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Kim Hoover

Chair

Kimberly Hoover is an attorney, a business owner, a philanthropist and a donor to progressive causes. She is also a published author of YA fiction.

Ms. Hoover arrived in Washington, DC in 1985 after graduating from Duke University School of Law, where she was Executive Editor of the Duke Law Journal, and began a practice that spanned more than 20 years and included stints at top tier law firms as well as her own shop.
She has served on the boards of several community banks: Treasury Bank in Washington, DC, which was ultimately sold to Countrywide; Monument Bank in Montgomery County, MD, Revere Bank in Howard, Frederick, and Montgomery Counties, MD, ultimately sold to Sandy Spring Bank headquartered in Montgomery County. In the early 2000s, she started a real estate operating company, RED Multifamily, which develops, owns and operates multi-family workforce and affordable housing in the District of Columbia.

Ms. Hoover has or currently serves on several nonprofit boards including Voices for Progress where she is the new Chair, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Advocates for Youth, and Lambda Literary. In 2016, Ms. Hoover was appointed a Commissioner to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Advisory Committee on LGBTQ Affairs. In 2021, Ms. Hoover was appointed to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board of Miami-Dade County by County Commissioner Eileen Higgins.

In addition to a JD from Duke University, Ms. Hoover holds a BA in English and American Studies from Baylor University where she graduated magna cum laude and was named Outstanding Senior Woman.

Katherine Archuleta

Katherine Archuleta began her career as an elementary schoolteacher in Denver and worked in local government for Denver Mayors Federico Peña and John Hickenlooper. She served as Deputy Chief of Staff and later Chief of Staff at the US Department of Transportation and Senior Advisor at the US Department of Energy during the Clinton Administration. She was Chief of Staff to US Labor Secretary Hilda Solis from 2009 to 2011. Katherine joined the Obama 2012 Campaign as its National Political Director in July 2011.

On November 4, 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Katherine as the first Latina to lead the US Office of Personnel Management. Overseeing the Human Resources management of the entire federal government, Ms. Archuleta was responsible for recruiting, hiring, developing, and supporting federal workers throughout the country.

Katherine is a co-founder of the Colorado Latina Initiative. Utilizing her lived experiences along with her strong commitment to expanding the role of Latinas in public policy, the Latina Initiative implements highly successful Latina voter engagement programs based on data and digital programming.

Accumulating nearly 20 years in public service and leadership roles in the nonprofit sectors in both Colorado and New Mexico, Ms. Archuleta has been recognized nationally and locally for her dedication to supporting the role of Latinos and women in public and private sector leadership roles. In 2020, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in recognition of her lifelong commitment to public service and the role of women in leadership.

Katherine currently serves as a Commissioner of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority Board. She volunteers as a Board member of Conservation Colorado and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Action Fund. Katherine served as a Trustee at the University of Denver from 2016 to 2021. She is the immediate past chair of the Latino Leadership Institute, having served on its board for five years. In 2020, Katherine was honored by OneColorado, Colorado’s leading LGBTQ organization, as a OneColorado Ally.

Anna Aurilio

Anna Aurilio is a long-time environmental advocate. For the past 10 years, she was the Director of the Washington DC office for Environment America, a federation of 29 state-based, citizen-funded environmental advocacy organizations. Ms. Aurilio led a team of advocacy staff and was responsible for policy and strategy development for campaigns on clean water, clean air, energy, global warming and preservation issues. She has testified in Congress numerous times and has been named a top grassroots lobbyist by The Hill for the past 9 years. Before leading the federal office of Environment America, Ms. Aurilio served as federal legislative director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S.PIRG).Ms. Aurilio received a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1986 and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and Water Resources from MIT in 1992 where she published several papers on water pollution in Woburn Massachusetts. Prior to receiving her Master’s degree, Ms. Aurilio was a Staff Scientist with the National Environmental Law Center where she investigated major water polluters and provided technical expertise for Clean Water Act citizen suits.

Nick Chedli Carter

Nick Chedli Carter is currently the director of the Resilient Democracy research and funding initiative (formerly 2020 Vision Ventures), and chair of the Civic Digital Organizing Group Digital Transition project. Nick also works with a variety of pro-democracy organizations, funders and researchers, was a recent Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center Technology and Democracy Fellow, and has held senior positions in presidential, federal and statewide electoral campaigns and policy advocacy efforts.

