Cindy Chavez
Executive Director of Working Partnerships USA
Board Member

Salvador Bustamante
N. CA Director of SOL CA
Board Secretary

Bruce Colburn
Regional Coordinator for Property Services, SEIU
Board Member

Enrique Fernandez
Business Manager, UNITE/HERE! Local 19
Board President

Mike Fox, Sr.
Retired business owner
Board Member

Lisa Hoyos
AFL-CIO National Field Staff
Board Treasurer

Fred Keeley
Santa Cruz County Treasurer
Board Vice President

Marc Jones
Executive Chairman of Aeris
Communications
Board Member

To contact a staff member, please call (408) 269-7872, or see below for email addresses. General inquiries should be directed to jody@wpusa.org.

Staff Biographies

Cindy Chavez, executive director | Read Full Biography
Cindy Chavez is the Executive Director of Working Partnerships USA. Chavez’ work as an elected official and community and labor leader in San Jose has been marked by her ability to build new collaborations to create innovative policy.

Bob Brownstein, director of policy and research
Bob Brownstein joined Working Partnerships USA in February 1999. Since then he has directed research culminating in strategic issue briefs that provide timely analysis of problems and present a range of possible and serious solutions. With his support, many of these policies have been adopted and enacted by the South Bay Labor Council, the San Jose City Council, the County Board of Supervisors, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Previously, Brownstein served as the Budget and Policy Director of the City of San Jose for eight years under Mayor Susan Hammer. He was instrumental in developing the Living Wage ordinance, Greenline policies, and crafting the annual city budget. He previously served as the Chief of Staff to Santa Clara County Supervisor Suzanne Wilson. He has an undergraduate degree from Princeton, a Masters in Political Science from Stanford, and a Masters in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University.

Louise Auerhahn, associate policy director
Associate Policy Director Louise Auerhahn joined Working Partnerships USA in July 2001. Her current focus is on the impacts of Silicon Valley’s changing economy on working families and the middle class, including efforts to create good green jobs and place working people, woman and communities of color at the center of the emerging green economy. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN), the Collins Foundation, and the San Jose Advisory Board of Californians for Justice. While at Working Partnerships USA, Auerhahn’s work has included promoting public subsidies accountability, development and analysis of health care policy, and investigations into the history and future of the progressive labor movement. She holds a B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University.

Sarah Muller, director of health care policy and community development
Sarah Muller joined Working Partnerships USA in July of 2001. At Working Partnerships USA, Muller's research has focused primarily on health care and economic development. Her work has included assisting in the creation of a statewide health care proposal under SB480, evaluating the effect of job quality on the health of working families, a comprehensive historical review of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency with an emphasis on job quality and health care coverage, and an analysis of the regional economy. She is currently working with health care experts in the county to develop a program to expand health coverage to low income working adults in small businesses. Muller holds a B.A. in Global Economics and a Masters of Science in Applied Economics and Finance from the University of California Santa Cruz.

Brian Darrow, associate director of land use and urban policy
Brian Darrow joined Working Partnerships USA in July of 2004. His work has included policy research and analysis in a variety of issue areas including community development, housing, healthcare, transportation, municipal budgets, and government accountability. Darrow currently leads the organization's land use efforts, working to ensure planning and development decisions are equitable, sustainable, and reflect the vision and values of the full community. He is a member of the San Jose Housing And Community Development Commission and the Envision San Jose 2040 Task Force. Darrow holds a B.A. in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.

Rebecca Kuiken, director of the Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice
The Rev. Rebecca Kuiken joined Working Partnerships USA in April 2008. She has been an ordained Presbyterian clergywoman for more than two decades, serving in Bay Area congregations, non-profits, and seminaries. Most recently, she was a consultant with Leading Edge Associates, a Silicon Valley firm specializing in executive coaching, organizational development and diversity. For nine years, Kuiken served as pastor of Stone Church of Willow Glen (San Jose, CA). Previously she was communications director for the San Francisco Theological Seminary and executive director of the Interreligious Council of Oakland. Kuiken attended Harvard Divinity School and holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the San Francisco Theological Seminary. She holds certificates from San Jose State University as a Human Resource Specialist and Human Resources Senior Professional. She is a Phi Beta Kappa and Fulbright Scholar.

Derecka Mehrens, organizing director
Derecka Mehrens was hired by Working Partnerships USA in November 2008. Before that she served as State Director for the California chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) from 2004 through September 2008. As State Director, she supervised and managed the 12 ACORN field offices, worked with grassroots leaders on a variety of organizing campaigns, set statewide legislative priorities, fundraising and strategy. She was previously Head Organizer of San Jose ACORN for three years and a Field Organizer with Oregon ACORN. She is a graduate of the University of Oregon with a Bachelors’ Degree in Sociology, History and International Studies.

