Our Team

Brittny Anya

(she/her)

Senior Operations Manager

brittny@ceja.org

Brittny manages the operations for the amazing work CEJA does across the state. She enjoys managing operational systems because it is the engine that keeps CEJA running. Brittny likes exploring various productivity tools and to-do lists to maximize and increase our productivity. Brittny is passionate about building resilient communities that are most impacted by systematic injustices that plague our world. She came to CEJA because the folks at this organization work tirelessly to promote environmental awareness to improve the health of our communities.

Before joining CEJA, Brittny did some community organizing around social justice during her time at Fresno State with Black Students United and through my sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. Additionally, she has spent a lot of time working in the social work field with youth and families providing direct services, program management, and administrative support.

During her free time, Brittny can be found listening to music. Brittny loves music, especially anything from 90’s R&B, Hip Hop, and Jazz. Music keeps her centered and energized to get through the days whether she’s feeling up or down. When the weather permits, Brittny likes to spend time at the beach on the sand listening and watching the waves because it’s so calming.

Feby Boediarto

(she/her)

Energy Justice Manager

feby@ceja.org

Feby Boediarto is on CEJA’s Energy team and works closely with member organizations to meet their program and policy goals to access clean energy resources and secure community benefits. Her role ensures the Just Transition strategy of “building the new” is implementable and directly benefits frontline communities throughout California. Feby is committed to an advocacy approach rooted in transformative collaboration and care.

Prior to CEJA, Feby supported State regulatory and legislative pathways to meet California’s clean energy goals while at Ava Community Energy (fka East Bay Community Energy). She has navigated processes at the California Public Utilities Commission, advocated for bills in the State legislature, and built coalitions to pursue federal funds for community energy programs. She supported the implementation of community solar programs in Alameda County, and organized community grants for neighborhoods most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feby brings these skills to CEJA’s Energy Justice campaigns to uplift EJ communities.

Born in southern California, the ancestral land of the Tongva people, and now based in San Francisco, ancestral land of the Ramaytush Ohlone people, Feby is grateful for the immigrant communities who helped raise her. Her favorite conversation topics include fermentation, dogs, and Octavia Butler’s writing. 

Lilia Escalante

(she/her)

Finance and Administration Director

lilia@ceja.org

As the Finance and Administration Director, Lilia is responsible for the day-to-day financialactivity, development, and management of the budget and financial operating systems. She comes to CEJA with over 20 years of experience in non-profit financial management. Lilia’s background is in accounting and business management.

Lilia is very passionate about social and environmental justice. She was born in Nayarit, Mexico, and migrated with her family to the United States at age five. As an immigrant, she knows firsthand the challenges environmental justice communities face. At an early age, she was her parents’ interpreter, a skill she continues to perfect, and she never misses an opportunity to translate. She believes that language should not be a barrier for our communities and advocates for language justice.

When Lilia is not crunching numbers or interpreting, she is enjoying time with her children and dog. She loves hiking, kayaking, and paddle boarding. During her free time, Lilia is volunteering with local nonprofits that provide life and leadership opportunities to our youth.

Denise Glaze

(she/her)

Co-Executive Director for Operations & Development

denise@ceja.org

As Co-Executive Director for Operations & Development, Denise leads diverse aspects of CEJA’s operations, finance, development, communications, and human resources programs with the goal of nurturing CEJA’s sustainable growth and amplifying the impacts of our policy work. Denise is responsible for working closely with the Co-Executive Director of Programs to guide the vision for CEJA, CEJA Action, and the CEJA Action PAC.

Denise has nearly two decades of experience working in multiracial social justice movement spaces as an organizer, advocate, and fundraiser dedicated to transformative justice, advancing grassroots solutions to systems change, and the movement for collective liberation from capitalism and white supremacy. Denise joined CEJA in 2019 and has served as CEJA’s Development Director, during which time she fostered the consistent growth of CEJA’s annual budget, grew the robust grants and re-grants programs, and launched CEJA’s first ever individual donor program. She has also served as a former Interim Co-Executive Director at CEJA, supporting the stability, sustainability, and strategic growth of CEJA as a powerful and essential movement institution successfully through transition.

Denise was raised in southeast Pennsylvania by a working-class family and was politicized among multiracial queer communities and sex worker advocates in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Having spent most of her life living in EJ communities in both urban and rural areas, Denise has a lifelong commitment to combating the environmental racism experienced across these geographies.

