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Board of Trustees

Joshua Fryday

Board Chair

President
Golden State Opportunity Foundation

Josh Fryday is the President of Golden State Opportunity, working to provide financial security to low-income working people throughout California. He served in the military as an Officer in the United States Navy (‘09-‘13) as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). He was also stationed in the Office of Military Commissions, working on the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detainee cases, and testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the closing of Guantanamo. Before serving in the Armed Services, Josh worked as a political advisor and organizer on local, state and national campaigns, including the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections. Josh received his law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law and his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to his current position, he served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for NextGen Climate, a leading national organization focused on climate change and clean energy.

 

Rupa Balasubramanian

Vice Chair

Partner
Fundamental

Rupa Balasubramanian is a partner at Fundamental, a boutique philanthropic advising firm. She has over 15 years of experience managing private and family foundations in Los Angeles, supporting organizations focused on education, women’s health, the environment, civic engagement, and civil rights. Rupa worked with Barbra Streisand and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to create the Women’s Heart Alliance, a national non-profit organization aimed at increasing the awareness of women’s heart disease and advocate for gender-specific research. She serves on the on the board of directors of Vote.org and Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. Rupa previously worked in crisis management at Hill & Knowlton, Inc., a leading international communications firm. During the Clinton Administration, Rupa worked in the Press Secretary’s office at the White House. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara and earned her Masters degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning and Development.

For Information or Questions, Contact Our Board Liaison
Alissa Vladimir
Alissa Vladimir
Senior Manager, Office of the President & Board Liaison

Ruth Wooden

Board Treasurer

Former President
Public Agenda

Ruth Wooden is a retired Communications and Policy professional who served as President of both the Advertising Council and Public Agenda. She has served as a Director or Trustee of a number of nonprofit boards including CARE, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Columbia University School of a Public Health, Independent Sector, Research America, Partnership for Drug Free America, and Encore.org where she served as board chair for six years. She is currently the board chair of Futures Without Violence. She also served as a Director of the US Trust Company. She has been a Director of Demos since 2000. She is a native of Minnesota and a graduate of the University there. She received an MA in Religious Studies in 2016 from Union Theological Seminary and currently directs the Encore Transition Program there. She lives in New York City and Callicoon, New York. 
 

Paul Egerman

Board Secretary

Software Entrepreneur

Paul Egerman is businessman and entrepreneur. Paul was previously CEO and co-founder of eScription, Inc., a software company that provides speech recognition services to physicians. Formerly, Paul was the COO of IDX, a worldwide supplier of software solutions for healthcare organizations. Paul is also active with many community organizations. 
 

Wally Adeyemo

Senior Advisor
BlackRock

Wally Adeyemo is a senior advisor at BlackRock and a non-resident senior fellow of the NYU Law School Center on Law and Security. He served as deputy national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council, serving as President Barack Obama’s senior international economic adviser. In that capacity, he was responsible for coordinating the policymaking process related to international finance, trade and investment, energy, and environmental issues. He also held senior management positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, including senior adviser and deputy chief of staff. After the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, Wally served as the first chief of staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
 

Taifa Butler

Executive Director
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

Taifa Smith Butler is Executive Director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, where she leads and inspires the GBPI team to accomplish the nonprofit’s mission to advance lasting solutions that expand economic opportunity and wellbeing for all Georgians. She is a problem solver, tireless champion for equity, working families and investing early in children — Georgia’s greatest asset.

Taifa brings more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, public policy research and data analysis in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. Taifa is an avid education and family advocate. She has served on a host of statewide and national steering committees, advisory boards and coalitions.  She was a member of Leadership Georgia Class of 2016 and a Rockwood Leadership Institute Leading from the Inside Out Fellow, Class of 2017. Taifa currently serves on the board of trustees of the Betty & Davis Fitzgerald Foundation.
 

Jun Choi

CEO
Menlo Realty Ventures

Jun Choi is CEO of Menlo Realty Ventures, a real estate investment firm focused on converting brownfield sites to clean, modern industrial use. He has held leadership roles in government and business. Before entering real estate, he served as Mayor of New Jersey’s fifth largest municipality, Edison Township, where he led a good government movement to improve government services, make democracy more inclusive and build a stronger sense of community.  Edison received several honors under his watch including the “Best Place to Raise Kids” in NJ according to BusinessWeek magazine. Jun also served as Executive Director of a statewide Task Force to improve NJ's student achievement measures and began his career as a management consultant. Jun serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of NJ Policy Perspective, the leading progressive policy organization in NJ, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Regional Plan Association.
 

