Board of Directors

JOHN S. ARROWOOD
Partner, James, McElroy & Diehl, P.A.
Term: 2011-present

John Arrowood is a partner with the law firm of James, McElroy & Diehl in Charlotte. He practices in the area of complex commercial litigation in Federal and State Courts, representing both individual and business interests.

John has also served as a Superior Court and North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge. When he served on the Court of Appeals, from 2007 to 2009, John was the first and only openly LGBT state-wide office holder in North Carolina.

John has been active in Democratic politics, having served as a delegate to the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions. He has also served as a gubernatorial appointee to the North Carolina Banking Commission, the North Carolina Arts Council and as a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Railroad. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Mint Museum of Art, the Charlotte Center for Urban Ministries and as a member of the Vestry of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Charlotte.

TONI ATKINS
Assemblymember, 76th District, San Diego, CA
Term: 2006-present
Treasurer: 2009-2010

Elected to the State Assembly in November 2010, Assemblymember Atkins represents the central area of San Diego. She came to the Assembly after serving 8 years on the San Diego City Council. In 2005, Toni was chosen by her Council colleagues to serve as Acting Mayor of San Diego during a vacancy in the Mayor's office, making her the city's first openly LGBT mayor.

Toni was widely viewed as the region's leader in the fight for affordable housing and led the charge to enact the nation's first Housing State of Emergency. She also led the City Council in the adoption of a Living Wage Ordinance.

Toni serves on the Housing and Community Development Committee, of which she is vice-chair; as well as the Health, Judiciary, Veterans and Government Organization Committees. She has also been appointed by the Assembly Speaker as the Assembly Majority Whip and Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Homelessness.

She is originally from southwestern Virginia and graduated from Emory & Henry College with a degree in political science with a focus on community organizing. In 2004, she completed the senior executive program at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Atkins lives in the South Park/Golden Hill community of San Diego with her spouse, Jennifer LeSar, and their standard poodle, Haley.

TRUMAN C. EDMINSTER
Principal, Edminster, Hinshaw, Russ and Associates, Inc
Term: 2010-present

A native Houstonian, whose local family-owned firm has been providing engineering, surveying, and land planning related services in the City of Houston since 1936, Truman Edminster is Principal and CEO of Edminster, Hinshaw, Russ and Associates, Inc., overseeing all projects related to land development, public infrastructure, transportation, hydraulics and hydrology, land planning, surveying, construction management and landscape architecture.

Since obtaining his B.S. in Civil Engineering (University of Oklahoma) and his M.B.A. (University of Texas at Austin), Truman has gained over 30 years of experience in his field. Truman is experienced in the creation and operation of special use districts such as Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones and Municipal Utility Districts.  His strong land planning background – ranging from urban development to large master planned communities – affords him the perspective to assess economic opportunities from conceptual design through actual implementation. Truman is currently assessing business development opportunities in China and has taken his firm to the cutting edge on Low Impact Development.  EHRA is one of few engineering firms conducting research and development in the metropolitan area.

Truman maintains memberships in professional organizations such as the American Society of Civil Engineers, Houston Council of Engineering Companies, Urban Land Institute and the Association of Water Board Directors.

In addition to his business activities, Truman has a background of volunteer service.  Some of his past positions include Bayou Bend (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), St. Pius X High School Board, and the Dallas Zoning Board of Adjustments.  He is a graduate of the West Houston Victory Institute and has launched a leadership training program in his own firm.

BRANDON HERNANDEZ
Director, Corporate Affairs, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Term: 2007-present
Vice-chair: 2009-2010
Chair: 2010-2011
Vice-chair: 2011-present

Brandon Hernandez manages governmental affairs for Pacific Gas & Electric Company overseeing all activities for San Francisco, the company’s headquarters. Brandon also manages relationships for statewide and national stakeholders, focusing on Latino and LGBT organizations. Brandon began his political career working for US Senator Barbara Boxer. Later, he became a key consultant to then Speaker of the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa, providing direct, daily legislative and political analysis. He is an avid fundraiser for Democratic political candidates, and sits on the Board of Alternative Family Services, a foster care agency; the Board of Building A Cure Foundation, an agency that raises funds for cancer and HIV/AIDS research; and is a former member of the California Dental Board, a position he was appointed to by Governor Gray Davis.