Denise holds a MES in Environmental Policy and a MS in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certified Healing-Centered Coach through the Blooming Willow Coaching program and earned the CFRE (Certified Fund-Raising Executive) credential in 2023. She is currently based in Los Angeles on unceded Tongva land.

Sibel Güner

(she/they)

Communications Manager

sibel@ceja.org

As Communications Manager, Sibel operates CEJA’s outward-facing communications and works with program staff, coalition members, and allies to grow its digital community.

Prior to joining CEJA, Sibel worked as the David Brower Center’s Communications and Development Manager leading the fundraising and communications of a community institution with a public gallery featuring art used for environmental activism. Her preceding role as Give2Asia’s Senior Marketing Associate advanced a decolonial vision of philanthropy by directing funds toward hyperlocal organizers across the Asia Pacific region. Having lived on four continents and participated in a range of social movements, she is humbled by the complexities of intersectional politics and works to decenter her voice as a western passport-holder in the midst of stark global cultural imperialism.

Sibel graduated from Connecticut College with a B.A. in International Relations and Cultural Anthropology before moving to Washington, D.C. and becoming disillusioned with state-led politics as a vehicle for change. She acquired her Masters of Social Sciences as a co-batched degree from the University of Freiburg, University of Cape Town, and Jawaharlal Nehru University and wrote her thesis on feminist comedy as a platform for empowerment. Most recently, a COVID-inspired return to academia led her to a second Masters from the University of Cape Town in Environmental and Geographical Sciences, where she studied southern urbanisms. Her thesis “Food, Love, and Resistance: Lessons on Reimagining Social Reproduction from East Bay Housing Cooperatives” examines the power of collective self-governance as a response to urban crisis.

Sibel’s personal projects include facilitating a capitalism course at an autonomous university for political education and building community through book clubs. A California native with relentlessly nomadic tendencies, Sibel is now rooting back in her home context and can be found in the East Bay playing in nature, soaking in her co-op’s hot tub, and hunting for public art.

Krystal Klaassen

(she/her)

HR and Operations Director

krystal@ceja.org

Krystal Klaassen is the HR and Operations Director at CEJA, bringing over a decade of experience in human resources, organizational development, and nonprofit leadership. With a passion for fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment, Krystal’s leadership style is rooted in servant leadership and a commitment to creating systemic equity and mutual care.

Before joining CEJA, Krystal served in HR leadership roles at various nonprofit organizations, where she worked on building strong teams, benefits and compensation management, refining operational processes, and championing DEI initiatives. She believes in empowering others through meaningful, values-driven work and approaches every challenge with a solutions-oriented mindset.

At CEJA, Krystal is focused on enhancing the organization’s operational efficiency and supporting staff members to grow and succeed in their roles. She looks forward to working closely with the team to further the mission of environmental justice and equity.

In her free time, Krystal enjoys time with her husband, three children and extended family.  You will often find her in the kitchen cooking because she loves good food and hosting friends and family for meals. She loves walking in her neighborhood, reading, and volunteering with community organizations.

Leonela Leon

(she/her)

Civic Engagement Manager

leonela@ceja.org

As a Civic Engagement Manager at CEJA, Leonela supports and leads CEJA and CEJA Action’s electoral work to build the political power of environmental justice communities across California. Leonela is the lead manager of CEJA’s ballot measure voter guide and CEJA Action’s candidate endorsement voter guide.

Leonela graduated from UC Berkeley in 2021 with a B.S. in Society & Environment and minors in public policy and journalism. She studied the intersection of race, class, gender and the environment, as well as public policy and media as tools for achieving justice.

She joined CEJA in 2020 and quickly found her political home in the environmental justice movement. She sees civic engagement as an expression of community care and works to build a future where all of our elected representatives truly reflect our communities and courageously speak out and vote against injustice.

In her free time, you can find her with her cat Chunky or reading for one of her many book clubs.

Mia Lopez-Zubiri

(she/her)

Development Manager

mia@ceja.org

Mia joined CEJA in February 2024. As CEJA’s Development Manager, she supports the organization’s individual giving efforts. This includes managing fundraising appeals, developing donor communications, and collaborating with the Development team to sustain and grow CEJA’s funding opportunities.

Mia is originally from Los Angeles and moved to Washington, D.C. to study Government, Sociology, and Justice and Peace Studies at Georgetown University. Prior to joining CEJA, Mia spent four years on Venice Community Housing’s (VCH) Development & Communications team. At VCH, she worked on fundraising events and campaigns, wrote grant proposals and reports, and oversaw community engagement and advocacy efforts with the organization’s supporters and tenant council.