Héctor Figueroa

President
32BJ Service Employees International Union

Héctor J. Figueroa was elected President of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, the largest property services union in the country, in 2012.  32BJ represents more than 163,000 property service workers – window cleaners, airport workers, superintendents, doormen, maintenance workers, cleaners, porters and security officers – in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Florida, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Under Héctor’s presidency, 32BJ has grown by nearly 50,000 members – 18,000 through the merger with Local 615 and another 30,000 through organizing campaigns – and has passed dozens of local and state policies protecting and lifting working families up and down the East Coast. Under Héctor’s leadership, the union and its 163,000 members have been at the forefront of national fights to defend and expand voting rights, to fight the root causes and effects of climate change, and is a constant champion for racial, social and economic justice.
 

Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder

Bishop
The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries

Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder, a San Francisco native, is the founder and Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a multi-denominational fellowship of churches and faith-based organizations throughout the United States, Mexico, Asia and Africa. Her roots are in the Church of God in Christ, and she is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and the Metropolitan Community Church. Bishop Flunder is the founding pastor of City of Refuge UCC. She holds degrees from Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley (MA) and San Francisco Theological Seminary (D.Min). She recorded and performed with Walter Hawkins and the Family and the Love Center Choir. She serves as a Board member of Starr King School for the Ministry and as a Senior Fellow at Auburn Theological Seminary. She is an educator, and an adjunct professor at several seminaries including New York Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, and Pacific School of Religion. 
 

Rev. Dr. Robert M. Franklin Jr.

James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership
Emory University

Robert Michael Franklin, Jr. is the James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership at Emory University (Atlanta) and a Senior Advisor to the President of the university. From 2014 to 2018, he served as the Director of the Religion Department of the Chautauqua Institution, NY. Robert is the author of three books. He also penned the foreword to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, Letter from Birmingham Jail, reprinted by Trinity Forum in 2012. He is now completing a book on moral leadership in the twenty-first century.  He serves on the board of the HBCU Project National Advisory Council of the Human Rights Campaign, and has served on the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, and the Community Advisory Board of the Atlanta Falcons organization. He is married to Dr. Cheryl Goffney Franklin (OB-GYN) and is father of three children and two grandchildren.
 

Richard E. Goldman

Co-Founder (Retired)
Men's Wearhouse

Richie Goldman is currently the President of Encardia Wellness and Board Chair of San Domenico School. In his earlier career he was the co-Founder of Men’s Wearhouse (TLRD:NYSE). He is widely recognized as the marketing mastermind of MW, from his insistence on using TV as the main form of advertising as far back as 1975, to his careful nurturing and managing of the MW brand and image as the company expanded from one part of the country to another. In January of 2009, Richie released his book, Luck by Design Certain Success in an Uncertain World. The book, aimed at the children of Baby Boomers, received praise from educators, fellow authors, and reviewers. It won “Best General Non-Fiction” at the San Francisco Book Festival in 2009 and was a finalist in the Self-Help: Motivational category at the National Best Books 2009. Richie graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in English.
 

David Johnson

Founder
Act 4 Entertainment

David Johnson is the founder of Act 4 Entertainment, a filmed entertainment and new media content company created to inspire social action. David was previously Senior Executive Vice President of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and a partner of the law firm White & Case. David is a Life Trustee and former Chair of the Museum of Contemporary Art and a board member and former Chair of Public Counsel. Additionally, David serves on the boards of California Institute of the Arts, Demos, Human Rights Watch (California), Public Media Group of Southern California, The Smithsonian National Board, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, and the Yale School of Drama. He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.
 

