Skip to main content

January Heritage Month

For more information on MLK day visit here.

Kimberly Bryant is an African American electrical engineer who worked in the biotechnology field at Genentech, Novartis Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Merck. In 2011, Bryant founded Black Girls Code, a training course that teaches basic programming concepts to black girls who are underrepresented in technology careers. After founding Black Girls Code, Bryant has been listed as one of the “25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology” by Business Insider.

Patrisse Cullors is an African-American artist and activist from Los Angeles, an advocate for criminal justice reform in Los Angeles and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. She also identifies as a “queer activist”

Gar Alperovitz is an American political economist and historian. He was the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, College Park Department of Government and Politics from 1999 to 2015. Alperovitz was a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge; a founding Fellow of the Harvard Institute of Politics; a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies; and a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution. He also served as a Legislative Director in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate and as a Special Assistant in the US Department of State. Alperovitz is a member of the board of directors for the New Economics Institute and a founding principal of the Democracy Collaborative. As of April 2015, he serves on the Green Shadow Cabinet of the United States as “New Economy Advisor to the President”

Rashad Robinson is an American civil rights leader and nonprofit executive. He serves as executive director of Color of Change, having joined the organization in May 2011. He is a board member of RaceForwardDemos, and State Voices.Color of Change has a stated mission of strengthening the political voice of black America and making government more responsive to their concerns. Robinson has organized many of the organization’s initiatives, including a campaign against the American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC). Under Robinson’s leadership, ColorOfChange played an important role in successful efforts to protect the principle of net neutrality by pushing the FCC to reclassify broadband as a common carrier service. In 2015, ColorOfChange was ranked 6th on Fast Company’s list of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.

Maria Teresa Kumar is the CEO of Voto Latino.Voto Latino is a pioneering civic media organization that seeks to transform America by recognizing Latinos’ innate leadership. Through innovative digital campaigns, pop culture, and grassroots voices, they provide culturally relevant programs that engage, educate and empower Latinos to be agents of change. Together, they aim to build a stronger and more inclusive democracy.