LINDA KABOOLIAN
Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
Term: 2012-present

Linda Kaboolian, a sociologist specializing in organizational behavior, negotiations, conflict resolution and educational policy, is a lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government where she has been on the faculty for 29 years.

She was the faculty chair of the Kennedy School's Senior Executive Program for State and Local Elected Government and the National Hispana Leadership Institute. She also chaired the School's Labor-Management Program. She was the Principal Investigator and Faculty Chair of the Wallace Foundation funded Superintendents Leadership Program which assisted urban school districts to design better management systems, coaches principals and boards to make better educational decisions, and designs solutions to union and non-union employee conflicts with school system management.

She has done extensive and successful negotiations on public policy issues, including the concern by federally employed long haul drivers carrying nuclear materials for the federal government that they were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.

Linda Kaboolian is the Co-Principal Investigator of The Concord Project, a co-author with Barbara J. Nelson and Mandy Carver of UCLA of all the products, and co-designer of The Concord Leadership Education Curriculum and the Concord Handbook which outlines practices to create organizations that bridge ethnic, racial and class divisions.

She is the author of Win-Win Labor-Management Collaboration in Education and co-author of Working Better Together: A Practical Guide or Union Leaders, Elected Officials and Managers.

Among other activities she is a trustee of Landmark College, Putney Vermont and serves on the board of Sojourner House, a family shelter and developer of affordable housing in Boston.

Dr. Kaboolian received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

SHANE KINKENNON
Principal, Kinkennon Communications, Inc.
Term: 2009-present
Secretary: 2011-present

Shane is principal of Kinkennon Communications, Inc., which does strategic messaging and positioning for nonprofit and other membership organizations. He has helped the United Methodist Church diffuse rancor around divisive social issues and re‐engage in its global mission of world transformation. He has generated media coverage for an unconventional third‐party presidential campaign called Unity08 in outlets like Wall Street Journal, CNN Situation Room, NPR’s Jim Lehrer News Hour, New York Times, and NEWSWEEK. He has run a $9 million dollar marketing‐communications operation, built a $1 million booth for the Detroit Auto Show, run the food industry’s largest anti‐obesity coalition Washington, and written award‐winning advertising copy for billboards in Time Square. He’s founder of the Denver Gay & Lesbian Flag Football League and a member of the Advisory Council of the North Carolina Outward Bound School.

JOYCE NEWSTAT
Founder & CEO, Rocket Science Associates
Term: 2004-present
Secretary: 2005-2008
Chair: 2009-2010

Joyce Newstat is the Founder and CEO of Rocket Science Associates, a consulting firm with expertise in public policy, communications and media relations. She is the former Vice President of Communications and Public Policy at the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Joyce spent most of the last 20 years working in public policy and on national, statewide and local political campaigns. As Director of Public Policy, Joyce led the development of Mayor Gavin Newsom's public policy agenda during his first mayoral campaign and first year in office‐‐including same‐sex marriage and developing assets for low‐income families. Most recently, Joyce volunteered on the No on 8 campaign where she helped raise money from the business community.

Joyce holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the State University of New York at Albany and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Golden Gate University.

She currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute and as a member of the Board of Camp Tawonga. She lives in San Francisco with her spouse Susan Lowenberg and their 14‐year‐old daughter Ruthie.

ALAN ROTH
Senior Executive Vice President, United States Telecom Association
Term: 2010–present
Treasurer: 2011-present

Alan Roth is Senior Executive Vice President of the United States Telecom Association, where he has directed government affairs since 2008.  For more than a decade before that, Alan worked in private practice as a government relations professional and was cited by The Hill newspaper during that time as one of “the best in the business.”  Before entering the private sector, he served on the staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, rising to the position of Staff Director and Chief Counsel under its then-Chairman, Rep. John D. Dingell (D-MI).  A graduate of American University and New York University School of Law, where he was managing editor of the Law Review, Alan is admitted to the DC and Connecticut Bars.
 