Outside of work, Mia enjoys cooking, traveling, roller skating, and exploring Los Angeles through restaurants, coffee shops, and community events.

Nile Malloy

(he/him)

Climate Justice Director

nile@ceja.org

As the Climate Justice Director at CEJA, Nile brings two decades of working on racial, social, climate, and economic justice policy in the non-profit, public, and philanthropic sectors. Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, his involvement spans a diverse spectrum of endeavors, encompassing environmental justice, community development, housing, and climate solution initiatives in the United States, Caribbean, and Africa.

He previously worked for a seven-year period as the Northern California Director at Communities for a Better Environment and three years as a senior campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. During these tenures, he supported local, regional, state, and international climate, environmental justice, human rights, transportation, clean energy, fossil fuel reduction, and environmental justice policy and campaigns. 

He served on several committees including the Bay Area Rapid Transit Title VI/Environmental Justice Committee, Oakland Climate Action Coalition, Environmental Protection Agency, National Climate Justice Alliance, Fund for Inclusive California, Oakland Climate Action Committee, Marin Clean Energy Alliance, Richmond Environmental Justice Coalition, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, California Adaptation Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and Eco-Adapt National Climate Adaptation Programs.

He recently worked at the Neighborhood Funders Group, spearheading the Democratizing Development Program organizing funders and seeding collaborative funds including the multi-million dollar Fund for an Inclusive California and the national Amplify Fund. These funds continue to direct investments towards Black, indigenous, immigrant, and low-income communities projects and influencing public policy.

He holds a BA from the University of Michigan in Environmental Sustainability and African American Studies and MA in Anthropology and Social Change with a focus on Gender, Ecology, and Postcolonial Studies. Beyond his professional commitments, he is the father to his lovely daughter and two teenage boys, writer, health and wellness enthusiast, life coach, and entrepreneur.

Raquel Mason

(she/her)

Senior Legislative Manager

raquel@ceja.org

As Senior Legislative Manager, Raquel works with CEJA members and partners to develop and implement legislative and budget strategies required for the transformational policies our communities require.

Most recently, Raquel worked in the State Assembly where she worked on a variety of bills and issue areas including natural resources. As an Assembly Fellow, Raquel had the opportunity to staff AB 1232 (Gloria), a CEJA priority bill that sought to combat any displacement impacts associated with the Low-Income Weatherization Program (LIWP). Before transitioning to Sacramento, Raquel worked at CEJA member organization, Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles (PSR-LA).

With PSR-LA, Raquel supported the Air and Climate Justice work and the Toxics program. In this work, she coordinated the Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy (CHANGE) coalition by supporting its membership through a re-grounding process and affirming the coalition’s commitment to community-led work.

In 2017, Raquel participated in the Dr. Beatriz María Solís Policy Institute where she and the team of CEJA advocates learned the state policy process first-hand and passed AB 523 (Reyes). In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing, and indulging her sweet tooth.

Neena Mohan

(any pronouns)

Grants Manager

grants@ceja.org

Neena Mohan is a climate justice advocate and fund development professional working towards a Just Transition. Neena has served as the Climate Justice Program Manager, Climate & Air Campaign Manager, and currently as Grants Manager at the California Environmental Justice Alliance. Neena has previously represented CEJA on the AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (EJAC) to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Clean Transportation Program Investment Plan Advisory Committee, and the UC Davis Transportation Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Group (TEEJAG). Neena has also advanced equitable climate adaptation and resilience strategies in the Bay Area as a former Senior Associate with Farallon Strategies, managing the Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network. Prior to this, Neena was an Environmental Equity Fellow at The Greenlining Institute and a Climate Associate Fellow with Alameda County’s Office of Sustainability. Neena has been published in UC Berkeley’s premiere law journal, Ecology Law Quarterly, as part of the university’s Just Transition Symposium. Neena holds a B.S. from UC Berkeley in Environmental Sciences and in Conservation & Resource Studies, with a minor in LGBT Studies. Neena’s skillset is strengthened by education and training in intermediate accounting, nonprofit financial success, project management, and liberatory coaching.

Outside of work, Neena has developed skills as a holistic healing practitioner, and holds certifications in yoga, forest therapy, integrative somatic trauma therapy, and Buddhist psychology. Neena is a graduate of Justice Outside’s Outdoor Educators Institute, Critical Ecology Lab’s Liberation Ecology Field Course, and People’s Climate Innovation Center’s Young Climate Leaders of Color program.

