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

Staff Biographies

Image of Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Executive Director
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the Executive Director of Working Partnerships USA, named by San Jose Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Silicon Valley and one of "40 to watch under 40" by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
 Full biography for Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

 

 

 

Bob Brownstein, Policy Director
 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, Mr. Brownstein served as the Budget and Policy Director of the City of San Jose for eight years under Mayor Susan Hammer. He was responsible for drafting 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.

Publications include:

Email: bbrownstein@wpusa.org

Louise Auerhahn, Associate Policy Director
 Louise Auerhahn joined Working Partnerships USA as a Research Associate in July 2001. Her current focus is on the impacts of Silicon Valley's changing economy on working families, with special attention to the roles of immigrants, contingent workers and working women. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN and the San Jose Advisory Board of Californians for Justice, and is a core member of the South Bay Mobilization. While at Working Partnerships USA, Ms. 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.

Publications include:

Email: lauerhahn@wpusa.org

Sarah Muller, Associate Policy Director
Sarah Muller joined Working Partnerships USA in July of 2001. At Working Partnerships USA, Ms. 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. Ms. 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.

Publications include:

Email: smuller@wpusa.org

Brian Darrow, Research Associate
Brian Darrow came to Working Partnerships USA in July of 2004 after spending a year substitute teaching for the San Jose Unified School District. His current projects include developing alternative strategies for improving public-sector efficiency and redefining economic progress in Silicon Valley. Mr. Darrow graduated from Stanford University in 2002, receiving his B.A. in Science, Technology, and Society with a concentration in Social Change.

Email: brian@wpusa.org

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, Ms. 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. Ms. 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.

Email: elisa@wpusa.org

Tia Williams-Sion, Chief Financial Officer
Tia Williams-Sion has over 16 years of financial management experience working with large publicly traded companies, early stage venture backed start-ups and non-profit political organizations. Prior to starting a profitable financial consulting firm in 2000, Ms. Williams-Sion was the Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations at Portera Systems. During her tenure, Portera grew from 26 to over 250 employees, completed three acquisitions, and raised over $60 million dollars in financing and investment. Before Portera, she held a variety of financial positions at Sybase Corporation ($1 billion software developer) and FMC Corporation Ground Systems Division ($1 billion division of a multinational corporation) including Senior Planning Manager, Assistant Controller - Tools Products, and Internal Auditor. Ms. Williams-Sion holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration from San Jose State University.

Email: tia@wpusa.org

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. Mr. Preminger has been the director of UCR since 2000.

Email: steve@wpusa.org

Mary Creasman, Assistant to the Executive Director
Mary Creasman joined Working Partnerships USA in November 2006 as an Organizer. She focused on building neighborhood and community support around policy advocacy campaigns. In June 2007 Ms. Creasman began assisting the Executive Director. Before joining the organization, Ms. Creasman worked in retail management and interned in House Speaker Pelosi’s District Office. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

Email: mary@wpusa.org

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, Mr. 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.

Email: jody@wpusa.org

Elly Matsumura, Organizing Programs Manager
Elly Matsumura joined Working Partnerships USA in February 2005, bringing a background in program management, leadership development, and political education from her prior experience at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership - Northern California. She runs the Working Partnerships Leadership Institute and Leadership Network (LeaderNet) and led its redesign in 2005. She also helps to direct Working Partnerships'faith-based organizing. Ms. Matsumura serves on the Board of the San Francisco Earned Assets Resource Network, co-facilitates a support group at the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center, and is co-president of the Stanford LGBT alumni association. She earned her bachelor's in Feminist Studies from Stanford University and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.

Email: elly@wpusa.org

Andy Schwiebert, Interfaith Organizer
Andy Schwiebert joined Working Partnerships USA in July 2007. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley. Previously, Mr. Schwiebert worked as a community and union organizer on the Justice for Janitors and Airport Passenger Service Workers campaigns with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1877. He has also been the organizer for the Marin Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, the Interfaith Council’s counterpart in that region. Andy served as the Arizona director of a voter registration and immigrant rights advocacy program of the Campaign for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, he has been authorized for ordination by theSouthwest Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC).

Email: andy@wpusa.org

Carmelita Gutiérrez, Administrative Assistant/Receptionist
Carmelita Gutiérrez joined Working Partnerships USA in the summer of 1997. As a student at San Jose State University, Ms. Gutiérrez 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. Ms. Gutiérrez graduated from San Jose State University with a B.S. in Social Science.

Email: lita@wpusa.org

Christy Kincannon, Administrative Assistant
Christy Kincannon joined Working Partnerships USA in November 2005. Prior to coming to Working Partnerships USA, Ms. Kincannon owned her own business; as a small business owner, she worked with several nonprofit organizations to help the underprivileged. Before venturing off on her own, Ms. Kincannon worked in the food and beverage industry for several years as a regional bookkeeper and restaurant manager.

Email: christy@wpusa.org

Cristina Aguinaldo, Bookkeeper
Cristina Aguinaldo came to Working Partnerships in June 2003 with over 19 years of experience in accounting. Previously, she worked for 16 years at McDonalds Corporation as an accounting clerk, followed by 6 years as a bookkeeper. The company moved to Chicago in 1996, so she decided to move back to her home in the Philippines and become a full time mom. In 2001, Ms. Aguinaldo returned to San Jose to work at Spin Way before joining Working Partnerships USA. She holds an AA in Accounting from Evergreen Community College and a B.S. in Pharmacy from National University in Manila.

Email: caguinaldo@wpusa.org

CONTACT INFORMATION Working Partnerships USA
2102 Almaden Road, Ste. 107 San Jose, CA 95125
p: 408.269.7872
f: 408.269.0183
e: info@wpusa.org

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