they are; in that solutions of the past have put the brunt on individuals, much of the time requiring time and expense that the average person does not have. However, the support for environmental solutions and progress is still there nonetheless, Most Bay Area residents want safe, clean, walkable and vibrant communities. We have an opportunity to flip the model of the past on its head by focusing on cost-effective, proven solutions that maximize impact and are seen and supported by Bay Area communities, especially those that are most vulnerable and neglected."

Gabriel Borden is a San José resident and Project Manager at Resources for Community Development (RCD) in Berkeley. In his role at RCD, he works to bring beautiful, 100% affordable housing projects to the South Bay. Most of RCD's recent projects have been built 100% electric near transit and often have funding sources such as California's Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities (AHSC) fund that fosters collaborations with city and transit partners for bike, pedestrian and transit improvements along with the affordable housing development. Gabriel has worked in environmental and housing roles at public municipalities and environmental roles at non-profits and Fortune 500 corporations. In 2019, he received an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School and shortly thereafter became a homeowner in San Jose's vibrant but often neglected East Side neighborhood. Since then, Gabriel has worked to advocate politically at the local and regional level for policies and candidates that prioritize communities such as and similar to East Side San José. Gabriel is also a member of Prohispanica and Net Impact, was a member of the City of San Jose's second cohort for the Governmental Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), and also has an interest in plant-based foods and their intersection of health, climate and animal welfare.

Pamela Campos

Pamela Campos
Representing the People of Color Community of San Mateo County

"Imagine a world where every child has access to clean neighborhoods, beautiful parks and a quality education that inspires them to better their communities for future generations. I serve on this council to make that world a reality."

Pamela Campos is a Bay Area native, proudly born and raised in San José, CA. With a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development, she has been working in the South Bay as an educator for over a decade, focusing on early care and education (ECE). Her current work involves facilitating cross-sector conversations aimed towards developing ECE facilities that supply the growing shortage and increasing demand for accessible ECE spaces in San Mateo County. She is committed to being a strong advocate for the needs of young children and their families, as well as underrepresented and marginalized BIPOC communities that are affected by redlining and other racist policies. 

Zack Deutsch-Gross

Zack Deutsch-Gross
Economy Representative

"Lifting up the perspectives of transit riders throughout the Bay Area will help inform and create policies that best address our region's growing issues of inequality, access to opportunity and climate change."

Zack Deutsch-Gross brings over a decade of local, state and federal policy and advocacy experience to MTC's Policy Advisory Council. Born and raised in San Francisco, for Zack, transportation is not just about getting from A to B but fundamentally about engaging with each other and building community. Zack is committed to lifting the voices of the region's most marginalized communities to craft thoughtful, innovative policies that support an equitable, affordable, sustainable and thriving Bay Area for all. Zack is the Policy Director at TransForm, a Bay Area nonprofit that promotes walkable communities with excellent transportation choices. He serves on the I.T. Bookman Community Center board in San Francisco and holds a Master's in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley.

Anne Olivia Eldred

Anne Olivia Eldred
Environment Representative

“The choices we make today form the landscape our children will walk through tomorrow. Equitable outcomes and inclusion in decision-making must be core tenets in both form and function of policy design, transparency and accountability in policy implementation. Climate justice, social justice and racial justice must all be addressed for a policy to be successful. We can build that, we cannot accept less.”

Anne Olivia Eldred focuses on environmental, social and economic justice in housing, transportation and energy policy. A longtime labor advocate, she is dedicated to deepening connections and building cooperation between labor and environmental movements. She has fought to bring social, racial and economic justice into climate policy. She has worked in the U.S and internationally on the public health impacts of policy and law and the corresponding social ramifications when applied to trade, development policy, public works and electoral politics.

Anne Olivia sits on the Board of Directors and is Chair of the Community Advisory Committee for East Bay Community Energy, the CCA supplying electricity to Alameda County and Tracy. She served as Elected Council for the Interfaith Council of Alameda County, and on the Equitable Climate Action Plan Ad Hoc Community Advisory Committee for the City of Oakland. She works in affordable housing and has been an outspoken advocate for unhoused residents for over 20 years. Anne Olivia holds a Masters of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law.

Ilaf Esuf

Ilaf Esuf
Economy Representative

“Personally, public transportation has been a critical aspect of my growth as an immigrant, a community member and a working adult. It has connected me to opportunities that would have been inaccessible otherwise. Professionally, as a housing and economic policy analyst, I see how accessible and affordable transportation is tied to economic mobility. As such, I hope to support MTC in ensuring this tool connects and serves all communities in the Bay Area, especially those who are traditionally neglected by our government systems.”

