Corrine Van Hook Turner (she/her) leads the overall vision and strategy for the organization and its programs, bringing a lens of racial equity and transformative movement building. Corrine convenes and cultivates creative leadership within climate justice and deep democracy ecosystems toward a shared vision for a Just Transition to a world of interdependence, resilience, and regeneration.Corrine’s 20+ years of experience are deeply immersed in movements advancing social, economic, environmental and racial justice. As a former IDEAL Scholar (Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership), she witnessed and continues to nurture the compelling impact of investing in youth and disenfranchised communities of color so that leadership reflects the diversity it seeks to serve. Since then she has continued to develop her leadership working with the Rockwood Leadership Institute, Greater New Beginnings Youth Services, Oakland Climate Action Coalition, and contracting with various organizations. Corrine was the former Co-Director of Rooted in Resilience (formerly Bay Localize), a grassroots organization working to catalyze a movement for more equitable, resilient communities. More recently over the last three years, she served as the Program Manager and Director of Climate Innovation initially as a program, now grown to be a fiscally sponsored network partner of Movement Strategy Center (MSC). She currently serves on the steering committee of the California Trade Justice Coalition and board of New Buildings Institute (NBI). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jaime Love (she/her) provides leadership, strategy and support to People's Climate Innovation Center programs that advance approaches to community-driven planning and movement building, while centering racial equity and whole-systems solutions.  Jaime has over 20 years of experience in a variety of spaces including public health, philanthropy, and climate resilience, with a deep focus on racial justice and health equity. Her work in the public health sector cultivated opportunities for direct community organizing and advocacy work in communities with disproportionate health impacts and enhanced her leadership in philanthropy and the nonprofit sectors around racial equity and climate justice. Her expertise ranges from program development and leadership, equity, policy advocacy, to communications and outreach. Jaime is a 2016 PLACES Fellow (Professionals Learning About Community, Equity, and Smart Growth), and has participated in multiple leadership programs including Rockwood Leadership Institute and Interaction Institute for Social Change. Jaime is currently on the board of the Blue Ash YMCA, Co-op Cincy, and Green Umbrella locally. Nationally, she sits on the PLACES Advisory Committee and the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) Policy Committee. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in Health Promotion and a BS from Central Michigan University. Love for family and community is what drives Jaime's ongoing work for racial justice.

Tamira Jones Machado (she/her) operationalizes program strategy and overseas internal systems for People's Climate Innovation Center. Tamira also coordinates the National Association of Climate Resilience Planners (NACRP) and new partnerships as needed. For the last 20 years, Tamira has been working within the environmental nonprofit sector, both in the U.S. and abroad. She most recently led the fiscal sponsorship program at Earth Island Institute for 7 years, supporting the amazing project advisory team and its 80 projects. As the Program Manager, Tamira designed and implemented administrative systems in support of frontline activists and initiatives working to protect people and the planet. Tamira spent the past three years developing capacity-building training and collaborative learning tools in order to seed a community of practice within a national network.Tamira draws on her experience working with nonprofits of all sizes and missions in order to improve, evolve, and experiment with systems and structures that are solution-focused. Much of the last decade of her professional life has been coaching grassroots activists through the founding, scaling, and stabilizing phases of organizational development. She loves putting wings on visionary ideas to see them take flight. She holds a Masters of Arts in Community and Environmental Studies and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

Radiah Shabazz (she/her) is the Communications Manager at People’s Climate Innovation
Center. She brings nearly a decade of experience in nonprofit strategic
communications, racial equity, and organizational change. Radiah has uniquely
bridged her strategic communications expertise and anti-oppressive social work
training to implement and advise on communications strategies that broaden the
generation and dissemination of content that elevates the intersection of racial
equity with climate change, education, health, and affordable housing. She is
passionate about using radical and transformative communications as a tool to
advance racial equity and justice, and build liberation for Black, Indigenous and
people of color as well as those who have been unfairly pushed to the margins.
Her nonprofit experience includes work at Grounded Solutions Network, the
Institute for Sustainable Communities, Start Early, On Earth Peace and the
National Housing Conference. Radiah holds a BA in journalism from Howard
University and an MA in social work (MSW equivalent) from the University of
Chicago. When she isn’t working, she enjoys quality time with her family,
watching psychological thrillers, crime television, and writing.

Sarah Quiroga (she/her) supports a culture of learning; connecting data and insights with decision-making; and supports the strategic learning and evaluation needs for the People’s Climate Innovation Center through developmental evaluation for social innovation. Sarah practices shifting away from extractive ways of traditional evaluation toward learning that embodies and supports community driven solutions.

Prior to working at PCIC, Sarah spent many years in Movement Strategy Center’s Youth Organizing Team and Transitions Initiative Team where she led in event production and management, database management, administrative management, and impact evaluation. Supporting the ecosystem in this way, she experienced joy in knowing that her work is part of a greater purpose and vision.  

In 2012, Sarah became the first in her family to graduate college. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political, Legal, & Economic Analysis with an emphasis in Economic Analysis and a minor in Environmental Studies from Mills College.In recent years, Sarah’s (dis)connection with her heritage has been given strength and love by the Seven Generations and Forward Stance work. As a 4th generation Mexican-American, her people are forgotten in memory but remembered in her body. Her ancestors come from León, Guanajuato; Arizona; Texas; & California. Sarah lives in her breath; which lives in her body; which lives in California – with her partner Efren.

