Congresswoman Barbara Lee
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2023
CONGRESSMEMBER BARBARA LEE
7:00 PM Meeting on ZOOM
6:30 PM Join the Meeting
Register in advance: CLICK HERE
The San Ramon Valley Democratic Club is honored to have Congressmember Barbara Lee speak at our meeting. Congressmember Lee has been representing California’s 12th District (formerly 13th) since 1998.
She is the highest ranking African American woman appointed to Democratic Leadership, serving as Co-Chair of the Policy and Steering Committee, where she works to ensure that committees reflect the diversity, dynamism, and integrity of the Democratic Caucus. She also works to advance the “For the People” H.R.1, which would expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.
Congressmember Lee also serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending. She and Former Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer co-founded the Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity to identify and promote solutions that lift American families out of poverty.
Ellen McDonnell, Public Defender of Contra Costa County
Our first local speaker is Ellen McDonnell, Public Defender of Contra Costa County. She will update us on the Antioch Police Department’s racist and homophobic texting scandal. She will discuss what we currently know regarding the pervasive and wide reaching scandal that has revealed a deeply embedded culture of racism, homophobia, targeted violence, and civil rights violations within the Antioch Police Department. This scandal has deeply impacted our local criminal legal system and made international news.
Ellen has been a public defender for more than 20 years, and in 2021 was appointed the lead Public Defender. She spoke at our SRVDC club in 2018 about police qualified immunity. She has represented clients in serious felony cases, been the public face of the office throughout the community and the local criminal court system, and led a dramatic expansion in innovative and holistic defense programs.
Ellen has been at the forefront of implementing legislated criminal justice reforms and led the expansion of CCPD’s Clean Slate program. She stewards the office’s commitment to client advocacy, high-quality litigation, and holistic defense. Through Ellen’s leadership, Contra Costa County has seen reduced incarceration rates, improved sentence equity, less court-imposed debt, and fewer barriers for reentry to the community.
Ellen received her JD from UC Hastings College of Law, where she was a member of the Hastings Law Review. She is a resident of Walnut Creek, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Gigi Crowder, Director of NAMI
Our second local speaker is Gigi Crowder who is the Executive Director of NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness. She is also the FaithNet Coordinator and has advanced efforts statewide to reduce mental health stigma by training Faith Leaders using the Mental Health Friendly Communities training curriculum she co-designed. Her current focus is addressing the needs of those living with mental illness who are often criminalized for living with a medical condition.
Gigi served for over 9 years as the Ethnic Services Manager for Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services and has worked in the Behavioral Health Care field for more than 32 years after completing her studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is unapologetic about her efforts to address the needs of African Americans who she deems as the most harmed and neglected due systemic racism. She created, Black Minds Matter 2! which has given her opportunities to speak across the nation. Most recently she was one of California Responder’s to Presidents Biden’s State of the Union Address which presented his Unity Plan.
Gokce Sencan, PPIC
Our third local speaker is Gokce Sencan, Research Associate at the Public Policy Institute of California Water Poicy Center. With all the rain, and some of the reservoirs full, is it true that California is out of a drought situation? Gokce Sencan will explain.
Prior to joining PPIC, she worked on several projects, including water purchasing opportunities for environmental flows from retiring coal-fired power plants and the financial benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions through land-use interventions in California. She previously worked as an intergovernmental affairs intern at the United Nations Environment Programme in New York and as a climate change research intern at Istanbul Policy Center.
Gokce Sencan holds a master’s degree in environmental science and management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a BS with a double major in chemical-biological engineering and molecular biology from Koc University, Istanbul.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congressmember Lee also serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending. She and Former Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer co-founded the Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity to identify and promote solutions that lift American families out of poverty.
Ellen McDonnell, Public Defender of Contra Costa County
Ellen has been a public defender for more than 20 years, and in 2021 was appointed the lead Public Defender. She spoke at our SRVDC club in 2018 about police qualified immunity. She has represented clients in serious felony cases, been the public face of the office throughout the community and the local criminal court system, and led a dramatic expansion in innovative and holistic defense programs.
Ellen received her JD from UC Hastings College of Law, where she was a member of the Hastings Law Review. She is a resident of Walnut Creek, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Gigi Crowder, Director of NAMI
Gigi served for over 9 years as the Ethnic Services Manager for Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services and has worked in the Behavioral Health Care field for more than 32 years after completing her studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is unapologetic about her efforts to address the needs of African Americans who she deems as the most harmed and neglected due systemic racism. She created, Black Minds Matter 2! which has given her opportunities to speak across the nation. Most recently she was one of California Responder’s to Presidents Biden’s State of the Union Address which presented his Unity Plan.
Gokce Sencan, PPIC
Prior to joining PPIC, she worked on several projects, including water purchasing opportunities for environmental flows from retiring coal-fired power plants and the financial benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions through land-use interventions in California. She previously worked as an intergovernmental affairs intern at the United Nations Environment Programme in New York and as a climate change research intern at Istanbul Policy Center.
Gokce Sencan holds a master’s degree in environmental science and management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a BS with a double major in chemical-biological engineering and molecular biology from Koc University, Istanbul.