 

Ilaf Esuf currently serves as a Housing & Economic Policy Analyst at United Way Bay Area, an anti-poverty organization supporting low-income communities and communities of color throughout the Bay Area region. In this role, Ilaf focuses on the intersection of housing, transportation and economic mobility. In her spare time, Ilaf also serves as a Tamil translator to support Tamil refugees and serves on the board of Richmond Promise, a college access and success nonprofit dedicated to helping Richmond youth achieve their full potential, both in and out of a classroom.

Christine Fitzgerald

Christine Fitzgerald
Representing the Disabled Community of Santa Clara County

"People should have systems that work well for them. Transportation is no exception!"

Christine Fitzgerald has been in the disability community since birth. Throughout school and beyond, she has been actively interested in social justice issues concerning women, LGBT and disability — you might say, these focuses are so much a part of who she is, to not actively be involved in any of these issues would be like being a fish out of water! Christine firmly believes that lacking good infrastructure that can help people with disabilities get from one place to another would seriously decrease a person’s ability to attain a job, go to school, or in so many other ways be an active participant in the larger community.

Christine serves on many different community commissions and committees including the County Voters Accessibility Advisory Committee, the Committee for Transportation Mobility Access, and the Access and Functional Needs Task Force.

Gerry Glaser

Gerry Glaser
Representing the Older Adult Community of Sonoma County

"The solutions we rely on today worked well for 20th century problems, but now we are in the 21st century. It is time for us to revisit our past assumptions in order to find the best solutions that fit our times."

With a B.S. in physics from C-MU and 3 years of study in architecture, Gerry Glaser has found it easy to apply his technical and design skills in a variety of businesses spanning from architecture, food processing, semiconductor, mini-supercomputer production, manufacturing software systems, and most recently in electric vehicle manufacture and deployment as developer, systems architect and manager.

Living in the Bay Area for more than 50 years, and with a passion for addressing the climate crisis, he has worked in his various civic roles as a planning commissioner (in both the South Bay and the North Bay), a sustainability commissioner and collaborator in authoring Civic Climate Action Plans and General Plan updates. He is currently serving as the President of the North Bay Electric Auto Association.

William Goodwin.

William Goodwin
Representing the People of Color Community of Contra Costa County

“I am determined to help create safer and healthier communities by adopting policies that result in outcomes for clean industry, clean air, less traffic and the ability to utilize green public transportation (as public transportation is good for our environment and open spaces, and offers good-paying jobs to the community).”

William Goodwin is a community advocate who understands the intersectionality between environmental justice, health equity and housing. He has partnered with a number of non-profit organizations throughout the Bay Area to help accelerate the social and economic mobility of underserved families. He is a graduate of the Board and Commissions Leadership Institute (Urban Habitat), and serves as a Board Member with East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO). His advocacy work has allowed him to participate in several areas of interest, including the Pittsburg Unified School District (Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee), Family Independence Initiative (Community Advisor - Social Capital), Hope Solutions - Resident Empowerment Program (Housing Justice), and the Center for Human Development (East County Community Leaders Network), to name a few.

Dwayne Hankerson

Dwayne Hankerson
Representing the Disabled Community of Solano County

“I joined the Policy Advisory Board to effect responsible and meaningful change in my local community (Solano County) and the San Francisco Bay Area.”

 

Dwayne Hankerson worked for the Oakland Housing Authority in several different roles over twenty years.  Staring as a Housing Manager, he was responsible for several tasks on developing solutions to resident problems surrounding self-sufficiency.  Additionally, in this role he served as a resource for public and private agencies and individuals in the community concerned with the housing of low-income people.

He has worked on several Hope VI projects, which have resulted in more quality and affordable housing for the residents of Oakland.

As a Housing Assistance representative, he analyzed obstacles and devised strategies to eliminate barriers, while providing direct assistance to program participants and property owners regarding resources and HUD regulations.  

Wendi Kallins headshot image.

Wendi Kallins
Representing the Low-Income/Environmental Justice Community of Marin

“I feel very passionately about providing people with the opportunity to choose greener transportation modes, whether it is creating more walkable and bike-able communities, improving access and efficiency of public transit, or creating land use patterns that allow people to live close to work, transit and/or services.”

