Get to know the NextGen Policy team!

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.

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Adriana Sanchez-Ochoa is the Chief Deputy Director of NextGen Policy and directly assists in team management and daily operations. Her policy areas of emphasis include immigration and digital equity. She also serves as the NextGen Policy liaison to the ethnic, women’s, and LGBT caucuses of the CA State Legislature.

Before joining the NextGen Policy team, Adriana spent 18 years working in various key positions in the California Legislature. She worked for four Assembly Speakers and, in her last job with the Assembly, was the Director of International Relations and Protocol. In addition, Adriana has worked extensively with the California Latino Caucus.

Adriana has a Bachelor’s degree from UC Davis in International Relations and Political Science with a minor in Spanish. She sits on the California Senate International Relations Foundation Board. She is the proud mother of three daughters and has three beautiful grandchildren. In her spare time, she loves gardening, exercise and anything that involves the outdoors. She is a proud immigrant from Colombia and is fully bilingual in Spanish.

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Stacey Smith serves as the Deputy Director for NextGen Policy, responsible for team management, communications, political operations, and advocacy campaigns. She also handles policy work in the veterans affairs area, and serves on the VetFund Foundation Board of Directors. She previously worked for NextGen America as Director of Outreach, managing legislative advocacy and the California political team’s electoral work at the Congressional level.

Prior to NextGen, Stacey was the Deputy State Director for United States Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), serving as the Senator’s liaison in northern California, overseeing six field offices, and managing press events across California.

Stacey holds a BA in Government-Journalism from California State University, Sacramento. In her personal time she enjoys exploring California with her family, attending Sacramento Republic FC soccer matches, and cheering on her two sons at their many sporting events.

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Kat Bocanegra Speed supports the organization’s fundraising and development program, focusing on grant writing, foundation relations, and donor stewardship.  

Before joining NextGen Policy, Kat was a Research and Project Manager for the Tom Steyer PAC, where she staffed the small business and long-term recovery subcommittees of the Governor’s Task Force on Jobs and Economic Recovery. Prior to this, she served as the Deputy Research Director for the Tom Steyer presidential campaign and as a Research Associate for multiple Steyer-led programs and initiatives.

Kat has a Bachelor’s degree from UCLA in Political Science with an emphasis on American politics.

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Sam Couch leads NGP’s development team and is responsible for helping our organization create a sustainable funding model.

Prior to leading the development team, Sam helped manage NGP’s staffing engagement with the Governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery–which generated over 20 policy and program proposals and over $20 billion in state budget funding.

Before joining NGP, Sam worked with NextGen America, the largest youth-vote mobilization organization in the country and had roles with their political, advocacy, and communications teams. As a Senior Project Manager, Sam developed and launched a large-scale voter mobilization program as well as a multi-million dollar immigrant rights initiative. She also directed NGA’s social media campaign for the 2018 midterms before moving to work as a senior member of the Steyer for President campaign in 2020.

Earlier in her career, Sam was drawn to education policy, managing an afterschool program and then joining an education based non-profit. Sam held several key roles with the non-profit, including supporting the CEO and helping to coordinate their development functions. As a product of California’s public school system, Sam is passionate about ensuring all children have the right to a high quality education, regardless of their zip code.

Sam is from Salinas, CA and attended community college before receiving her degree in Communications from CSU, Sacramento. Outside of work, Sam enjoys spending time with her husband, their two sons, Leo and Henry, and their dog, London.

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Chris Fadeff has worked for NextGen Policy Founder Tom Steyer or entities he founded since 2013. Chris is currently the Chief Compliance Officer and VP, Operations at Galvanize. 

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 the board of New Leaders Council.

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McKenna Mustazza is a Policy & Executive Associate at NextGen Policy. Her comprehensive responsibilities include supporting the Executive Director, Legislative/Policy Manager, and Development team. She is responsible for tracking, monitoring, and advocacy coordination around NGP’s bill, budget, program, and regulatory priorities. She also manages the operational functions/processes for the organization and supports NGP’s Higher Education policy area. 

Before joining the NextGen Policy team, McKenna held various positions in legislative advocacy where she specialized in grassroots coalition building and digital advocacy campaigns. 