Stephen McConnell

President 
Civic Participation Action Fund

Stephen McConnell, Ph.D., is the President of the Civic Participation Action Fund, a non-partisan 501(c)4 grantmaking organization devoted to creating a more progressive policy and political environment by expanding civic engagement among low income communities and communities of color. Prior to launching CPAF, Stephen was U.S. Country Director for the Atlantic Philanthropies. He has also served as Vice President for Advocacy and Public Policy at the Alzheimer’s Association, Chief of Staff for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives, Select Committee on Aging.  Earlier, he held a research associate appointment at the Andrus Gerontology Center of the University of Southern California. Stephen earned both his Ph.D. in Sociology and a B.A. from the University of Southern California. He currently resides in Washington, DC. 
 

Mary Mountcastle

Trustee
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

Mary Mountcastle is a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds and Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundations, a Distinguished Fellow with the National Center for Family Philanthropy, an executive committee member with the Committee on States and has served on the boards of numerous state and national organizations. Previously, Mary was a senior manager at Self-Help, the nation's largest nonprofit community development lender, and served in senior positions at the Center for Responsible Lending and MDC Inc, a nonprofit policy research center as well as other private and public sector organizations. Mary holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Williams College.
 

Rashad Robinson

President
Color Of Change

Rashad Robinson is President of Color Of Change, a leading racial justice organization with more than 1.4 million members. Rashad designs winning strategies to build power for Black communities: moving prosecutors to reduce mass incarceration and police violence; forcing over 100 corporations to abandon the right-wing policy shop, ALEC; forcing corporations to stop supporting Trump initiatives and white nationalists; winning net neutrality as a civil rights issue; changing representations of race in Hollywood; moving Airbnb, Google and Facebook to implement anti-racist initiatives; forcing Bill O’Reilly off the air. Rashad appears regularly in major news media and as a keynote speaker nationally. 
 

Tom Unterman

Founding Partner
Rustic Canyon Partners

After a long and successful business career, Tom Unterman  is primarily active  in charitable activities and progressive causes. He is Chairman of the California Community Foundation, Chairman of UCLA Technology Development Corp. and a Trustee of  CalSTRS. He is also a member of the board of The Advancement Project, Youth Policy Institute and The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. Professionally, he is the Founding Partner of Rustic Canyon Partners, a venture capital investment firm. He is also a member of board of several of Rustic Canyon’s  portfolio companies, as well as a director of Praedicat, and Blackline Systems (BL). Prior to forming Rustic Canyon, Tom was the Executive Vice President and CFO of The Times Mirror Company. Earlier, Tom had a 25 year career as a corporate lawyer;  first as a partner of Orrick and then as a partner of Morrison & Foerster. 
 

Charles R. Halpern

Trustee Emeritus

Founding Board Chair
Demos

Charles Halpern was cofounder of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), the Bazelon Center for Law and Mental Health, The City University of New York School of Law, and the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. He was the founding president of the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Currently, he consults on issues relating to the preservation and improvement of democratic practices and institutions, and on mindfulness and law.

Stephen Heintz

Trustee Emeritus

President
Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Stephen Heintz is the president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a foundation that advances social change for a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. In 2010, he set an ambitious path to align investment of the Fund’s financial assets with its mission, resulting in the Fund’s 2014 decision to divest from fossil fuels. Stephen is a co-founder of Demos, and has devoted his career to strengthening democratic culture and institutions. In 2018, he was named by the Academy of Arts and Sciences as one of three co-chairs of a national Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. He also served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the EastWest Institute in Prague during the 1990s.He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. He is the recipient of the Council on Foundations 2018 Distinguished Service Award.
 

Miles Rapoport

Trustee Emeritus

Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy
Ash Center for Democratic Governance, The Harvard Kennedy School

Miles Rapoport served as President of Demos for 13 years, from 2001-2014, helping to lead the organization from a start-up to a strong and well-established progressive policy center. Prior to his tenure at Demos, Miles served as an elected official for 14 years in the state of Connecticut, where he was a strong advocate for economic and racial justice, and a fully inclusive democracy. He was a state legislator from 1985-1994, and then Secretary of the State from 1995-1998. In his current role at the Kennedy School, Miles works to connect the faculty and students at the school to the ‘field of practice’ of democracy reform, including issues of expansion of voting participation, gerrymandering, and campaign finance reform. He writes frequently on democracy issues for The American Prospect magazine, and serves on the Boards of State Voices, Everyday Democracy, The American Prospect, and the Scherman Foundation.