NextGen Policy Board of Directors

Kat Taylor works in service of restoring social, racial, gender justice, and environmental well-being for an equitable and inclusive world. She is active in a variety of social enterprises and philanthropic ventures focused on deep systems change.

Currently, Kat serves as the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Beneficial State Bank, a Community Development Financial Institution and certified B Corporation that makes banking more accessible to under-resourced communities in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner – and to change the banking system for good. Beneficial State was founded on the principle that banks should be most useful to their clients, not their shareholders. Therefore, Kat does not own the Bank; instead, it is wholly owned by nonprofits with the mandate to redistribute excess funds to the Bank’s communities.

Kat is also a Founding Director of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation (TKREF), which is dedicated to inspiring a sustainable food system through ranching, training, tours, research, and school food and garden programs. TKREF owns the social enterprise LeftCoast GrassFed, humanely raising cattle and other livestock for the benefit of healthy soils.

Kat proudly served or continues to serve on the following boards and advisory bodies: Beneficial State Bank, Beneficial State Foundation, Central Kitchen Advisory Board (co-Chair) for the Oakland Unified School District, Community Development Bankers Association, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Ecotrust, Evrnu, Forager, Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, Harvard Board of Overseer, KQED, NextGen Policy (Board Chair), Propublica, TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation (Chair), UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute External Advisory Board, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and many more.

She graduated from Harvard College and earned a JD/MBA from Stanford University.

Arnie Sowell is Executive Director of NextGen Policy (NGP), a non-profit organization that works to advance equity and justice across a range of issue areas including climate, workforce development, higher education, food insecurity, and income inequality. Arnie directs the NGP team’s policy development, legislative advocacy, strategic communications, grassroots organizing, and program activities.

Before joining NextGen, Arnie spent two decades in the California State Assembly, serving as Policy Director for five Assembly Speakers, and, over his 30-year career, he has also held various high-level positions in state and local government.  Arnie was honored for his work by the Sacramento Bee’s Equity Lab as one of the Top 20 Black Change Makers in the Capitol Region and has appeared on Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 list of professionals influencing change at the State Capitol.

He is an Oregon State University Honors College alum and holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Washington. Arnie serves on the California State Bar Board of Trustees, is an elected member of the Sacramento Natural Foods Cooperative, and is a proud father of three and grandfather of two.

Chris Fadeff has worked for NextGen Policy Founder Tom Steyer or entities he founded since 2013. Most recently, Chris was vice president of Fahr LLC and chief operating officer of Steyer’s presidential campaign.

Prior to that, Chris served in senior roles at NextGen America, formerly NextGen Climate for five years. Chris is a Truman National Security Project partner and sits on an advisory committee of the Tides Foundation.

Pamela Haynes was appointed to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016. Haynes served on the Los Rios Community College District Board of Trustees for more than 17 years, including three terms as board president. She also sits on the Board of Trustees for the Community College League of California and the Los Rios Foundation Board.

Before retiring from state service in 2012, she served for eight years as a deputy director and senior consultant for the California State Assembly, Speaker’s Office of Member Services. Prior to that, she was the legislative director for the Capitol Office of Assemblymember Mark Ridley-Thomas. Haynes has also worked for the California Labor Federation, ALF-CIO; the City of Sacramento; the Bureau of State Audits; and Department of Health Services.

A Santa Monica College transfer student, she has a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Tia Boatman Patterson is the President and CEO for the California Community Reinvestment Corporation. With years of executive leadership experience in both the public and private sectors, she previously served as the Associate Director of Housing, Treasury, and Commerce in the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Management and Budget. From 2014 to 2021, she served as the Executive Director of the California Housing Finance Agency where she brought about positive organizational change and significantly grew loan production. She simultaneously served as Governor Gavin Newsom’s Senior Advisor for housing from 2019 to 2020. From 2015 to 2021 she was a director on the National Council of State Housing Agencies Board, serving as Board Chair from 2018 to 2020. 

Ms. Patterson was general counsel for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency from 2009 to 2014. She is recognized nationally and in the state of California as a policy expert in affordable housing, community development, small business, and economic development having served as a special assistant to four Speakers of the California State Assembly. Patterson received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from San Diego State University, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the state of California and the District of Columbia.

Martha Guzman is Founder and Partner at OGV Consulting. She has over 25 years of experience in state and federal policy development and implementation, specializing in equity-based solutions across energy, water, agriculture, and the environment. She has served as Regional Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission, and Deputy Legislative Affairs Secretary to the Governor of California.  

Earlier in her career, Martha worked on sustainable agricultural, rural infrastructure and workers’ rights. She has been involved in political campaigns at the local, state and federal level and founded Communities for New California in 501(c)4 focused on voter engagement.  

Martha holds a Master’s in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Davis and a Bachelor’s in International Economics from Georgetown University.