McKenna holds a B.A in Political Science with a minor in Sociology from Sonoma State University.

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Chris Lehman is a Political Strategist with NextGen Policy — advising on political, advocacy, and messaging activities on both legislative and ballot measure issues.

Chris has over 25 years of experience in California state government and has held leading strategy, messaging, and management roles on over 50 national, statewide, ballot measure, candidate, and political campaigns including co-creating the successful Need to Impeach campaign that resulted in the first impeachment of Donald Trump. His career started in 1998 in the Office of Senator John Vasconcellos, one of the longest serving legislators in California history. Chris was an advisor to four consecutive leaders of the California State Senate: Don Perata, Darrell Steinberg, Kevin DeLeon, and Toni Atkins.

Chris holds degrees in Political Science and Physics from UC Davis. He hails from the rugged and rural North Coast of California and splits time between California, Ohio, and Washington DC. Chris is a father of three and stepfather to two, and in his spare time loves being present with his kids, exploring his faith, and considers serving others his life’s work.

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Kimi Meyer is NGP’s Finance and Accounting Manager and works with the Admin Team on budget forecasting and financial reporting. Her responsibilities include: managing the accounts receivable, tracking grant expenditures, and overseeing the yearly audit. 

Before joining NextGen Policy, Kimi worked as the Budget Manager for the Tom Steyer PAC where she analyzed budget spending and program costs, administered the financial projection process, and produced financial reports. Prior to her work at the Tom Steyer PAC, she served as the Finance and Operations Analyst for the Tom Steyer presidential campaign, and the Operations Manager for NextGen America. 

Kimi has a Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in Geography with a minor in Geographic Information Systems.

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Risi Vera is responsible for providing financial oversight to the organization and acting as a resource and advisor to the finance team. 

Risi has worked with NextGen Policy since 2013. Prior to that and since then, she has worked for several Fortune 500 companies as well as non profits in a variety of finance and accounting roles. Her areas of expertise include financial reporting, business planning and forecasting, strategic planning, and project management.

Risi holds a BSc in Economics and minors in International Relations and Philosophy from UC San Diego and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. In her free time, she loves hiking and exploring the world with her husband, visiting her now grown children, cooking, and spending time with friends.

 

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Tyler Bushnell co-leads the Communications team as the Communications Content Manager and supports NextGen’s policy, advocacy, and digital outreach efforts. Tyler’s duties include developing content for and overseeing NGP’s earned and paid media efforts, email and newsletter programs, blog and social media channels, as well as various other management, copywriting, and editing activities.

Before joining NGP, Tyler worked on various local and statewide campaigns for a marketing and PR firm based in the Sacramento area. Prior to that, he spent several years living and working for various community outreach and marketing organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Tyler holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from San Francisco State University. When away from work, Tyler enjoys spending time exploring Sacramento’s restaurants, parks, and community events with his family and friends.

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Andrea Serrano is the Communications Digital & Design Manager at NextGen and co-leads the Communications team with Tyler Bushnell, the Communications Content Manager. Andrea supports the Communications Intern and Policy team with various digital tasks, including external email send-outs, website maintenance, and advocacy campaign strategy, as well as design work for creative direction and content management for social media, website, and external branding strategies.

Before joining NextGen Policy, Andrea worked at the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where she led the graphic design visuals for prominent Chamber and community partner campaigns. She has also been involved in design planning and strategy with La Familia Counseling Center, The Sacramento Kings, The Golden 1 Center, and the Caltrans Division of Human Resources. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from California State University, East Bay.

In her free time, she enjoys visiting local art museums and spending time outdoors. Andrea is fluent in Spanish and is second-generation.

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Celene Talavera is the Communications Associate at NextGen Policy and works with the communications team by supporting the development of social media content across multiple platforms, managing Let’s Talk blog, contributing to communication strategies, and assisting with digital metrics and analytics to help drive strategic decisions, along with writing and proofreading copy for email and online content.

Before joining NextGen, Celene interned at The Impact Foundry as a Communications Intern and reported for California State University of Sacramento’s student-ran newspaper, The State Hornet. Celene is a first generation college graduate and holds a B.A. in Journalism and a Minor in Chicanx/Latinx Studies. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her three cats and exploring new restaurants.

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