Valeria Paredes

(she/her)

Development Manager

valeria@ceja.org

Valeria received a dual bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Economics and spent much of her undergraduate career working for student retention initiatives such as the American Indian Resource Center and the Chicanx/Latinx Resource Center with the goal to foster community among first generation students of color.

She coordinated the People of Color Sustainability Collective where she contributed to grant proposals, presented to UC administrators about the goals of the collective and engaged students, faculty and community members in programming. PoC

SC designed educational workshops and facilitated reflective spaces to center BIPOC voices, explore environmental justice topics in the U.S. and global South, and highlight resilience in communities that challenged dominant narratives of sustainability.

She had the opportunity to take service-learning trips to cities such as Seattle, WA and New Orleans, LA to learn about local organizing efforts to combat displacement, food insecurity and economic inequality. With a passion for environmental economics and policy, Valeria supported and encouraged peers to think through resource management and city planning challenges.

Most recently, Valeria was a food and agriculture fellow at Friends of the Earth where she co-authored a bee-friendly retailer scorecard and toxicity analysis on conventional pesticides to promote pollinator and frontline worker health in our food system. She recently found a work home at CEJA as the new Development Associate and is excited to contribute to the growing, statewide EJ movement.

Valeria grew up in Southeast LA county and enjoys drinking coffee and tea, hiking, going to the swapmeet and spending time with her younger siblings, David and Victoria. She is always interested in learning about critical race and ethnic studies, food sovereignty and reproductive justice as well, which are all connected to environmental justice!

Jonathan Pruitt

(he/him)

Land Use Manager

jonathan@ceja.org

As the Land Use Program Manager, Jonathan will lead CEJA’s Green Zones Program that utilizes a place-based strategy to transform toxic hot spots into healthy, thriving neighborhoods. He will work with CEJA members and partners on the Green Zone committee, implementing and managing the Green Zone program plan, and providing leadership and strategic vision for the Green Zones work.

Jonathan has over 6 years of experience in the environmental justice space and over 8 years in public health. During his time with the Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton, he served as their environmental justice program coordinator building their capacity on regional and state policy advocacy as well as air quality work. As the coordinator, he worked on Senate Bill 1000, land use policy, CEQA, and TCC implementation alongside community members and coalition partners in Stockton and built environmental justice community coalitions across the San Joaquin County region. Jonathan has a knack for mobilizing people on environmental justice issues such as a proposed crematorium in Stockton which was successfully stopped due to a campaign he coordinated. He was also the community lead for Stockton’s AB 617 and was instrumental in getting a Port Outreach Committee from the Port of Stockton to enhance transparency on port operations and emissions. He is committed to redefining Public Health as an institution to prioritize environmental justice as a core component.

Jonathan graduated from CSU Stanislaus with a B.A. in Kinesiology with a Concentration in Health Promotion and a Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He is a product of Stockton and continues to stay involved with local events and projects. In his free time, he likes to explore new hiking trails, video games, and listen to different podcasts.

Ravahn Samati

(he/him)

Civic Engagement Manager

ravahn@ceja.org

Ravahn is a first generation Oakland-er and recently completed a Master of Public Policy degree from Mills College where he reconnected to CEJA’s work and leadership on the Transformative Climate Communities policy. He comes to CEJA with a decade’s worth of experience running candidate, issue, and union organizing campaigns. They were transformative and fatiguing experiences. He first got stirred up by environmental justice work during the No on Prop 23 campaign in 2010 where he was introduced to coalition work and saw the fomenting community of POC-led organizations flexing their electoral muscles. CEJA’s place-based convening of local member organizations across the state aligns closely with Ravahn’s theory of change.

Faith-based organizing campaigns remain his primary model for organizing as a member of a Quaker community. Their historic commitments to justice and holding community were formative early experiences he grew up around. Oakland is another moniker he holds with pride and is grateful to have been the recipient of education from Black leadership in the public school system.

He enjoys group learning environments and building patience for shared processes. He is interested in creating strong organizations that are conversant in working through conflict and building cultures of learning. Underlying his experience is a recognition that we have one planet and that communities know the answers to their own problems.

Travel has been an important education for him having lived 6 months each in Bolivia, Iran, and Morocco. One of the first intentional choices that he made was to travel to Iran as a high school student to better understand his father’s passion for the culture. It was an important alternative frame of reference to the popular culture of the United States.

