Board of Directors

ENGELS GARCIA has been with Human Agenda for the past 9 years in defending the human rights of immigrants in Santa Clara County by founding CLARO, the immigration legal service program for Human Agenda. He majored in Global Studies with a regional emphasis on Latin America and Iran, receiving his B.A. from San José State University. Engels was a legal advocate for EF4C from 2015 to 2016. He is an Indigenous Ñuu Savi who worked in the fields to pay for his education and collaborates with grassroots organizations to protect and promote the culture of the Oaxacan people in California. He has been an active member of Comite Guelaguetza since 2005 and is a co-founder and active member of CEENI, an indigenous youth collective.

JULIE SOLOMON is a program evaluation consultant in the health sector. Through J. Solomon Consulting, LLC, she works with non-governmental organizations, grantmakers, government agencies, universities, and coalitions in the U.S. and internationally to assess program results and support learning and program improvement. Julie has a B.A. in linguistic anthropology and Spanish literature from Brandeis University and an A.M. and Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford University. She served on the City of Mountain View Human Relations Commission for 6 years, through which she co-led needs and assets assessments of the LGBTQ+ community and immigrant community, as well as implemented community engagement and educational activities pertaining to police-community relations and the history of discrimination in housing.

SHARAT G. LIN writes and lectures on global political economy, labor migration, participatory democracy, social movements, the Middle East, and public health. He was a past president of the San José Peace and Justice Center. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Initiative for Equality since 2019 and a member of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Committee since 2010. He has served as an election observer in numerous countries in Latin America and in states across the U.S. He is peace dancer and the curator of The Art of Protest.

RHONDA BERRY is the founder and Co-Executive Director of Our City Forest, an innovative urban forestry nonprofit serving the City of San José and County of Santa Clara since 1994. Before that, she worked for California ReLeaf in San Francisco. She is a leader in the fields of organizational development and social ecology.

SALEM AJLUNI is a native of Michigan and the son Palestinian immigrants. He studied economics at San José State University and the University of Utah and taught college economics for more than a decade during the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1996-2001 he was the Chief Economist for the Office of the United Nations Special Co-ordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) based in Gaza where he led research on the economy of the West Bank and Gaza. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Santa Clara County Single Payer Health Care Coalition and since 2023 has been a board member of Human Agenda.

RICHARD HOBBS is the founder of Human Agenda. He works to democratize our economic, financial, and political institutions via worker-owned cooperatives, public banking, and the South Bay Progressive Alliance, where he serves on the steering committee.  He heads Emulation Tours with trips to Mondragon, Spain, and Cuba and also serves as an immigration attorney with CLARO (the Human Agenda legal collective) and his own law office.  Richard previously served as the Director of Citizenship and Immigrant Programs and the Office of Human Relations of Santa Clara County and as a trustee for the San José-Evergreen Community College District.  A former Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan and Ecuador, he has lived, worked, made presentations, or studied in over 50 countries, including a presentation to staff members of the Gross National Happiness Commission of Bhutan in 2011. Richard has master’s degrees from the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) and San José State University (California) and a Juris Doctor from Golden Gate University (San Francisco, California)

SAM HO has worked in the areas of community building and human, social, and community services for over 20 years. He is currently a human resources manager specializing in diversity for the San José-Evergreen Community College District (California). Previously, he served as the Executive Director of a non-profit community-based organization in Southern California. In that capacity, he served low-income at-risk populations and worked with diverse communities and leaders representing all ethnic groups and backgrounds. Sam has an MBA in management from National University (La Jolla, California).

LEILA FOROUHI is a De Anza Middle College graduate and an alumnus of the University of California Santa Cruz, San José State University, and most recently, Texas Tech University where she received a Master’s degree in Media and Mass Communication and was a columnist for its student paper, the Daily Toreador. She has also worked as a news writer for PressTV in Tehran, Iran and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the Child Welfare system in Texas. She has enjoyed teaching high school, university and adult education courses in English as a second language, business and professional communication, environmental health hazards, SAT prep, and mathematics. She gets inspiration from interacting with, teaching and learning from people with diverse backgrounds from all walks of life.

AJINKYA ASHOK resides in San José, California. and immigrated from India to study his Master’s at San José State University. Since then, he has been working as a software engineer. For the last few years, he has been engaged in grassroots organizing and activities to challenge all kinds of oppression — racial, caste, religious, gender, and class. Apart from this work, he likes to go on walks, ride his bicycle and read in his spare time.

