SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:Jamie L. Crook, 44, of Berkeley, has been appointed Chief Counsel at the Civil Rights Department. Crook has been Deputy Director of Dispute Resolution at the Civil Rights Department since 2022. She was Director of Litigation at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law from 2020 to 2022. Crook was a Senior Staff Attorney at ACLU of Northern California from 2018 to 2020. She was Counsel at Relman Colfax LLC from 2015 to 2018 and at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in 2014. Crook was an Associate at Relman Colfax LLC from 2010 to 2014. She was a Consultant at the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa in 2010. Crook was a Volunteer Attorney and Fulbright Grantee for the Southern Africa Litigation Centre from 2009 to 2010. She was an Environmental Law Fellow at Altshuler Berzon LLP from 2007 to 2009. Crook was a Law Clerk for the Honorable Richard Paez at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2006 to 2007. She is a commissioner for the State Bar of California Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and a member of the Alameda County Bar Association and California Lawyers Association Litigation Section. Crook earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $182,400. Crook is a Democrat. Tyson Eckerle, 43, of Sacramento, has been appointed Senior Advisor for Clean Infrastructure and Mobility at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Eckerle has been Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development since 2016, where he was Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Project Manager from 2014 to 2016. He was Executive Director at Energy Independence Now from 2011 to 2014, where he was Associate Director from 2009 to 2011. He served in several positions at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District from 2002 to 2007, including Regulatory Project Manager, Biologist, Recruitment Coordinator and Environmental Planner. Eckerle earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $153,360. Eckerle is a Democrat. Gia Brazil Vacin, 46, of Oakland, has been appointed Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Vacin has been Assistant Deputy Director for Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development since 2020, where she was Project Manager for Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure from 2016 to 2020. She was Principal of Brazil Vacin Consulting from 2013 to 2019, an Associate at Blue Earth Consultants from 2010 to 2013 and a Project Manager and Environmental Scientist at Leidos from 2002 to 2010. She earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,868. Vacin is a Democrat.Cheryl Wynn, 62, of Fontana, has been appointed Technical Advisor at the California Public Utilities Commission. Wynn has been Acting Chief of Staff to Commissioner Shiroma at the California Public Utilities Commission since 2022, where she was Senior Advisor from 2020 to 2022 and Senior Regulatory Analyst in the Energy Division from 2018 to 2020. She was Principal of EnergyWynn LLC from 2013 to 2018 and Senior Manager of the Residential Energy Efficiency Portfolio at Southern California Edison from 2000 to 2013, where she was Manager of Residential Energy Efficiency Programs 2000 to 2008. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $150,012. Wynn is a Democrat. Yogita Thakur, 50, of Foster City, has been appointed to the Dental Board of California. Thakur has been Chief Dental Officer at the Ravenswood Family Health Network since 2016, where she was Dental Director from 2010 to 2016. She was a Pediatric Dentistry Resident at the University of California, San Francisco from 2007 to 2010. Thakur is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. She earned a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from the Vidarbha Youth Welfare Society’s Dental College and a Master of Science degree in Dental Public Health from the University of Iowa. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Thakur is a Democrat.
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