Wendi Kallins is the co-founder of Safe Routes to Schools in Marin County, the national pilot program, and she currently serves as the Programs Coordinator in charge of organizing and facilitating task forces and providing support services for the program. As part of the national Safe Routes to Schools movement, Ms. Kallins trained and consulted with over 45 communities across the country and presented at national and international conferences. She is President of Sustainable Marin and is on the steering committee of Coalition for a Livable Marin (CALM), an organization that promotes green transportation alternatives and affordable housing near transit/services.

Randi Kinman Headshot

Randi Kinman
Representing the Low-Income Community of Santa Clara County

“I have been working extensively with low-income communities for almost 20 years...I helped establish a local neighborhood organization and a multi-neighborhood organization in low-income underserved areas.”

Randi Kinman, a former planning commissioner for the City of San Jose, worked as a volunteer in the City of San Jose’s Strong Neighborhoods Initiative program. She represents and works with communities of color and low income individuals, developing residents’ leadership skills while providing training and education. Ms. Kinman is currently chair of both the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Association and the Burbank/Del Monte Neighborhood Advisory Committee, as well as a trustee for the West Valley-Mission Community College District.  She has served as chair of the Policy Advisory Council and chaired the Regional Transportation Plan 2035 Equity Analysis subcommittee that supported inclusion of a snapshot analysis of data gathered on regular intervals between regional transportation plans.

Charles Lavery

Charley Lavery
Representing the Older Adult Community of San Mateo County

“I believe a transportation system should connect all of our communities with economic, social and academic opportunities in a safe, effective and sustainable way that respects the well-being and dignity of its workers."

Charley Lavery has worked as a labor representative in San Francisco and San Mateo for the past 16 years. He graduated from the Harvard Trades Union Program in 2020. Charley sits on the executive boards of the San Mateo and San Francisco Central Labor Councils and sits on the Work Force Investment Board of San Francisco. He has been a resident of Pacifica since 2009 and enjoys exploring San Mateo County’s beaches and trails.

Adina Levin headshot image.

Adina Levin
Environment Representative

“Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in our area; increasing mode share of sustainable transportation is the most important thing we can do in the area to fight climate change.”

As the Executive Director of Friends of Caltrain, Adina Levin leads an organization dedicated to increasing the share of sustainable transportation on the Peninsula Corridor from San Francisco through San Jose. The organization supports a modernized Caltrain, well-connected to a regional transit network, supported by sustainable transportation policies that include transit-oriented development and transportation demand management. Ms. Levin currently serves on the Menlo Park Transportation Commission, the Congestion Management Environmental Quality (CMEQ) Advisory Committee to the San Mateo City/County Association of Governments, as well as several other local committees.

Carina Lieu

Carina Lieu
Representing the People of Color Community of Alameda County

"As I grow older, I want to see more low-income Southeast Asian females from the Bay Area seek public office and be appointed to boards and commissions. Like thousands of other Vietnamese refugees who call the Bay Area home, my family resettled in west Oakland in section 8 housing in the early 1980s. I am interested in the possibilities when we, as residents, share common goals in valuing sustainable community health and bringing about transformational change. I am honored to serve as a Council member."

 

Carina Lieu witnessed the aftermath of the War on Drugs in her community, as well as the trauma of the Southeast Asian refugee experience. Through her family's experiences navigating America as newcomers, Carina developed a passion for translating knowledge into digestible information and creating community inclusion. Exposure to youth leadership development programs that emerged in the 90s helped her pivot toward becoming a lifelong transformative leader over the past 20 years. As the Director of the Oakland Youth Commission, Carina establishes coalitions and collaborations to empower youth and adults to design institutional systems-change. She helped launch Oakland's Reimagining Public Safety Task Force's Youth Advisory Board, a community participatory budgeting process, and supported the passage of the landmark Oakland Youth Vote legislation in 2020. Carina is also community correspondent for Oakland Voices, an Urban Habitat Boards Commission Leadership Institute alumni, and a former Oakland Rent Board member. She received a Masters of Urban Planning focusing on Transportation Policy, and a Certificate in Real Estate Development from USC. She holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from Cal.

Gabriela Orantes

Gabriela Orantes
Representing the People of Color Community of Sonoma County

"I come from a household where commuting an hour (each way) for work and school to another county is the norm due to housing affordability. Growing up in a bilingual immigrant household made me acutely aware of the navigation of systems that is required to make ends meet in one county while living in another. As I grew older, I followed in my parents' footsteps and became a navigator of systems and programs myself, both for my family and others in my community because of language, immigration and economic barriers that we shared. These experiences have shaped and defined the voices and experiences I center in my advocacy work. As a member of the MTC Policy Advisory Council, my contribution would center the experiences of communities who bear the brunt of social, economic and environmental injustices in the North Bay counties of Napa, Sonoma and Marin."