ALEX DILLARD is currently studying Political Science at Cañada College. He is part of San José Against War, U.S. Hands Off Cuba Committee, US Peace Council and many other anti-war and anti-imperialist organizations and has organized major national marches and conferences around the issues of Palestine and US imperialism. In his spare time, he get great joy from reading and writing.

REBECA ARMENDARIZ is a Gilroy City Councilmember, long-time community organizer, and advocate for workers rights. She is a founding board member of Gilroy Growing Smarter as well as CARAS, a nonprofit dedicated to advocacy, service, and cultural events like the Cesar Chavez Champions Awards and the Gilroy Tamal Festival. Rebeca has also served on the Advisory Committee of the Silicon Valley Women’s March from 2017 to 2019, the Gilroy Planning Commission from 2016 to 2020, the Gilroy Housing Advisory Committee, Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee, and Parks & Recreation Commission as well as a delegate for Assembly District 30 to the California Democratic Party. She is fourth-generation Gilroyan and a proud mother and daughter and granddaughter of farmworkers.

Vanessa Rivera

A first-generation Latina, human rights activist, and lifelong community organizer with deep roots in Sacramento and Northern California. She has spent over a decade advocating for farmworkers, supporting women escaping domestic violence through organizations like WEAVE, and organizing grassroots political campaigns across San José and Milpitas. As Vice President of Operations at Human Agenda, she continues that mission, fighting for equity, dignity, and justice at the community level. A native bilingual speaker of English and Spanish, Vanessa shows up for her community the way her community showed up for her.

Nicole Ricketts-Brown is very excited to be joining the Human Agenda Board of Directors. She comes with over 25 years of experience in combined formal and non-formal education and community outreach. Her passion for connecting with community to protect its natural and sustaining ecosystems, stems for her deep respect and appreciation for nature. She began teaching and developing citizen science programs as an environmental educator for 10 years in Washington State. She came back to the States and continued teaching while completing her Masters in Educational Leadership from CSU East Bay, as well as her credential in Elementary and TESOL education.

Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano is a community member and leader who is values and mission-driven. She cares deeply about intersectionality, equity, justice, and taking action. She believes firmly in the importance of putting in the work  in order to create long-term, positive, systematic change that will better support and empower the people most marginalized and oppressed in our local community.

Estefany brings extensive experience in community outreach and public service. She studied political science at Santa Clara University and previously served as a district representative for the California State Senate. In that role, she collaborated closely with constituents and local leaders on issues that directly affected the community and strategic community outreach. Estefany is deeply committed to driving initiatives that bring about equitable and lasting systemic change. 

Samantha Rojas is a first-generation college graduate at CSUEB, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Public Health, while also serving as Public Relations and Outreach Assistance for a disability justice non-profit. While at CSUEB, Samantha founded the university’s first Public Health Club after recognizing the lack of a safe, inclusive space to discuss health issues beyond clinical care. She currently serves as the Lead Patient Organizer and Campaigner at Latinas Contra Cancer, where she engages directly with patients and community members across Santa Clara County to understand barriers within the healthcare system and advocate for meaningful policy solutions.

Alejandro Diaz is a community builder, entrepreneur, and founder of Cultiva Media LLC.
He leads multiple community and cultural projects and serves on the Board of Human Agenda. He is passionate about using storytelling, cultural programming, and community engagement to support immigrant families, local artists, and underserved communities. His work focuses on education, culture, economic opportunity, and strengthening community connections through inclusive and nonpartisan initiatives.

Ariadna Morales is the co-founder of Corazón y Pueblo Consulting, a worker-owned cooperative that supports nonprofits, public agencies, and community organizations through leadership development, facilitation, project management, and community engagement. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, and raised in East San José, Ariadna brings more than a decade of experience advancing racial and economic justice alongside low-income families, excluded workers, and grassroots leaders. She is passionate about popular education, collective leadership, and building community-driven solutions that advance equity and belonging. 
As a member of Human Agenda’s Board of Directors, Ariadna is excited to support efforts that strengthen civic participation, economic justice, and human rights in Santa Clara County.
Outside of work, Ariadna enjoys spending time with her two children, crafting, thrifting, and finding joy in community.

Olivia Ortiz 

Co-owner/Co-founder 
OLLIN Coop