Staff/Board

Zima Creason serves as the Executive Director of the California EDGE Coalition, where she leads statewide efforts to advance economic mobility and equity through education, workforce development, and high-road job pathways. With a strategic and inclusive approach, Zima brings together diverse partners across labor, business, education, workforce development, and social justice to tackle California’s most […]

Jeremy Smith currently serves as the Chief of Staff and Director of Workforce Development for the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California and was the Deputy Legislative Director for the Council from 2010-2022. Before that, he was a Legislative Advocate at the California Labor Federation from 2004 to 2010. He started his career

Mark Herbert leads emerging national, mission-aligned initiatives for Small Business Majority, in addition to directing operations throughout California. In these roles, he identifies, operationalizes and scales new initiatives nationwide while overseeing the organization’s policy, outreach and development efforts across the state of California. Additionally, he directs Small Business Majority’s work on responsible small business lending issues. Mark

Rita Medina is the Deputy Director at Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC)—the State’s leading policy organization advocating for health equity of the Latino community.  In this leadership role, she is responsible for guiding day-to-day operations for the organization and working with the Executive Director and staff to move the organization towards its strategic goals

Peggy Broussard Wheeler serves as Vice President of Policy at the California Hospital Association (CHA). Ms. Wheeler is responsible for developing, advocating and executing public policies, legislation and regulations on behalf of CHA member hospitals at the state and national levels. Ms. Wheeler serves as the Issue Manager for Workforce, Housing and patients experiencing Homelessness, Equity, Social Determinants

Lance Hastings has held several leadership roles at MillerCoors the past 15 years. He served most recently as Vice President of National Affairs for MillerCoors. Prior to that he served as Head of Regulatory & Tax Affairs for SABMiller. He also represented Miller Brewing Company and MillerCoors in Sacramento as Director of State Government Affairs, where

Chione Lucina Muñoz Flegal is a Managing Director at PolicyLink where she works to promote social, economic, and environmental equity. With deep expertise on issues of infrastructure, land use, housing, and environmental policy, Chione has over 20 years of experience building coalitions and leading policy campaigns to improve outcomes for low-income communities and communities of color in California.

Eric Flores is the Policy Director for the California Workforce Association, and serves as the Association’s Local, Federal, and State Legislative Liaison on issues regarding workforce development. Eric serves the Association in its partnerships with the National Youth Employment Coalition, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency Apprenticeship Task Force, and the California Workforce Association Foundation. Prior

Linda Collins is Founder and Executive Director of the Career Ladders Project (CLP), a non-profit organization working to foster educational and career advancement for Californians through research, policy and strategic support to community colleges and their education, community and workforce partners. Linda is also founding Executive Director of LearningWorks, a partnership linking knowledge, policy and practice