Gabriela Orantes is the Just Recovery Fellow at the North Bay Organizing Project, a grassroots, multi-racial and multi-issue organization comprised of over 22 faith, environmental, labor, student and community-based organizations in Sonoma County. As a Fellow, her role is to support the Latino Community Foundation’s Just Recovery cohort of Sonoma and Napa county partners to leverage, coordinate and advance civic engagement and community advocacy in the region, post-2017 wildfires. Through this work, she has been an advocate for language justice in formal disaster response and government spaces by highlighting the intersections of language, disasters and public participation. Her academic and career paths are informed by her upbringing in an immigrant household in northern California that benefited from the deep relationships and support of the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center, one of the first non-profit daycare centers in the nation. She is a graduate of the Board and Commissions Leadership Institute class of 2020 (Urban Habitat) and California Rural Legal Assistance’s Social Justice & Legal Services Interpreter Training 2021. Gabriela serves on the Steering Committee of the Sonoma County Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) and is a member of the Sonoma County Public Health Department Health Equity Community Work Group, which was formed in May 2020 to advise the county's COVID-19 response in Latinx communities across the county.

John Parker, Jr.

John Parker, Jr.
Representing the People of Color Community in Solano County

“Every county in the Bay Area has unique challenges for transportation and housing. Serving on the MTC Policy Advisory Council is a great opportunity for me to represent the communities of color in one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the nation. The work that I will do for the Policy Advisory Council will allow me to educate my community on the many ways we can utilize transportation and housing services.”

Johnny Parker is the Branch Head/Supervising Librarian for the Vacaville Town Square Library of Solano County. He has 20 years of military and public government experience specializing in community outreach. After serving four years in the United States Air Force and 10 years for the Las Vegas Public Library, the San Franciscan relocated back to the Bay Area in 2016 and was surprised by the many changes that the Bay Area has experienced. Along with leading a public library branch in Solano County, Johnny also provides outreach to communities of color including a Reading at the Barbershop program where he distributes free books to barbershops and salons in Fairfield, Vacaville and Vallejo. This outreach encourages young boys of color to read at an early age and raise their reading level to be on par with their counterparts. Johnny has an A.A.S. in Information Technology from the Community College of the Air Force, a B.S. in Management from National American University, an M.B.A. in HR Management from the University of Phoenix, and an M.S. In Information Science from the University of Tennessee.

Phillip Pierce

Phillip Pierce
Environment Representative

"Climate change and equity are two of the biggest challenges and opportunities that face our region. MTC is well situated to make meaningful progress on these complex issues and I look forward to collaborating with my fellow council members, the Commissioners and staff to advance important work in our community."

Phillip Pierce is a Senior Public Policy Manager at Zoox, where he leads city policy strategy for the all-electric, autonomous vehicle company. Prior to joining Zoox, he managed public affairs and government relations for the SFMTA, working on many of San Francisco's largest transportation planning and construction projects. He is a passionate urbanist and environmentalist, having run multiple political campaigns and worked with advocacy organizations focused on making cities more sustainable and equitable. On weekends, you will find him taking long bike rides and exploring the Bay Area.

Vinay Pimple

Vinay Pimple
Representing the Disabled Community of Contra Costa County

Sympathy may “go so far as to enable a man to be moved emotionally by statistics. This capacity for abstract sympathy is as rare as it is important.” - Education and the Good Life by Bertrand Russell

Vinay Pimple came to the U.S. from India to pursue graduate studies in English Literature and Women’s Studies. After his university denied him teaching opportunities due to his blindness, he trained and worked as a software engineer. Later, he obtained a law degree from U.C. Berkeley, and his attorney’s license. Like a lot of blind folks, he is looking for a job.

Vinay served on the Richmond City Council. As Council member, he represented Richmond on the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee. He has volunteered with many local groups working for the environment and the needs of inner-city youth.

Vinay is interested in promoting driverless vehicles to promote independence for seniors and the disabled, and to mitigate the environmental impact of transportation. He is interested in traffic safety to combat preventable disabilities. He is committed to well-researched, and to the most cost effective solutions.

Jeffrey Rhoads.

Jeffrey Rhoads
Economy Representative

“Stakeholder driven planning and advocacy and cost-effective timely delivery of transportation projects are critical in our ability to address our environmental and social challenges. New ways of thinking and more efficient project delivery processes are needed to make the best use of our limited resources.”