Bianca Verbera (she/her) runs the show behind the scenes as she facilitates and streamlines the financial, fund-development, administrative, and operational processes for People's Climate Innovation Center. Essentially, she is what she likes to call herself a ‘Juana of all trades’ and wears many hats on the team. Prior to joining PCIC, Bianca worked for two fund development teams at Girl Scouts of Northern California and Hispanics in Philanthropy, from which she brings ample event-planning and fundraising, and high-quality administrative experience. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities from San Francisco State University. Outside of PCIC, Bianca is the owner and founder of a growing jewelry shop called Bianquis’ Designs in which she creates ‘up-cycled’, commemorative, jewelry that’s inspired by her matriarchal ancestors and the women in her family. She bridges past, present, and future as she honors their stories, sacrifices, and celebrates their resiliency through her craft. You might find her jewelry booth at pop-up markets across the East Bay and in San Francisco, or at local art galleries. A current goal of hers is to create a community-focused event planning agency to hold pop-markets and uplit the local East Bay Area (and beyond!) communities of upcoming BIPOC vendors’ and artists’ creative and entrepreneurial offerings.

Pandora Thomas (she/her) is a passionate global citizen who works as a caregiver, teacher, farmer, designer and speaker.  Her work emphasizes the benefits of applying ecological principles to social design and reconnecting humans to our non-human kin.

As a presenter both domestically and internationally, she has given keynotes and lectures on topics ranging from designing mutually beneficial diversity strategies, collaborative design for community driven planning, social justice, youth and women's leadership, social entrepreneurship,  permaculture and sustainability. She has designed curriculum for and taught groups all over the world as diverse as Iraqi and Indonesian youth to men serving in San Quentin and men and women returning home from incarceration.

Her lifelong commitment to honoring ancestral legacies of earth stewardship and centering the contributions of people of African Ancestry in reclaiming our shared earth care journeys is culminating in her most recent gift to the planet, founding EARTHseed Permaculture Center and Farm, the first all Black owned and run farm in Sonoma County. EARTHseed’s farming and centers programming will elevate the earth stewarding contributions and legacy of peoples of African ancestry throughout the Diaspora.

Pandora is currently a co-owner of the collectively run permaculture design firm The Urban Permaculture Institute and a Senior Climate Innovation Fellow with the Movement Strategy Centers Climate Innovation Team.

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Iris Verduzco (they/them) is the National Association of Climate Resilience Planners (NACRP) Network Coordinator. They were raised in the homelands of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples, in the City of South Gate, a city whose historical toxic industrial practices are still impacting the region today. With over a decade of experience, working with frontline grassroots organizations Iris is adept at transmitting their skills and knowledge to meet the needs and capacity of the spaces they’re a part of. Iris centers intergenerational community participation and engagement and grounds their work and relationships with compassion, grace, and building resilience.

Iris studied environmental and public health at the University of Southern California, where they sought opportunities to research accounts of environmental racism in low-income and BIPOC communities living near sources of contamination. From Southeast and East Los Angeles in the U.S. to Yokkaichi in Japan, their research uplifted the power of community resiliency and persistence in combating the impacts of toxic emission release. During this time, Iris also conducted community participatory research through the support of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice programs like the Marina Pando Social Justice Research Collaborative, where they investigated problem sites in and near the Lower LA River that displayed potential for dry-weather urban runoff. Their expertise in community participatory research has led to the Run Down the Runoff program and its role in community development through education on stormwater quality, stormwater policies, and future community developments. These contributions have been profound in leading inclusionary practices among the CA State Water Board and community members when learning about industrial violations and how community members can get involved in enforcing these protocols locally.

Iris presently serves as a board member with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice as Board Treasurer. Iris has a deep love for water and food justice and seeks any invitation to hold toxic industries and governing systems accountable for the harm they contribute to. Iris is invested in fighting for equity and accountability for our communities to eliminate the racial, social, public, and environmental health harms induced by our current, historical, and systemic structures.

Esmeralda Hic (She/Her/Ella) works as the Collaborative Partnerships Program Coordinator at the People's Climate Innovation Center. She strives to center the vision and goals of frontline communities in the co-development of climate solutions with national partners and community based organizations. She was raised in the ancestral homelands of the Cahuilla (Qawishpa Cahuillangnah) people, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California. Her experiences growing up in her hometown shaped her passion and care for the planet and people and continue to drive her fight for climate and economic justice.

Esme graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Earth System Science and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Chicanx/Latinx Studies from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 2020. At UCI, Esme worked as a Community Resilience Projects Fellow alongside community leaders in Santa Ana, CA. She worked on a variety of environmental justice projects including a youth-led investigation on lead soil levels in the community, a food justice cooperative, and engagement between the university and the surrounding communities. Following her undergraduate career, she was a RAY Clean Energy Fellow based at the Institute for Market Transformation where she worked to shift traditional practices for energy efficiency policy development into community centered and led processes.