Born in San Francisco, raised in Novato, schooled in Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz, and now making a new home in the Bay, Thomas is a deeply rooted Californian. He approaches his work as a tech specialist from an empowerment frame. As IT & Collaboration Systems Manager and in his previous work as an consultant, Thomas always seeks to support users through painless implementation and use of technology ensuring that systems and tech tools serve to enable people to shine in their work. An automation geek and a voracious learner, Thomas rose through the ranks from student leader to Lead Technologist to current Alumni Board member at the Everett Program.

Luther Jackson is a program manager at NOVA, the non-profit, federally-funded workforce development agency in Sunnyvale, California. He is leading several initiatives that are creating accessible educational and career pathways for diverse populations into the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area’s innovation economy. He is a leader of Apprenticeship Bay Area, a regional workforce initiative to scale tech and other high-skill apprenticeships. Luther also staffs NOVA’s emerging trends task force and is a member of the “Future of Work” affinity group sponsored by the American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley.

Yazmin Herrera is currently the Director of Programs at Digital NEST. The best part of her job is knowing that her work is helping the instructors she supervises be better at their jobs, get paid for what they do, and they are inspiring youth every day. Sometimes, she misses working directly with youth and feels very lucky when she gets to do that. She loves helping people find their spark and to see the fire inside them get bigger and bigger.

As the Managing Director for Advocacy, nash works to assure the organization’s work is impactful, collaborative, and innovative. Before joining the executive team, nash led EFF’s grassroots, student, and community organizing efforts as the Director of EFF’s Organizing team. As Organizing Director, nash supported member organizations of the Electronic Frontier Alliance in educating their neighbors on digital-privacy best practices and advocating for privacy and innovation-protecting policy and legislation.