Jeff Rhoads, a Bay Area native, has a BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from MIT. He has lived in San Mateo, Alameda and Marin Counties. His passion for cities began in high school with the preparation of a plan to reopen Redwood Creek to revitalize Downtown Redwood City. This led to a career in architecture, town planning, urban design and construction. His city building experience includes the New Town of Valencia, California, and Summerlin, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jeff’s partnership secured the debt and equity, allowing his team to design and entitle Artisan Park, a 208-acre walkable master-planned community in Helena, Montana.

Jeff is the Executive Director of Resilient Shore, a San Rafael-based nonprofit project. Since returning to Marin in 2010, he has focused on transportation resiliency, flood risk management and sea level rise adaptation in San Rafael. His interests include multi-modal transportation networks, urban design, historic preservation and place-making. Extended family, bicycling, hiking, antique bottles and vocal music bring joy to his life.

Terry Scott

Terry Scott
Representing the Older Adult Community of Napa County

"I serve on the Policy Advisory Council because I feel well-qualified to provide input to help meet the varying transportation challenges that face the Bay Area. I’ve lived in five of the nine Bay Area counties and understand how unique each one is, and how significantly different each of the transportation needs and requirements are. I also understand the variety of needs that individual residents have at the various stages of their lives, and how jobs/housing balances change in each county. All of our counties basically share similar housing needs and diverse transportation requirements."

Terry Scott is graduate of San Jose State University with a degree in Social Sciences (history, political science & geography). A 52+ year Bay Area resident, Terry has lived in in Napa County for the past 23 years. After an early retirement from the staffing industry, he has dedicated himself to community service. He served 27 years as a city and county planning commissioner and several years as Treasurer & Vice President of the California County Planning Commissioners Association. Terry is an experienced manager, executive, CEO, business owner and consultant. He also served several years as a member and president of the Napa County Wild Life Conservation Commission. He is currently the proprietor and land use consultant for Wine Country Consulting in Napa, and chairs the Napa County Housing Element Advisory Committee. He has previously worked in staffing company mergers and acquisitions, utility management, and international human resources consulting. For the last 2+ years, he served as the Napa County Senior Council Member on the MTC Policy Advisory Council.

Howard Wong

Howard Wong
Representing the Older Adult Community of San Francisco

“By year 2030, over 250,000 seniors will live in San Francisco — most desiring to stay in their own homes and neighborhoods — and to thrive independently as long as possible. Effective transit, transportation and planning can be efficient investments that mitigate institutional/medical costs and social impacts, while increasing the contentment of a vulnerable population.”

Howard Wong is an architect, environmental/transit advocate and neighborhood activist. He serves on the boards of NEXT Village (aging-in-place), San Francisco Tomorrow, Sierra Club and SaveMuni — and is active on the Transbay Joint Powers Authority CAC, Port’s Southern Advisory Committee, Telegraph Hill Dwellers, North Beach Neighborhood Courts, A Better Chinatown Tomorrow and District 3 Democratic Club. Past boards include SF Heritage, SPUR, Chinese Historical Society of America, Neighborhood Parks Council and International Federation of Professional/Technical Engineers and Local 21.  His architectural work includes institutional/transportation projects, historic preservation and ADA master plans. He is a native of San Francisco and a lifelong Muni rider.

Roland Wong.

Roland Wong
Representing the Disabled Community of Alameda County

Roland Wong is a native of San Francisco and relocated to the East Bay six years ago. He graduated from City College of San Francisco, receiving an Associate of Science degree in Medical Records Technology, then had a 25-year career in medical records at Laguna Honda Hospital (LHH) in San Francisco. The facility, LHH, has a population of predominantly seniors and residents with disabilities. He recognized residents' ongoing challenges and obstacles for transportation to work, school or social events.

Roland currently serves on several committees in the Bay Area – SFMTA Multimodal Accessibility Advisory Committee (MAAC), SF Paratransit, East Bay Paratransit, BART Accessibility Task Force (BATF), and formally, SF Mayor's Disability Council. Additionally, he has had the privilege of working as a Peer Mentor representing LHH residents transitioning from long-term care to independent living in the community with support services.

Serving on the MTC Policy Advisory Council will be rewarding as Roland can provide his professional expertise (likewise personal experience) and voice his comments to help the community, particularly seniors and people with disabilities, improve their quality of life. While access improvements are accomplished, more work is needed to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There needs to be able to identify funds for improving curb ramps, technology on communication for the deaf/hearing and sight impaired and the like.

VACANT

Vacant
Representing the Older Adult Community of Marin County

VACANT

Vacant
Representing the Low-Income/Environmental Justice Community of San Francisco