He has also worked at VICE Media, Planned Parenthood, CCTV Center for Media and Democracy, and is a proud Americorps Alumni.

Nick is keenly interested in identifying and scaling effective initiatives that merge innovative technology and media with people- driven civic engagement. This is towards increasing more consistent civic participation,  closing equity gaps in who drives and benefits from civic innovation, and towards building more inclusive civic identities.

Charlotte Clymer

Charlotte Clymer is a writer, communications consultant, transgender activist, and military veteran.

 She writes “Charlotte’s Web Thoughts,” a popular Substack newsletter about politics, religion, and culture. It was named a finalist for Outstanding Blog at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards, featured at the 2022 SXSW Conference & Festival, and will be anthologized in a forthcoming textbook for young writers by W. W. Norton & Co.

 She was most recently named to the 13th class of political fellows at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service in the Fall of 2021 and previously served as the Director of Communications & Strategy at Catholics for Choice, a reproductive rights advocacy organization.

 Prior to that, she was the Press Secretary for Rapid Response at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization dedicated to advancing LGBTQ equality. Her day-to-day work involved running the organization’s messaging in response to the White House and federal policy.

 She serves on the Boards of Directors for several organizations, including LPAC and Running Start.

 She is a proud graduate of Georgetown University and resides in Washington, D.C.

 

Storme Gray

Storme Gray (she/her) is the Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy. A passionate change agent, servant leader, and advocate for justice, her professional career includes nearly 15 years of experience in the philanthropic sector, with a focus on youth development, racial equity, and inclusive philanthropic practice. And as a proud native of Camden, NJ, Storme credits her upbringing in Camden with providing her with the tenacity and authenticity that fuels her approach to the work.
Storme’s career in philanthropy began at The Summit Foundation, where she supported efforts to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health and preserve and protect the Mesoamerican Reef Ecoregion. From there, she went to the Bainum Family Fund, where she oversaw a grantmaking portfolio of $1 million focused on educational, workforce, and youth development programming for at-risk, low-income youth within the DC metropolitan area. Storme has also worked with national philanthropic support organizations, such as the Council on Foundations, where she created leadership development programming for philanthropic professionals, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Prior to joining EPIP’s staff as Director of Programs in 2017, Storme was a Program Officer at the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, where she developed the foundation’s Young Women’s Initiative, a city-wide effort to improve the educational, economic, and life outcomes for cis and trans young women and girls of color, with youth at the center of the decision-making process.
In her spare time, Storme serves as an appointee on the Fairfax County Advisory Social Services Board, a board member of Women of the Dream, a youth development organization for young women in Camden, NJ, and The Black Swan Academy, a Black Youth Civic engagement organization in Washington, DC. Storme is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, a graduate of American University, and fur-mommy to two sweet dogs – Indigo and Bodhi.

Emi Gusukuma

Emi Gusukuma provides legal and strategic advice to the founders of the Sandler Phillips Center, manages outside counsel, and is responsible for all legal matters and operations associated with the Center’s activities. With over 20 years of legal experience, Emi litigated a broad array of employment and commercial matters in private practice. She was a trusted adviser to clients large (including companies in the Fortune 500) and small, in the nonprofit and for profit sector, representing a wide range of industries from healthcare to tech. She regularly defended clients in investigations by state and federal agencies, and conducted scores of trainings, understanding that education was key to achieving compliance.

Emi has a long-standing commitment to public service. She was President of the Asian American Bar Association, one of the largest minority bar associations in the country, from 2012-2013. Active in civil society, she served on the Immigrant Rights and Ethics Commissions for the City and County of San Francisco. Appointed to the Ethics Commission in 2004, she chaired the Commission for two years before her term concluded in 2010. During her tenure, she oversaw a dramatic increase in the staff and budget, which allowed the Commission to expand its public and municipal education programs, and to fulfill its mandates.

Emi is a 2010 recipient of the Best Under 40 Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and a 2013 recipient of Minority Bar Coalition’s Unity Award for her longstanding work to increase diversity in the legal profession and in the judiciary.

Emi holds a BA degree from UCLA, and a law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law.

