josh@brightlinedefense.org

Joshua Arce began his community advocacy work as a civil rights attorney before founding Brightline Defense Project in late 2005. Since early 2007, Mr. Arce and Brightline have focused their efforts on achieving quality of life improvements in vulnerable communities such as Bayview-Hunters Point in Southeast San Francisco. In 2010 Arce was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to the Citizens Committee on Community Development to advise the City and County of San Francisco on workforce development and affordable housing policy.

Mr. Arce is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and received a B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. Mr. Arce founded Brightline with the proceeds of an anti-Latino employment discrimination settlement with a national mortgage lender.

 roxanne@brightlinedefense.org

Roxanne Figueroa Caldera has over 15 years of experience in promoting community economic development and empowerment. Ms. Caldera received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her master in city planning from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP). In 2009, Ms. Caldera received the Excellence in Public Service Award from DUSP for her instrumental role in the development of a grassroots campaign promoting the passage of a local $26 million library improvement and renovation measure. Prior to Brightline, she was the executive director of the Berkeley Public Library Foundation and served on the boards of the National Women’s Political Caucus-Alameda North and the East Bay Young Democrats.

 eddie@brightlinedefense.org

Eddie Ahn has been engaged in community and legislative advocacy work as both a recently graduated law student and an attorney for Brightline since 2009. Prior to law school, he was an AmeriCorps member, serving as an afterschool programmer in Oakland’s Chinatown. While working toward his law degree, he participated in the Legislation Clinic and worked on civil justice and environmental issues for the Assembly Judiciary Committee in Sacramento.

Mr. Ahn has received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and his B.A. from Brown University.

Stephanie Boyd is a journey level member of Laborers Local 261 and a student at Bryman College of San Francisco.

While plying her trade on San Francisco construction projects and trying to maintain her family's place in the City, Stephanie experienced firsthand the challenge that community members face not only in getting their foot in the door for a construction career, but in securing the sustainable blue-collar employment required to allow working families to raise children in San Francisco.

When not working, Stephanie supports Brightline's efforts to elevate community awareness of high-road opportunities for construction employment and jobs available through the City's new local hiring law.

José Atilio Hernández has worked for the past ten years developing and implementing policy solutions at the state and local levels. Currently, Mr. Hernández serves as Director for External Affairs and Community Relations for ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career. Prior to ConnectEd, Mr. Hernández worked for six years in the California State Senate as the Director of Policy and Development for California State Senator Richard Alarcón, serving as the Principal Consultant to the Senate Select Committee on College and University Admissions and Outreach, a Consultant to the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan to End Poverty in California. Mr. Hernández is currently a member of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Low Income Oversight Board and received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley.

Amir S. Sarreshtehdary was born in Tehran, Iran but has spent the majority of his life in San Francisco. While working toward his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, he participated in the Civil Justice Clinic and assisted tenants seeking better housing conditions and challenging unfair rent increases. For many years he has been involved in social causes and representing members of society often unheard. He worked at the Northern California Service League as well as the San Francisco and Marin County Jails as an intern. He has also worked with youth at the Youth Guidance Center in San Francisco where he was an instructor in introductory law classes and also as a counselor to dual-diagnosed adolescents in a residential treatment home.

Rebecca Arce graduated from UCLA in 1999 with a degree in American Literature and Culture over the next 8 years worked her way up to Marketing Manager at renowned performing arts presenter, UCLA Live. A founding board member of Brightline Defense Project, Arce currently lives in Los Angeles and serves as Committee Chair on the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council.

Brandon Bowlin is an actor, writer, political commentator, blogger, satirist, comedian, and animator. He currently hosts thedarkroome.com, which began as an underground radioshow in the early 90's, transformed into a comedy club, and now serves as an on-line venue to host ideas, views, debates and discussions centered around a creative/political/artistic connection. While performing stand-up in Los Angeles, his prolific blogging on social and political issues attracted the attention of the Los Angeles Sentinel who hired him to blog on the Sentinel's website. In 2010, Bowlin launched thedarkroome.com as a place for people people to gather and share understanding and ideas.


Beginning in 2003, Bowlin and civil rights attorney Joshua Arce spent two and a half years together battling the use of historic preservation districts to gentrify north Pasadena, leading to the idea of a community legal advocacy non-profit that became Brightline Defense Project in 2005.

Kevin Chan, CFA, is a Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He has over 10 years of investment and risk management experience. Mr. Chan has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and received his bachelor degree in Economics from University of California at Berkeley.

Nick Hardeman is a native of San Francisco. He earned a B.A. degreen in Politics from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, where he was a leader in a successful living wage campaign. Upon graduation, he entered the California Senate Fellowship Program. Nick currently serves as the Capitol Director for Assembly Majority Whip Fiona Ma. Prior to joining Assemblywoman Ma’s office, Nick served as a consultant to the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. In his years working in the Capitol, Nick has worked on legislation to guarantee all workers paid sick days, to prevent the spread of Wal-Mart Supercenters, and on issues relating to Poverty. Nick is active in the labor movement and is a member of Sign and Display Local Union 510.

Carmen Rojas is currently the Associate Director of Program Strategies at Living Cities where she plays a pivotal role in driving the work of the Program Cluster operations while ensuring cluster activities are carried out in a manner consistent with Living Cities’ mission, strategic framework, and organizational values.

Carmen holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Fulbright Scholar in 2007. Her publications include “Voices of Climate Change” in the Journal Race, Poverty and the Environment, 2009 and “Minding the Justice Gap: Bay Area Collaborations offer a Model for Hard Times” in the Environmental Grantmakers Association Journal, 2009.