Rabeya Sen

(she/her)

Equitable Land Use Director

rabeya@ceja.org

Based in Los Angeles, Rabeya Sen was previously the founding Director of Policy at Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, where she focused on issues related to affordable housing, equitable development and anti-displacement strategies, environmental justice, housing justice, racial justice, immigrant rights. She has worked in the social justice movement for over 20 years, addressing the complexity of experiences that shape the lives of individuals, families, and communities. Prior to delving into the movement for environmental justice and housing justice, Rabeya worked in related fields, addressing the confluence of structural violence and social justice issues, especially their impact on survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence. A proud daughter of immigrants, she is also an avid singer and is keenly interested in exploring ways in which to incorporate art and music into our work for collective liberation. She also served on the Board of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence from 2014-2020, including as Board President from 2018-2020. In 2024, Rabeya was also honored with inclusion in ‘Alta / A Human Atlas of a City of Angels,’ a project in collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute, to honor 100 Angelenos for significant contributions to LA.

Heena Singh

(she/her)

Energy Justice Manager

heena@ceja.org

Heena Singh is a first generation Indian-American activist and engineer based on unceded Tongva land in Los Angeles, CA. Her ancestral roots are in New Delhi, India, where many of her relatives live today. Encouraged by her family’s resilience to increasing air pollution and intensifying monsoons she was motivated at a young age to reform our energy system and stand up for frontline communities impacted by climate change.

As Energy Justice Manager at CEJA, she leads the Regenerate California Coalition in retiring gas-fired power plants across California starting with those in environmental justice communities. In this role, Heena combines policy, data modeling, community organizing, and storytelling to implement regulation that centers frontline communities and drives forward a decarbonized, democratic, and decolonized grid.

Heena’s last role focused on advising cities and utilities on how to achieve their clean energy goals and oversaw the design, construction, and interconnection of clean energy infrastructure projects across the US. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with an energy focus from the University of Michigan. She has also completed energy programs at MIT Media Lab, Clean Energy Leadership Institute, Solar Energy International, Xiamen University (厦门大学), and Technische Universität Berlin. 

Heena is a solarpunk at heart and finds joy outside of work cooking for friends, getting lost in bookstores, photosynthesizing at the park, and discovering new music.

Mabel Tsang

(she/they)

Political Director

mabel@ceja.org

As Political Director for CEJA and CEJA Action, Mabel works to build the political power, self-governance and self-determination of EJ communities and communities of color burdened by health, economic and environmental impacts. Mabel builds the bridges of accountability between California’s elected leaders and voters, manage ballot measure campaigns, and expand democratic participation for environmental, racial and social justice by centering and including members of our community who have been historically barred from voting. Mabel successfully led the campaign to beat down Proposition 70 which preserved critical public funds to fight climate change.

Mabel became an organizer because of her mom. She found myself in the social justice movement in hopes of making the world a better place for her and others like her. Despite health problems ranging from heart disease to asthma, Mabel’s mother worked as a waitress and a care-taker which brought Mabel into organizing at United Food and Commercial Workers alongside Walmart workers with Organization United for Respect at Walmart, for retail workers’ rights, human dignity and respect in one of the largest commercial global polluters.

This brought Mabel to work for San Francisco Rising, an alliance of six Asian, Black, Latinx grassroots working-class immigrant, youth, and people of color base-building organizations across San Francisco, to build the political power to elect progressive candidates and pass bold ballot measures for necessary resources and changes in our community when elected officials would not or could not. Mabel brought her experiences to Asian Pacific Environmental Network a member of CEJA to lead a campaign to contact 30,000 voters, the largest Asian Pacific American direct voter contact efforts in California. Mabel carries these invaluable lessons forward into CEJA’s Civic Engagement and Electoral programs to build the infrastructure of political power and decision making for the future we are building today.

Outside of electoral politics and organizing, Mabel is a current fellow in LeaderSpring’s LEADStrong women of color cohort. Mabel can be found meditating and teaching yoga, taking trips to some of the most beautiful places, and writing books for children of color so they can see themselves in this world.

Taylor Thompson

(he/they)

Development Director

taylor@ceja.org

As CEJA’s Development Director, Taylor is responsible for leading the fundraising efforts for CEJA, CEJA Action, and the CEJA Action PAC to ensure their long-term sustainability and growth.