Elisa Koff-Ginsborg, staff manager
Elisa Koff-Ginsborg joined Working Partnerships USA in September 2007. She brings seven years of nonprofit management experience, having most recently worked at EHC LifeBuilders. Previously she served as Interim Executive Director and Development Director of Social Advocates for Youth. For eight years, Koff-Ginsborg was a Youth Policy Analyst for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She has also worked as a Presidential Management Intern and for United States Senator Paul Simon of Illinois. Koff-Ginsborg has a bachelor’s degree in Policy Studies and Political Science from Syracuse University, a master’s in Political Science from the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University and a Master of Social Work from Catholic University of America.

Elly Matsumura, education and community leadership director
Elly Matsumura joined Working Partnerships USA in February 2005, bringing a background in program management and leadership development for diverse communities from her prior experience at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership -- Northern California. Having been a student organizer for reproductive and LGBT rights, she now serves on the board of the San Francisco Earned Assets Resource Network, working to shrink the wealth gap. She earned her Bachelor’s in Feminist Studies from Stanford University and then completed the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. At WPUSA she directed education programs, including the Working Partnerships Leadership Institute and Leadership Network (LeaderNet). In she started leading all of our internal and external training programs, including Community Leadership Development, the Interfaith Council and staff development.

Steve Preminger, director of the Union Community Resources Program
Steve Preminger began working for the City of Palo Alto in 1975 as a customer services representative, attended his first strike vote his first week on the job, and served as the union representative (SEIU Local 715, now Local 521) three weeks later. Moving quickly up the union leadership structure, he served as the political director for the union during most of the 1980s. Following work with the union and with the Democratic Party, he joined the South Bay Labor Council in January of 1990. For most of the 1990s he served as the United Way labor liaison and the Community Services Director of the Labor Council. In 2000, when the United Way made the program an independent agency, the Union Community Resources program became part of Working Partnerships. Preminger has been the director of UCR since 2000.

Ben Field, chief of staff
Before joining Working Partnerships in 2009, Field served as a Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney. During his 15-year tenure, his assignments included the homicide unit, sexual assault unit, high technology crimes unit, and the gang prosecution unit. Field has taught political science at San Jose State University since 2006. He is the author of a number of publications on topics including housing law, domestic violence, and legal history. Field earned a B.A. in History and Political Science at Columbia University. He continued his education at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed a J.D. In 2000, he received a Ph.D. in American History from the University of California, Berkeley. His early professional career included a number of policy positions for local and national legislative bodies, including the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He is also a retired Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Jody Meacham, communications coordinator
Jody Meacham worked for 27 years as a newspaper reporter and editor before moving to public relations. He came to Working Partnerships USA in August 2007 from the San Jose Sports Authority. As a journalist, Meacham specialized in covering the business and social aspects of sports and won awards for his investigative reporting. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Carmelita Gutiérrez, administrative assistant / receptionist
Carmelita Gutiérrez joined Working Partnerships USA in the summer of 1997. As a student at San Jose State University, she was an active student organizer with MEChA a Chicano/Latino student organization. As a member of MEChA she help establish RAZA Day, an outreach and recruitment event for high school students, and worked with Asian and Pacific Islander students to establish Asian Outreach Day. Her experience organizing logistics for RAZA Day and Asian Outreach Day has lent itself to assisting clients and the Director of Union Community Resources with day to day needs. Gutiérrez graduated from San Jose State University with a B.S. in Social Science.

Janice Ferris, accounting manager
Janice Ferris was with KTEH, San Jose’s public television station, for 29 years in finance/accounting, human resources, payroll and facilities management. During her tenure at the station she was responsible for managing multiple grants relating to television productions ranging up to $2.5 million and accounting for $10 million in municipal bonds. She was instrumental in managing key financial aspects of the 2006 merger of KTEH and KQED (San Francisco's public broadcaster) to form Northern California Public Broadcasting and managing the final audit of the KTEH Foundation. Ferris was educated at Evergreen Valley College and San Jose City College.

Andrea Alarcon, research associate
Andrea Alarcon joined Working Partnerships USA in November 2009 after receiving a J.D. from UCLA School of Law with a specialization in public interest law and policy. While in law school, she co-founded the Chronic Illness Resource, Support, and Advocacy Network in order to advocate for reasonable accommodations under the under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled and chronically ill students. She also worked on health policy and advocacy while clerking at the National Health Law Program. She brings four years of social science research experience from her time working as a research coordinator at Stanford University. She received a B.A. in Sociology with distinction from Stanford in 2002.

Anna Schlotz, administrative assistant
Anna Schlotz joined Working Partnerships' staff in April 2009. Before coming to campaign in Assembly District 15 and directed grassroots fundraising offices for nonprofits including the Human Rights Campaign, CALPIRG and Environment California. Schlotz received a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from UC Berkeley, where she worked with the antiwar coalition and other progressive student organizations.

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