San José Spotlight’s Community Advisory Board plays a critical role in improving our nonprofit journalism by advising the organization on issues of interest to the community, providing feedback to inform decisions about our journalism and helping us reach underserved audiences.
Community input is a cornerstone of our mission. Our advisory board is made up of a representative group of volunteer members who live and work in the South Bay. Separate from our Board of Directors, which has a fiduciary responsibility and governance role for the organization, this board focuses on helping us listen more closely to the needs of our diverse city to improve our public service to the community.
The group meets quarterly and includes members of community-based organizations, the business and tech community, nonprofits, as well as ethnic leaders, educators, political analysts and civil rights activists.
Members
Dr. Angelica Cortez is an advocate, award-winning community organizer, and prominent voice in Filipino and Asian American Pacific Islander civic engagement. She is the founder and CEO of LEAD Filipino, a national nonprofit organization that operates out of San Jose, San Antonio, and Las Vegas. She has held senior leadership roles with advocacy organizations and healthcare providers across California, including Pacific Clinics and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Jahmal Williams leads strategic partnerships and programming efforts in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at San Jose State University. He also serves as one of the co-chairs of the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet of Silicon Valley, a community-based coalition that provides critical leadership development, grassroots organizing, and advocacy on issues of civil rights, racial equity, and economic justice across Santa Clara County and the region.
Ellina Yin is the founder and producer of the civic education podcast Only in San José and the director of community engagement of Code for San José. She also serves on the San Jose City’s Council Appointment Advisory Commission. She is passionate about the arts and democratizing access to civic education and participation in local city government.
Garrick Percival is associate professor and chair of the Political Science Department at San Jose State University. He teaches courses in local and state government and politics, and he’s the author or co-author of two books. He frequently provides analysis in the media on a variety of local and state political issues.
Dianna Zamora-Marroquin is the director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte where she’s responsible for legislative lobbying, community engagement, grassroots advocacy and media affairs. She previously served as the senior director of political strategy and operations for the South Bay Labor Council, where she ran large grassroots political operations. She is fluent in Spanish and serves on the Santa Clara Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Patricia Gardner is the senior consultant of PAG Leadership Consulting. She led the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits for almost 20 years. Her depth of experience is focused in nonprofit management, public policy, advocacy and leadership development. She is a respected community leader with a keen insight in the nonprofit, community and governmental landscape.