Prior to joining CEJA in summer 2024, Taylor accumulated over five years experience as a fundraising professional, raising over $100 million in funding to support nonprofit organizations and Tribal governments, and managing portfolios as large as $150 million. Taylor also has nearly a decade of experience in the environmental field, ranging from ecosystem restoration to wildlife rehabilitation, as well as in Native food sovereignty initiatives.

As a Two-Spirit citizen of the Cherokee Nation who spent approximately a third of their life living in conservative states, Taylor sometimes jokes that he was “assigned politicized at birth,” but primarily engages in advocacy related to Tribal sovereignty, environmental justice, trans/queer rights, and food system reform.

Taylor holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Utah, along with a minor in Leadership Studies. He is currently pursuing a MA in Philanthropic Studies and a MPA in Nonprofit Management through Indiana University. He was credentialed as a Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) in October of 2024. He is currently based on Kumeyaay land in San Diego.

Tyler Valdes

(he/him)

Statewide Organizer

tyler@ceja.org

As Statewide Organizer, Tyler works with teams of policy advocates, community organizers, and storytellers to support coordinated efforts related to CEJA’s priority campaigns.

Motivated by his experience of growing up with energy insecurity, Tyler is a mission-driven leader dedicated to the advancement of energy justice. He is a proud queer person of color and son of immigrants. Before joining CEJA, Tyler developed and delivered project-based sustainability curricula that educated tens of thousands of students across California. He also supported the recruitment and training of hundreds of fellows who lead climate action projects throughout the state.

Originally from the Inland Empire, Tyler is a first-generation college graduate who earned his bachelor’s degree in Earth System Science from UC Irvine and his master’s degree in Climate Science and Policy from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. In his free time, Tyler enjoys practicing yoga, sunbathing at the beach, and trying new foods.

Aditi Varshneya

(she/her)

Climate Justice Manager

aditi@ceja.org

Aditi Varshneya is an Oakland-based organizer and immigrant primarily raised in China and India. She joined CEJA as Climate Justice Manager in 2025. Aditi brings over five years of alliance-based expertise from her time at the Global Alliance of Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), where she provided capacity-building and coordination support to a network of grassroots organizations across the United States and Canada advancing the movement for a just transition to zero waste. Her prior professional experience spans grassroots community organizing and advocacy on topics spanning green building retrofits to extreme heat at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. She has staffed a community board in the Bronx and conducted research for a university institute on transit equity, as well as a think tank on urban ocean conservation. Aditi is an alumna of New York University, where she earned a BA in Metropolitan Studies with an honors thesis that contrasted frontline community and government responses to Hurricane Sandy. She also received an MPA in Public & Nonprofit Management from NYU, completing a capstone consultancy that improved partnership between a school and its alumni of color association seeking to implement racial justice reforms. In her spare time, Aditi enjoys spending time reading, cooking, listening to podcasts, and and organizing her community.

Diana Vazquez Ballesteros

(she/her)

Co-Executive Director for Programs

diana@ceja.org

As Co-Executive Director for Programs, Diana guides the vision for CEJA’s core programmatic functions: Energy Justice, Climate Justice, Land Use formerly known as Green Zones, Legislative, and Civic Engagement work, which includes overseeing CEJA Action and CEJA Action PAC. Diana, in partnership with Denise, brings community voices directly to those responsible for enacting meaningful and actionable environmental justice solutions. 

A seasoned environmental justice advocate and policy maker, Diana will make sure that CEJA remains at the forefront of the fight for the health and safety of California’s most vulnerable communities. She comes to CEJA from her last role as Deputy Director for Legislation and Regulatory Review (appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom), at the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) – Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).

Before joining DTSC, Diana worked as a Policy Manager at CEJA beginning in 2017, making this career change a homecoming. Diana is honored and humbled to return to such a warm welcome home to CEJA. 

In previous roles, Diana has worked as a Policy Advocate at Sierra Club California from 2015 to 2016. Prior to that, Diana was a Legislative Assistant in the Office of State Assemblymember Ed Chau from 2012 to 2015. She was a Legislative Assistant and a Jesse M. Unruh Assembly Fellow in the Office of State Assemblymember Mike Eng from 2011 to 2012. Diana was also a proud Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) mentor/co-mentor for the environmental justice cohorts in 2017 and 2019. 

Through her combination of cutting-edge EJ advocacy experience and years of legislative and regulatory work inside the state government, Diana will position CEJA as a uniquely qualified California EJ voice. Diana holds a Master of Public Policy from CSU, Monterey Bay and a BA in Political Science and Chican@ Studies from UC Davis. She resides in Sacramento, CA with her supportive partner and child.