Eddie Moreno is an Environmental Science and Policy Advisor for the Office of Legislation and Regulatory Review within the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). There he analyzes and recommends positions to the Governor’s Office on legislation that directly impacts DTSC, the state’s management of hazardous waste, and the protection of environmentally burdened communities across the state.

Most recently, he has served in a similar role at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). There he had the opportunity and privilege to help the state better prepare for the growing threat of wildfires and public health emergencies while working to ensure that the most vulnerable among us are sufficiently protected and represented.

Prior to Cal OES, Eddie Moreno worked for the California Environmental Justice Alliance and Sierra Club California where he advocated before the state and legislature on important environmental policy decisions directly impacting the environment and disadvantaged communities.

Eddie has a long established relationship with the Center, first as a volunteer and then as an Executive Assistant to the current Chief Executive Officer. He believes becoming a Board Member for the Center was the next step in committing his support for the organization as it takes great strides to nurture and protect the region’s LGBTQIA+ Community.

Eddie Moreno holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a concentration in Ecology from Dartmouth College.

Maya Wallace has lived in Sacramento for the past 20 years. A longtime public servant, Maya brings experience in education policy, homeless services, and government accountability to the board. She currently works on technology integration and business process improvement at the California Department of Transportation. Prior to joining the Center’s board, Maya was the Vice Chair of the City of Sacramento’s arts commission, where she helped lead the development of the commission’s race and cultural equity statement and oversaw the integration of the statement’s goals into grantmaking, outreach, and selection processes. In addition to serving as Board Secretary for the LGBT Community Center, Maya also serves on the city’s Planning and Design Commission and is a Senior Fellow of the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program.

Trina Gonzalez currently serves as Vice President, Policy at the California Hospital Association (CHA), where she is responsible for developing CHA’s policy positions on a wide range of legislative and regulatory issues that affect California hospitals and health systems, including managed care, health care coverage, and community benefits.  Trina previously served as Director of Community Integration at UC Davis Health and Program Officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund, a national foundation dedicated to improving population health by connecting policymakers with the best available evidence and experience. She also spent over a decade in public service in California state government, where she served as Assistant Secretary for Public Health and Emergency Medical Services with the Health and Human Services Agency, Deputy Director, Pollution Prevention at the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and Interim Chief, Center for Innovation, CalPERs.  Additionally, Trina serves on the Board of Directors of Sacramento Covered, a non-profit dedicated to achieving health care access and care coordination for all who live in the Sacramento region. Trina holds a masters degree in Public Policy from Princeton University, a masters degree in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, and bachelor degree in International Relations from Scripps College. In her free time, Trina practices tae kwon do, loves to cook, and is an active traveler. Trina lives in Sacramento with her wife, Marla.

Natalie Fujikawa is an Employment Law Partner with the firm Gordon & Rees LLP, where she represents businesses in all aspects of employment litigation and counseling. She is an active member of the Sacramento legal community, having served on the Boards of Directors for SacLegal, Sacramento’s LGBT Bar Association; the Sacramento County Bar Association; and the Sacramento Employer Advisory Council.

Additionally, she is a founding member of 100+ Women Who Care Sacramento Valley, an organization that nominates and contributes directly to local nonprofits. Natalie lives in Sacramento with her wife, Michelle, and two dogs, Rudy and Francis.

Frank Mecca has served as Executive Director of the County Welfare Directors Association for 25 years, during which he has helped establish CWDA as a leading advocacy and policy organization in the field of public human services.

Under Frank’s leadership, the association has been instrumental in the development of significant human services programs and policies, including helping shape the CalWORKs program, creating the Adult Protective Services program, and advocating for significant child welfare reform efforts, such as extending foster care support to youth after age 18.

Frank is Vice Chair of the California Budget & Policy Center, a member Governor Gavin Newsom’s Council of Regional Homelessness Advisors, and a member of the California Child Welfare Council. He is a former president of the National Association of County Human Services Administrators. Frank is also a past member of the Board of the Sacramento Valley Gay and Lesbian Softball league (SVGLS) and has played in the league since its inception.

Prior to joining CWDA, Frank served as a fiscal and policy analyst for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, where he had oversight responsibility for most child welfare programs, including Child Welfare Services, Foster Care, and Adoptions. He holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs with a concentration in social welfare policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He earned his undergraduate degree in Government and Economics from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Karl Crudup is a venue event sales and marketing expert who works with professional sports teams to develop nontraditional revenue opportunities.  Karl has spent 15 years working in hospitality and event management for multimillion-dollar brands and venues creating award-winning event experiences.

