Intro

SFYD was founded in 1947 by Phil Burton, Dr Carlton B. Goodlett and others to be a political group for young democrats that work or live in San Francisco. It was created to serve two goals: to bring young people into politics and to represent the interests of young people.

 

Our Board

 

Our Elected Board

All officers are elected annually at the December membership meeting of the San Francisco Young Democrats. Elected officers include two Co-Presidents, the Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.

Co-President

Vanessa Pimentel (they/them)

Co-President

Omar Rincon (he/him)

Vice President

Ernesto Cuellar (he/him)

Treasurer

Andrea Gallardo Lopez (she/her)

Secretary

Joshua Rudy Ochoa (he/him)

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Joy Zhan (she/her)


The Appointed Board

All appointed board members are selected by the elected officers in order to carry out committee assignments and amplify the collective goals of the board as a whole.


 

COMMUNICATIONS

Co-Chair: Angelica Campos (she/they)
Co-Chair: Chris Jones (he/him)
Committee Member: Rhea Lyer (she/her)
Committee Member: Sierra Fischer (she/her)

MEMBERSHIP

Chair: Angelina Polselli (they/she)
Committee Member: Khloe Ollison (she/her)
Committee Member: Joslin Kimani (she/they)

Committee Member: De’Marea Brandy (he/they)

 

 

EVENTS

Chair: Sakura Martin (she/they)
Committee Member: Brendan Kempff (he/him)
Committee Member: Lauren Valles (she/her)

PAC

Co-Chair: Michael Redmond (he/him)
Co-Chair: Michael Mirac Fitrro (he/they)

Committee Member: Thomas Jankowski (he/him)
Committee Member: Adrianna Zhang (she/her)
Committee Member:
Jamie Hughes
Committee Member: Michelle Andrews (she/her)

 

 

Notable Past Presidents

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Phillip Burton

Served as a CA State Assemblyman (1957-1964) and US Congressman (1964 - 1983) for San Francisco. Phil Burton was one of the first members of Congress to acknowledge the need for AIDS research and introduce an AIDS bill. He was instrumental in creating the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett

A civil rights maverick, champion for international peace, doctor of medicine and publisher of several African American newspapers. He led local protests for civil rights, fostered the careers of numerous influential politicians, shepherded young proteges into the field of medicine, counseled U.S. presidents -- including John F. Kennedy -- and received head-of-state receptions around the world for his quest for international peace.

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John Burton

Former chairman of the California Democratic Party and former CA State Assemblyman, US Congressman and CA State Senator. When John Burton retired from the State Senate, the California Journal reported “Gone will be the Senate's most vehement partisan for social services for the poor, the Senate's angriest voice against tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy, its loudest voice for protection of workers, its fiercest pro-labor advocate and its disciplinarian."

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Willie Brown Jr.

Served more than 30 years in the CA State Assembly (spending 15 years as its speaker) and later served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco. He was CA’s first African American Speaker of the Assembly and the first African American mayor of SF. During his time as Speaker, the New York Times called him “one of the country’s most powerful state legislators.” He authored and lobbied the successful passing of the bill that legalized homosexuality in California. His tenure as mayor was marked by significant increase in real estate development, public works, city beautification, and other large-scale city projects.

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Rebecca Prozan

The Chief of Public Policy & Government Affairs at Google and former SF assistant DA and head of the DA’s Community Relations Division, where she spearheaded the Neighborhood Prosecution program that allowed offenders to serve the community instead of going to the courtroom. She formerly served on SF’s Democratic County Central Committee.

Max Szabo

Founded Szabo & Associates, a leading strategic, policy communications, and public affairs firm. Szabo was previously a senior adviser to San Francisco's top prosecutor where he served as an Assistant District Attorney and Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs.

 

From left to right, former and current SFYD Presidents: Alex Barrett-Shorter (2019-21), Whit Bastian (2017-2019), Zahra Hajee (2021-2022), Diane Le (2014-2017), Luis Zamora (2018-2020), Joy Zhan (2022-2023)