SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Justin Knighten, 33, of Sacramento, has been appointed director of strategic communication and external affairs of California Volunteers. Knighten has been media and public affairs director at the Harvey Milk Foundation since 2010 and senior vice president of Lucas Public Affairs since 2018, where he was a founding member in 2008. He was a legislative analyst assistant for the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2006 to 2008. Knighten is a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Sacramento Hub. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $130,008. Knighten is a Democrat.
Dale Brodsky, 68, of Orinda, has been reappointed to the California Fair Employment and Housing Council, where she has served since 2013. Brodsky has been an attorney and partner at Beeson Tayer and Bodine since 2002. She was associate editor of the journal of the California Public Employee Relations Program at the University of California, Berkeley from 2000 to 2002. Brodsky was an attorney in private practice from 1997 to 2002 and from 1984 to 1989. She served as an adjunct law professor at the University of San Francisco from 1997 to 2001 and as a teacher for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District from 1992 to 1996. Brodsky was an associate attorney at Saperstein Seligman and Mayeda from 1989 to 1991. She held multiple positions at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing from 1978 to 1983, including staff attorney and legal counsel. Brodsky was a deputy public defender at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office in 1978. She is a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, California Employment Lawyers Association, National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union. Brodsky earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Brodsky is a Democrat.
Tim Iglesias, 62, of Oakland, has been reappointed to the California Fair Employment and Housing Council, where he has served since 2015. Iglesias has been a professor of law at the University of San Francisco, School of Law since 2003. He was an assistant professor of law at Wayne State University Law School from 2002 to 2003. Iglesias was a deputy director at the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California from 1998 to 2001, where he was a project coordinator from 1995 to 1998. He was a Pillsbury Madison and Sutro public service fellow at HomeBase from 1994 to 1995 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California from 1993 to 1994. Iglesias was a summer associate at Goldfarb and Lipman LLP in 1992 and a legal assistant at the University of San Francisco, Office of University Counsel from 1989 to 1990. He was a tax coordinator at Lignum-2 Inc. from 1988 to 1989 and a Jesuit seminarian for the California Province of the Society of Jesus from 1975 to 1988. Iglesias is a member of the Association for Law, Property and Society and the American Bar Association. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Iglesias is a Democrat.
Dara Schur, 65, of Berkeley, has been reappointed to the California Fair Employment and Housing Council, where she has served since 2015. Schur has been a litigation counsel at Disability Rights California since 2016, where she was a director of litigation from 2002 to 2016 and an attorney from 1996 to 1997. She was an attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty from 1991 to 2002 and at Legal Services of Northern California from 1994 to 1996. Schur was managing attorney of the Housing Unit at the Contra Costa Legal Services Foundation from 1986 to 1990, where she was interim co-director in 1989. She is a member of the Impact Fund Board of Directors, Kehilla Community Synagogue, California State Parks Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Sierra Club, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, American Civil Liberties Union and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Schur earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Schur is a Democrat.
Adhityaa “Adhi” Nagraj, 42, of Oakland, has been reappointed to the California Housing Partnership Corporation, where he has served since 2016. Nagraj has been director at San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association since 2018. He was director of development at BRIDGE, Housing Corporation from 2013 to 2018, project manager at MidPen Housing Corporation from 2010 to 2013, project manager at Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation from 2006 to 2010, and associate attorney at Farella, Braun & Martel from 2005 to 2006. Nagraj is a member of Lambda Alpha International. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Nagraj is a Democrat.
Jerry C. Fleming, 67, of Walnut Creek, has been reappointed to Covered California, California’s Health Benefit Exchange, where he has served since 2018. Fleming held multiple positions at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan from 1977 to 2015, including national senior vice president roles for health care reform implementation and policy, health plan manager and program development, vice president roles for administration and health plan manager for the Northern California region and director roles for planning and program development and medical economics for the Northern California region. He was an economist for the State of Montana, Department of Community Affairs from 1975 to 1977. Fleming earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Fleming is a Democrat.
Sandra R. Hernandez, 61, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to Covered California, California’s Health Benefit Exchange, where she has served since 2018. Hernandez has been president and chief executive officer of the California Health Care Foundation since 2014 and assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine since 1992. She was chief executive officer at the San Francisco Foundation from 1997 to 2013. Hernandez was director of public health for the San Francisco Department of Health from 1994 to 1997. She held multiple positions at the San Francisco Department of Public Health from 1988 to 1994, including county health officer, deputy director for community public health services and for the AIDS Office, acting medical director for community public health services, director for the AIDS Office and branch chief for health resources and services and for the AIDS Office. Hernandez was a community outreach coordinator of the AIDS Activities Division for the San Francisco General Hospital from 1987 to 1988. She is a member of the California Medical Association and the San Francisco Medical Association. Hernandez earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Hernandez is a Democrat.
Samantha Murray, 42, of Del Mar, has been appointed to the California Fish and Game Commission. Murray has been executive director of the master of advanced studies program in marine biodiversity and conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography since 2017 and principal at Samantha Murray Consulting since 2015. She was director of the water program at the Oregon Environmental Council from 2015 to 2016. She directed various programs at the Ocean Conservancy from 2007 to 2014, and was conservation director at the Golden Gate Audubon Society from 2005 to 2007. Murray was assistant director of conservation at the Audubon Society of Portland from 2004 to 2005 and a legal intern at the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission in 2003. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Lewis & Clark Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Murray is a Democrat.
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