OUR TEAM
"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced."
- James Baldwin
Sarah Richardson-Baker
Sarah Richardson Baker (East Bay) has lived in the Bay Area since 2000 by way of Mendocino County. Sarah has expertise in building political movements with a concentration in organizing young people of color. As former Executive Director of the Oakland United Democratic Campaign Sarah became an on-the-ground expert in local campaigns, with multiple ballot box successes at the school board, special district, and county level throughout Alameda County. Sarah currently sits as an Alternate Member to Congresswoman Barbara Lee on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee representing Assembly District 18. Sarah received her B.S. in Political Science, Pre Law from CSU East Bay and is currently working towards her MBA with a Marketing focus at Holy Names University. Sara currently holds the position of Director of Community Engagement for Felton Institute.
Theo Ellington
Theo Ellington (SF) has a wide-range of public and private sector organizing experience. As co-founder of Black Young Democrats of SF, he successfully fought against the predatory policing practice of Stop-and-Frisk. He also served as Commissioner for the Office of Community Investment & Infrastructure, leading the creation of over 1,200 affordable housing units. As Director of Public Affairs for the Golden State Warriors, Theo led the efforts to win approvals for the new $1B arena from 14 different city agencies. He holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from Notre Dame de Namur University and a Masters in Urban Affairs from the University of San Francisco.
Cassandra James
Cassandra James (Solano County) is a Community Development Specialist in the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development for the City and County of San Francisco. Highlights of her advocacy include serving as a San Francisco Youth Commissioner representing Bayview/Hunters Point, San Francisco Transitional Aged Youth Initiative associate, and community liaison to the African American Community Relations Board. Professionally, Cassandra held many positions from program coordinator at the Center for Young Women’s Development (now Young Women Freedom Center) and was instrumental in the tri-county (San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa) collaboration on trends of system-impacted womxn, Crisis Intervention Specialist at the Family Violence Law Center and a Support Services Counselor at Community Housing Partnership assisting formerly house-less individuals and families maintain their homes. Presently, she serves as board co-director of New Leaders Council, Oakland chapter, board member for Community Resource Initiative, member of League of Women Voters, Solano County chapter, member of Black Women Organizing for Political Action (BWOPA), Solano/Napa Chapter. She is currently an Emerge CA fellow. Cassandra was born and raised in San Francisco (Ohlone land) and for the last nine years have been residing in Vallejo (Patwin Tribal lands). Since settling in Vallejo, she has established a family by giving birth to two boys and has become increasingly involved in Vallejo and Solano County to ensure the community becomes what they deserve. Cassandra holds three associate degrees from City College of San Francisco: A.A in Arts and Humanities, A.A. in Social Justice and A.S. in Behavioral Science. Cassandra is currently pursuing an accelerated Bachelor’s-to-Master’s Public Policy Degree at Mills College where she was named a 2021 Truman Scholar.
Obai Rambo
Obai Rambo (SF) began his career in the public sector by interning for former State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Vallejo). During college, Obai dove deeper into local and state-level advocacy, as the student organizer for the first March-in-March fighting agonist tuition hikes and urging for free higher education. Later, he co-founded the United Student Coalition at City College of San Francisco, which focused on creating the first Student Bill of Rights for the college. He served as the chair of the California Young Democrats (CYD) Renters Caucus and as the Caucus Director of the CYD. He currently serves as a Field Representative for the U.S. Senator Kamala Harris where he leads the Senator's efforts for a complete and accurate count of the upcoming 2020 Census along with various other responsibilities. Obai earned his BA from the University of California at Berkeley and his MA from Columbia University. Obai is currently Director of Government Relations & Community Affairs for Strategies 360.
D’Vonte Graham
D’Vonte Graham (NYC) is an experienced community organizer in local, state and national politics. His background in all aspects of organizing makes him a crucial asset. D'Vonte worked as a Project Manager at BMWL & Partners in San Francisco. In that capacity, D'Vonte worked with community leaders and elected officials on public affairs and political campaigns, expanded the San Francisco Shared Schoolyard Project to 80 schoolyards across the City and managed large-scale ballot measure campaigns. Previously, D’Vonte worked for the Nevada State Democratic Party in Las Vegas, NV, where he developed and organized voter contact plans for targeted communities by building and expanding relationships with community based organizations. D’Vonte is currently Borough Director for the NYC Department of Education.