Alan was elected in November 2000 to the first of three two-year terms representing approximately 2,000 constituents as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the District of Columbia’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, and was selected by his ANC colleagues to chair the Commission from 2003 to 2006.  In early 2007, he was nominated by Mayor Adrian Fenty and confirmed by the District of Columbia Council to fill an unexpired term on the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority’s Board of Directors.  He was renominated and reconfirmed in 2008 to a full four-year term.

WILLIAM J. ROUSE
General Manager, Administrative Services Cooperative, Inc.
Term: 2011–present

As the fourth generation of his family in the taxicab business, William J. Rouse was appointed General Manager of Administrative Services Cooperative (ASC) in February of 2004. ASC manages five taxicab fleets in the greater Los Angeles area, including Yellow Cab of Los Angeles, Long Beach Yellow Cab, United Checker Cab, South Bay Yellow Cab and Fiesta Taxi. ASC is the largest taxicab organization in the Western United States with almost 1200 vehicles in its combined fleet.

Mr. Rouse is also affiliated with the management of San Diego Yellow Cab, with 330 vehicles in service, and California Yellow Cab, in Orange County, California, with over 200 vehicles.

Mr. Rouse graduated from the University of Southern California in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Finance and Business Economics. He received his law degree from the University of Southern California and was admitted to the bar in 1992.

Mr. Rouse served for almost five years on the City of Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners, serving two years as President and one year as Vice President. Prior to that, he served two years on the Board of Commissioners of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the commission that oversees Olvera Street and its surroundings.

Mr. Rouse currently serves on the boards of directors of both the international and statewide taxicab trade associations, the Taxicab Limousine Paratransit Association (TLPA), where he is Vice President, and the Taxicab Paratransit Association of California (TPAC), where he is a past president. He is also Vice Chair of the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Mr. Rouse is an attorney whose practice has ranged from employment law and civil rights (including LGBT rights) to general corporate, transactional and unfair competition.

A lifelong resident of the Los Angeles area, Mr. Rouse and his partner, Stephane Vachon, have been together for 15 years.

ROB SALTZMAN
Commissioner, Board of Police Commissioners, Los Angeles, CA
Term: 2005-present
Treasurer: 2008
Secretary: 2009-2011
Victory Fund Board: 2001-2005

Rob Saltzman is associate dean at the USC Law School where he is responsible for student services, and where he teaches professional and legal ethics, and statutory interpretation. From 2005‐2007, he served as L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s appointee on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission which is responsible for enforcement of the Los Angeles campaign finance and disclosure regulations. He was elected Vice President of the Ethics Commission in July of 2007. In October of 2007, Mayor Villaraigosa apointed Saltzman to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Saltzman is one of five Police Commissioners responsible for setting policy and overseeing the operations of the Los Angeles Police Department. Saltzman also serves on the Board of Advisors of the David Bohnett Foundation.

DEBRA SHORE
Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Term: 2009-present
Secretary: 2010
Vice-chair: 2010-2011
Chair: 2011-present

Debra Shore is a Commissioner on the Board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Elected to a six‐year term in 2006, Debra was the first openly‐gay non‐judicial candidate elected countywide in Cook County and received the most votes in a field of nine. Debra chairs committees on Stormwater Management and State Legislation & Rules and has been working to “green” the agency. Shortly after joining the board, Debra and her colleagues unanimously approved extending domestic partner health benefits to same sex and opposite sex partners of District employees. Debra was a delegate for Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She was the founding editor of Chicago Wilderness Magazine and is an ardent conservation advocate. Debra graduated from Goucher College (MD) in 1974 with a degree in Philosophy & Visual Arts. She earned Master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Columbia College (Chicago).

MARIO TRUJILLO
Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles County
Term: 2012-present

Mario Trujillo is the proud son of a single mother who taught her son that strong family values, a strong work ethic, education and community involvement lead to achievement and success. Mario is a native Californian and grew up in San Francisco where he attended and graduated from the prestigiously renowned Lowell High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and after graduation he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as teacher.