Crudup’s passion and excitement for the sports industry has led to accredited success, including leading record sales during his 6 seasons with AT&T Stadium, Home of the Dallas Cowboys as Director of Special Event Sales. Now in his third NBA season with the Sacramento Kings, Karl develops and leads sales strategies for Golden 1 Center private event business, Kings-produced events, and fan experiences.

Karl embraces the opportunity to share his personal and professional experiences though minority youth mentorship and volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). Karl is also an outspoken voice and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, serves on the Sacramento Kings Diversity & Inclusion Council, and National Sports Forum Steering Committee.

Darcy Totten currently serves as the Director of Communications at the California Commission on Women and Girls,  which works in a culturally inclusive manner to promote equality and justice for all women and girls by advocating on their behalf with the Governor, the Legislature and other public policymakers, and by educating the public in the areas of economic equity including educational equity, access to health care including reproductive choice, violence against women and other key issue areas identified by the Commission as significantly affecting women and girls.

Darcy is also the Founder and CEO of Activism Articulated, an advocacy and crisis communications firm in Sacramento. In this role she works closely with local, state, and national leaders to craft strategies and communications efforts that support progressive social change and help movement leaders to increase their impact, build strategic partnerships and respond to crises. Her previous work includes providing support for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, development and support for the Build. Black. Coalition, Black Women United, Women’s March Sacramento, a wide variety of legislative issues and candidates, and producing events at the Crocker Art Museum and the CLARA Center for the Performing Arts.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelors in Photography and Visual Communication from Mills College in Oakland California. She and her wife Jasper live in Sacramento California with their two cats Rocket and Quill.

Dr. Humberto Temporini joined The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in South Sacramento in 2010 and currently serves as the Assistant Physician in Chief for Human Resources, Physician Wellness and Development. Prior to his current role, Dr. Temporini served as Chief of Psychiatry from 2014-2017, where he provided exceptional leadership to an expanding department and helped develop TPMG’s Interventional Psychiatry program.

With a background in Forensic psychiatry, Dr. Temporini is a highly sought out expert witness and leader in the medical industry, helping to address the interface between psychiatry and law. Dr Temporini served as an expert witness with the Sacramento Superior Court in multiple cases, and is currently an Expert Reviewer for the California Medical Board. Dr. Temporini has also collaborated with the Connecticut General Assembly on matters ranging from gun control legislation to the management of mental illness in prison populations. Dr Temporini is a 2019 Fellow of the American Leadership Forum.
Dr. Temporini moved to California in 2006 and served as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UC Davis School of Medicine, where he continues to teach. In addition, he has held faculty positions at the University of Connecticut and Yale University.

A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Temporini earned his bachelor’s degree from Colegio Manuel Belgrano and medical degree from the Universidad del Salvador School of Medicine, both in Buenos Aires. He pursued a post-doctoral degree in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota. He then moved east for his residency training in Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at Yale University in New Haven. Dr. Temporini is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both General and Forensic Psychiatry. Dr Temporini has a keen interest in sports, having played rugby throughout high school and college. He is presently an avid runner, hiker and cyclist.

Carla Leek was born in Sacramento and holds a Bachelor’s degree from UC Davis. Carla has decades of experience in IT leadership in the Sacramento area. She currently serves as a Director in the Information Technology area at SMUD. Carla lives in the foothills with her wife, Cindi.

Adèle James brings a wide range of professional experiences and perspectives on organizational capacity and diversity.  Her work includes leadership as a former program officer for three California foundations including The California Endowment, and management of programs and funding for a diverse range of communities.  In 2009 Adèle founded Adele James Consulting Inc. to bring her vision of organizational development and equity consulting to fruition. A native of Trinidad, West Indies, and a certified professional coach, Adèle specializes in capacity building for organizations serving a variety of geographic, ethnic, and cultural communities.  Her work focuses on cultivating collaborative partnerships and centering the building of transformative relationships with clients and communities.

Past and current projects include serving as principal consultant for the $140 million grants disbursement under the California Mental Health Services Act’s Statewide Prevention & Early Intervention  Initiatives; facilitation and development of recommendations, next steps and training for the national Council of Large Public Housing Authority’s Equity Action Planning Process; facilitation and planning of the Sacramento County Community Health & Justice Project intended to transform the way criminal justice, behavioral health and community stakeholders collaborate to improve outcomes for people of African descent.