Joan Huffer

Joan Huffer has focused on ensuring lower-income Americans have access to economic opportunity in her career and her philanthropy. She worked in the U.S. Senate for twenty-seven years where she focused on education and income support programs. During that time, she worked for Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (SD) for 8 years, served two stints on the Senate Budget Committee, and worked on the personal staffs of Senator Kent Conrad (ND) and Senator Don Riegle (MI). After retiring from the Senate in 2007, she joined the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to run the Federal Budget Initiative, a program that provides technical assistance to state non-profit organizations on federal budget, tax, and low-income policies. Ms. Huffer is a partner and member of the board of the Democracy Alliance and founded Virginia Plus, a progressive donor collaborative focused on increasing civic and electoral engagement in Virginia. She also sits on the Boards of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Joel Kanter

Joel Kanter has served as President of Windy City, Inc., a privately held investment firm, since July 1986. Mr. Kanter has served as the President, and subsequently as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Walnut Financial Services, Inc., a publicly traded company. Mr. Kanter started his career as Legislative Assistant to former Congressman Abner J. Mikva (IL); served as Special Assistant to the National Association of Attorneys General where he was involved in the legislative efforts to reenact the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and to enact the original Superfund Legislation; and served as the Staff Director of the House Rules Subcommittee on Legislative Process Chaired by former Congressman Gillis Long (LA). Mr. Kanter serves on the Board of Directors of two public companies; is a Trustee Emeritus and past President of the Board of Trustees of The Langley School in McLean, Virginia; is the current Board Chair of the Black Student Fund; is the Education Committee Chairman of the Kennedy Center’s National Committee on the Performing Arts; and serves as an appointee of the State Legislature to the Gubernatorial Virginia Israel Advisory Board.

Surina Khan

Surina Khan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Foundation of California. A first generation immigrant, Surina came to the US with her parents and five older siblings in 1973, and she has been dedicated to gender, racial, and economic justice issues for most of her life. As CEO,Surina oversees the Foundation’s strategic direction, which is focused on building community-based power through investing in effective community-based organizations, training community leaders in policy advocacy, connecting key partners, and mobilizing significant financial resources. Earlier in her career, Surina served as Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (now OutRight Action International) where she worked to advance the human rights of LGBTQI people and people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Surina is currently co-chair of the Board of Directors of Funders for Reproductive Equity. She is also a member of the Board of Alliance for Justice, and La Cocina and a member of the Advisory Board of the Campaign for College Opportunity, a founding Advisor for the Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap Initiative, and a member of the Public Policy Committee for Southern California Grantmakers and Northern California Grantmakers. In 2015, Surinawas recognized with a Leaders in Action Award from Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and in 2017 the South Asian Network recognized Surina with a Community Solidarity Award. Her writing and research have been published widely in print and online publications including the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Philanthropy News Digest.

Zach Polett

Zach Polett is Senior Vice President and Campaigns Director at The Public Interest Network (which includes US PIRG and the State PIRGs, Environment America, and other public interest organizations), is the former Executive Director of Project Vote, and has been leading and directing grassroots community, anti-poverty, consumer, and worker organizing on the local and national level for over 40 years. In addition to his board service with Voices for Progress, he serves on the board of the Arkansas Broadcast Foundation.

Faye Straus

Faye Straus co-founded The Firedoll Foundation with her husband, Sandor. The Firedoll foundation provides grants in several areas including environmental conservation, community development and immigrant rights. Previously, Faye has worked at the federal and local levels of government, conducting budget analysis and program evaluation. She has been active in peace and human rights advocacy, co-facilitating Jewish-Palestinian dialogue and serving as the Board President of the Tibet Oral History Project.

Ted Trimpa

Ted Trimpa is the Principal and CEO of Trimpa Group LLC, a national political consulting and government relations firm that specializes in progressive public policy advocacy and political strategy.  Called “Colorado’s answer to Karl Rove” by The Atlantic, Trimpa is a nationally recognized strategist and operative. Trimpa brings more than a decade of government relations and political consulting experience with a proven record of results. In 2010, he brought together environmentalists and natural gas companies to pass landmark legislation that established health-based emission standards for power plants—making Colorado the first state in the country to do so. In addition to his work in Colorado, Trimpa is a nationally recognized thought leader and a leading advisor to progressive donors and foundations. He has been recognized in national publications, including The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, National Review, and The Advocate, for his central role in designing cutting-edge public policy strategies.