George Carpenter has served as Vice President of Winn communities since 2005. He manages all project planning and approval activities, provides strategic legal advice, and oversees outside legal counsel. George has secure approvals for numerous master planned development projects throughout the Sacramento Region.

With more than 25 years in real estate development and land use planning, George started his career in 1993 in the Sutter County Planning Department. Simultaneously, he attended night classes at Lincoln Law School. In 1999, George graduated, passed the bar, and became an attorney. He practiced law with a local firm for nearly five years, representing businesses, developers, and homebuilders in complex transactions and major land use entitlement efforts.

From 2006 to 2009, George served on the City of Roseville Public Utilities Commission. For more than 10 years, George has sat on the Board of Directors of the Yuba Sutter Economic Development Corporation. In 2018, he finished a two-year term as chairman of the Board. He has also served in leadership roles on several boards of directors for nonprofits throughout the region.

In addition to his law degree, George holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Geography from California State University, Chico.

Josie was born and raised in Sacramento, California. She is a retired Paralegal with a 20+ year career in the legal industry specializing in civil litigation.

She came from immigrant and working class roots which inspired me to join the labor movement as a Team Leader and Job Steward with SEIU Local 1000. Her volunteer work includes working with NorCal Resist assisting asylum seekers, immigrants and undocumented families; committee member with Sacramento Investment without Displacement and a member of the Housing Workgroup, along with other groups, tasked to create a citywide Community Benefits Agreement with the City of Sacramento on all future large developments; Godmother with The Godmothers of Nor-Cal (Las Madrinas), helping families with children 0-5 years old who are experiencing homelessness or facing financial hardship; and outreach to the houseless community with Feed Sacramento Homeless.

She is part of the first majority female Board as Vice President with United Latinos. She helped form the United Latinos Green Team with a focus on environmental justice for low income South Sacramento families who deserve clean air and water.

She is the Capitana of the National Brown Berets Sacramento Unit and an original member of the first all female National Brown Berets Oakland Unit. In September she took the position of National Commander. This first female National Commander in the history of the National Brown Berets.

The Washington Neighborhood Center is very dear to her heart. She was raised in Alkali Flats along with her older sister their single mom. Their father was badly injured when she was a little girl, and he spent his adult life in an acute care home. Because of that tragedy, she and her sister were very close to their aunts and three cousins. They lived in a Victorian home on 15th Street, just around the block from WNC. Their Tia Jennie Estrada was on the board in the 70’s. Her cousin Joey is in two of the black and white photos that are hung in WNC. She remembers going to WNC as a young girl with her family. Those are some of her fondest childhood memories. Now as an adult, she is truly thankful to be part of the revitalization of the Washington Neighborhood Center. She is honored to continue the efforts of her family in helping preserve the past while continuing to build a brighter future for the Washington Neighborhood Center and the Sacramento community.

Liz is a CPA with over a decade of experience in accounting and finance, specializing in areas including nonprofit accounting, budgeting, cost allowability determination, and financial reporting.

If you have any additional questions finance related, please email our treasurer Liz Ku at finance.wnc1@gmail.com or call at (916) 803-3801.

Citlalin Rodriguez is a wife and mother of 4, who has been a part of the Sacramento Chicano/Indigenous arts community most of her life. Raised by activist/artist parents, she grew up attending shows, ceremonies, events and gatherings at the La Raza Bookstore/Galeria Posada (now the Latino Center of Arts and Culture), Southside Park and the Washington Neighborhood Center (WNC). She has been teaching Aztec Dance in Sacramento for 20 years this month. She has been dancing and creating dance regalia and related items even longer. She is committed to providing programming at the WNC for and around the youth, community, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Aztec Dance and crafting and creating. Ms. Rodriguez graduated with a degree in Child Development from Sacramento State University in 2005 and has worked for the state of California for the last 18 years. She currently manages a procurement team, ensuring that state funds are spent appropriately and that all applicable laws, guidelines and policies are strictly followed.

Steven Payan began his community organizing journey in 2005 as a student leader at Woodland Community College under MEChA.. While a student organizer, he found his voice in the labor movement, serving as a student representative on the board of the Labor Council for Latin-American Advancement, Sacramento Chapter (AFL-CIO). In collaboration, he played a crucial role in fighting for the creation of an Ethnic Studies Program, overcoming adversity from district leadership. This experience inspired new motivation and dedication to community building, showcasing Steven’s commitment to higher education and social justice.

Volunteering with the Center since 2008, Steven has actively participated in various events, including conferences, art exhibits, speaking engagements, musical performances, and multicultural events. His multifaceted involvement reflects a deep commitment to inclusivity and community empowerment, showcasing his dedication to curating a vibrant and inclusive space. This would soon lead to him founding the Brown Berets de SacrAtlan and local Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign where many of the meetings happened in the Center.

Currently, Steven is a caregiver and union member leader in the SEIU Local 2015, where he is also a delegate for the Central Labor Council, actively advocating for better wages and working conditions. His commitment to social justice extends to his role within the union, where he passionately works to address the needs and concerns of his fellow workers.

As a local artist, emcee and chapter head of the Sacramento Hip-Hop Congress, Steven utilizes their creative platform to promote cultural enrichment of the culture. Dedication to creating positive change and fostering community empowerment.

Natalia Itzali Serrato of Sacramento, California is a danzante with Grupo Telpochkalli, a Brown Beret with the National Brown Berets, and a scholar currently studying Ethnic Studies at CSU Sacramento.

Eric Rasmusson has owned and operated Rasmusson Public Affairs since 1999 and was also Managing Partner of the acclaimed Sacramento lobbying firm Holloway Rasmusson and Molodanof. Focusing primarily on matters before local governments throughout Northern California he continues to operate out of a historic Sacramento L Street Victorian that he owns. He has served on several non-profits including the Sacramento Theatre Company, the American Red Cross and the Washington Neighborhood Center on whose Board he currently sits.

Tona Miranda is an Indigenous woman from the Yaqui, Blackfeet, Otomi and Chichimeca Tribal Nations. She is a proud community member of North Sacramento. She’s an Indigenous community-engaged scholar that gains her inspiration from her ancestral foundation and immense love for her communities.

In her previous work, she was the Associate Director for the Native American Resource Center at American River College, where she and her team conducted research on the disproportionate impact on Native American students. Tona also works in Indigenous Philanthropy, connecting Indigenous nations globally to philanthropic partnerships and has assisted with bringing in $200 million dollars of prevention funding for communities of color throughout California. Tona has committed her life to empowering youth, assisting her community to dismantle the school to prison pipeline and creating Indigenous focused restorative justice programs.

She has created the Tribal Department at Youth Forward, which will focus on the impact cannabis has on tribal communities statewide and youth empowerment locally and for all tribal nations. She currently serves as the Manager of Tribal Programs and Advocacy at Youth Forward.