Adèle holds a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University and a M.A. from Stanford University in International Development Education.

Lexi Howard (she/her) is an attorney in the Legal Affairs Office of the California Secretary of State. With extensive real estate and business experience, Lexi was previously an attorney in private practice in Sacramento, and before that (and before, during, and after law school) was a public policy advocate before the California legislature and other agencies, representing real estate interests, the trade association for judges in the California state courts, and other organization, and serving as an association manager and executive director. Before attending law school, Lexi worked for twenty-six years for a national title insurance and financial services firm.

Lexi is a member in good standing of the State Bar of California and received her JD and Capital Certificate in Public Law & Policy from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law evening program in Sacramento, and a BS in Business Management from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

Lexi is a mentor to high school, undergrad, and law students, and serves on the Diversity Board of McGeorge School of Law, the Racial Justice Committee of the California Lawyers Association, the Sacramento Police Department LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, and is a 2022 graduate of Leadership California’s year-long California Issues and Trends program. Lexi is an occasional author and speaker on a variety of topics including housing advocacy, cultural competency, and being an upstander. Lexi enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, and gardening; she and her wife live in Sacramento and share three “adult kids” and four too many pets.

Dr. David Sledge moved to Sacramento to become a professor of architectural history/theory/criticism and design from Washington, DC, in 2021. He graduated summa cum laude with a Doctor of Education from Drexel University, summa cum laude with a Master’s degree in Architectural history/theory/criticism from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Third in Class With Honors from Ecole d’Art Americaines in Fontainebleau, France, and magna cum laude from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Architecture degree.

Mr. Sledge has over a decade of experience practicing architecture at LUHF Branded Environments, LLC, Interior Design in Washington, DC; Alliance Architecture, Interior Architecture in Durham, NC; O’Brien/Atkins Associates, Architects in Durham, NC; Major S. Sanders, Jr., AIA, NOMA, Architects in Greensboro, NC; Philip Bisesi, PE, Engineering in Greensboro, NC; Clinton E. Gravely, AIA, NOMA, Architects in Greensboro, NC. Mr. Sledge brings expertise and experience serving on the largest condominium complex in Washington, DC as CEO and Board President of Carrollsburg, A Condominium in Washington, DC for 425 owners & 11 acres. Sledge managed the Window Replacement Project (TWRP)- a four-million-dollar capital improvement project- the client’s largest ever.

According to The Carrollsburg, A Condominium Report after his relocation to Philadelphia- “Mr. Sledge led the Board forward through a major restructuring: he signed four new contracts to save over $50,000 in the first year alone. He stopped unannounced meetings- as required by law. He achieved a 50% reduction in cost for nighttime security guards, over $500,000.00 in savings from the original Budget and Final Bid for TWRP; at the time of this report, there has not been a single Change-Order on TWRP.”

Sledge is a member of Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, a recipient of the Fredricka K. Reisman Award for Outstanding Graduate Work in Creativity Studies, and has an extensive scholarship record.  Dr. Sledge has taught at Drexel University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris La Villette, Howard University, and lectured at numerous other universities. He is currently a professor at Sac State and lives in midtown Sacramento.  Sledge enjoys architecture, design, art, travel, movies, repartee, reading, learning, and laughter.

Christopher Clay Rosales (Navajo/Diné Tribe, He/Him/His) has worked in the area of Finance/Accounting since his enrollment at California State University, Sacramento where he majored in finance and accountancy as a dual concentration. Chris began his early career in the non-profit public health sector working in finance, supporting the mission of advocating for healthcare to underserved communities. Chris has since worked in different industries both national and international as well as returning to non-profit financial management – all with a role in financial planning and performance.

Now, Chris works in healthcare finance, as well as provides support to private clients through his private consulting company BizzHow.  Chris continues to serve as a consultant to small/medium companies providing financial infrastructure and strategic growth management. Chris’ motto for strategic planning is “What isn’t measured, isn’t managed”.

Chris is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation Tribe; he grew up on the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona and came to California to pursue education with the goal of giving back to his community via education and personal finance measures. Chris enjoys music and hiking, he’s played guitar since the age of five and uses his weekends for mostly hiking and exploring nature.