Mario taught elementary school for six years in the South Los Angeles community while attending Southwestern University School of Law at night. He received his Juris Doctorate and was admitted to the bar. He later served as an associate adjunct instructor at Southwestern Law School.

A Los Angeles County resident for over 20 years, he currently resides in Downey and is a proud father actively involved in the lives of his son and daughter. He and his partner are currently in the process of adopting their 19 month-old foster son. Mario is determined to pass on to his children the family values he learned from his mother: respect, love the country and an appreciation that their extended family also includes their community. Mario is a former school teacher and has been very involved in the community.

An accomplished community leader, Mario has served as the President of one of the largest Attorney Bar Associations in the county, the Mexican American Bar Association. He recently received the Attorney of the Year Award from Southeast District Bar Association. He is the immediate past Lieutenant Governor of Kiwanis Clubs, Division 13 and served on the board of the Downey Kiwanis Foundation. He also served on the board of the Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse (LACADA).

PATRICK VON BARGEN
Managing Director, Quinn Gillespie & Associates
Term: 2011-present

Patrick provides strategic counsel to a wide variety of QGA's energy clients, primarily in the clean technology space, including solar, wind, recycling, and biomass. He also represents startup firms using venture capital to develop clean energy technology. He has an acute understanding of the various, complex aspects of the new public policy proposals that will shape the nation's energy future. He helps educate public policy leaders about the full range of opportunities in the nation's future energy landscape.

Patrick joined QGA in 2008, after having served in major public policy roles over 17 years in Washington, including as Chief of Staff to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) from 1987 to 1999 and Managing Executive for Policy & Staff for Chairman William H. Donaldson (R-NY) at the Securities & Exchange Commission from 2003 to 2005. He also headed the National Commission on Entrepreneurship and served as Vice President of the Council on Competitiveness, the only national organization whose membership is comprised exclusively of CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders focused on American economic competitiveness issues. He had a distinguished career in law representing start-up technology companies and venture capital firms and served three years as CEO of the Center for Venture Education's Kauffman Fellows Program in Silicon Valley — the premier education and networking institute for new junior and senior venture capitalists around the world.

Patrick earned a B.A. in History with Honors in Humanities, graduating summa cum laude from Stanford University, a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is a member of the bar in the states of California and Colorado.

CHUCK WOLFE
President & CEO, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund

Chuck Wolfe is the president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and public officials. He served on the Victory Fund's Board of Directors for four years prior to joining the staff.  During his tenure as CEO, hundreds of openly LGBT candidates have been elected to public office, and the list of states with no out elected officials has dropped from 13 to just one.

Mr. Wolfe has an extensive background in politics, issue advocacy and organizational development. He previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the American Legacy Foundation, which was created as a result of the 46-state settlement with the tobacco industry. Mr. Wolfe was the Foundation's first employee and initiated national tobacco control programs such as the groundbreaking "truth" advertising campaign.

Mr. Wolfe entered the public sector as an appointee to the late Florida Governor Lawton Chiles. In addition to serving on the governor's 1994 reelection campaign as operations manager, he served the governor for seven years in such capacities as director of external affairs, director of tobacco control and executive director of the Miami Financial Oversight Board. During his tenure, among numerous other achievements, Mr. Wolfe developed and implemented programs that aided the relief efforts of Hurricane Andrew, the City of Miami's financial emergency and the Florida Tobacco Pilot Program.

Mr. Wolfe, an Eagle Scout, has a long history of leadership within the Boy Scouts of America, including a two-year term on the National Executive Board. For more than ten years he was active and outspoken in the effort to rid scouting of its discriminatory policies towards gays and lesbians.  His efforts were profiled in a report on CBS News' 60 Minutes.

Mr. Wolfe is a 1985 graduate of Stetson University in Florida and completed the Negotiating Skills Seminar at the J.F.K. School of Government of Harvard University in 1997. A native of Florida, he has resided in Washington, D.C. since 1999.