SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Rodrego Byerly, 47, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Volunteers Commission, where he has served since 2020. Byerly has been President and Chief Executive Officer at EVITARUS since 2008. He was a Professor in the Management Department at the California State University, Los Angeles College of Business and Economics from 2015 to 2022. Byerly was Managing Director at Janas Associates from 2018 to 2020 and Co-Founder and Director of Blue Deacon Capital from 2003 to 2007. Byerly was Vice President at SG Capital in 2003. He is a member of the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles Board of Directors. Byerly earned a Master of Public Administration degree in Business and Finance from Columbia University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Byerly is a Democrat.

Michael Lynch, 34, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the California Volunteers Commission, where he has served since 2021. Lynch has been Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Improve Your Tomorrow since 2013. He was a Senior Legislative Aide in the Office of Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer from 2012 to 2016. Lynch held several positions in the Office of Senator Curren Price from 2011 to 2012, including Legislative Aide and Senate Fellow. He earned a Master of Public Policy degree from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Lynch is a Democrat.

Tony Thurmond, 54, of Richmond, has been reappointed to the California Volunteers Commission, where he has served since 2020. Thurmond has served as California State Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2019. He served as an Assemblymember in the California State Assembly from 2014 to 2018. Thurmond was Senior Director of Community and Public Relations for the Lincoln Child Center from 2010 to 2014. He served as a Member of the West Contra Costa Unified School Board from 2008 to 2012 and as a Richmond City Councilmember from 2005 to 2008. He earned a Master of Law and Social Policy degree and a Master of Social Work degree from Bryn Mawr College. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Thurmond is a Democrat.

Ira Lit, 54, of Stanford, has been appointed to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Lit is a Professor of Education at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where he has served since 2007. Lit has been Faculty Director of Stanford’s Teacher Education Program (STEP) since 2021 and has been one of the faculty leads of Stanford’s Learning Differences Initiative since 2018. Lit was Faculty Sponsor for the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) from 2017 to 2020. Lit was Senior Policy Fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Cory Booker from 2021 to 2022 and Executive Director of the Teachers for a New Era initiative at the Bank Street College of Education from 2005 to 2007. He was an Elementary School Teacher in the Palo Alto Unified School District from 1994 to 1999. Lit earned a Doctor of Education degree and a Master of Education degree from Stanford University as well as a California Teaching Credential from the College of Notre Dame. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Lit is a Democrat.

John Maa, 54, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, where he has served since 2022. Maa has been a Surgeon at Marin General Hospital since 2014, where he was Chief of the Division of General and Acute Care Surgery from 2018 to 2020. He was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco Department of Surgery from 2004 to 2013. Maa served as rank O-3 in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1991 to 2000. He was President at the American Medical Association, San Francisco Chapter and President of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society in 2018. Maa was Chair of the University of California Office of the President Tobacco Related Disease Research Program from 2013 to 2017 and President of the Northern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons from 2013 to 2014. Maa is a member of the Asian Art Museum Board of Trustees and the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate Board of Directors. Maa earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Maa is a Democrat.

Ramona Mosley, 49, of Elk Grove, has been reappointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, where she has served since 2022. Mosley has served as Chief of the Program Alignment, Communications and Equity Section at the Center for Healthy Communities at the California Department of Public Health since 2021, where she was Communications Strategist from 2020 to 2021. She was a Workforce Development, Training and Technical Assistant Coordinator at the University of Nevada, Reno Department of Health Sciences from 2016 to 2020. Mosley was Director of Health Programs at the Health Education Council from 2002 to 2016. She is a member of the University of California, Davis Alumni Association. Mosley earned a Master of Science degree in Organizational Behavior and Development from Golden Gate University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Mosley is a Democrat.

Claradina Soto, 48, of Whittier, has been reappointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, where she has served since 2019. Soto has been an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California since 2022. She was a Clinical Assistant Professor at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California from 2015 to 2022. Soto earned a Master of Public Health degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the University of Southern California and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Preventive Medicine from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Soto is a Democrat.

La Trena Robinson, 45, of Hercules, has been appointed to the State Rehabilitation Council. Robinson has been a Medical Social Worker III at Kaiser Permanente since 2009. She was a Social Worker in the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2009. Robinson is an Executive Board member of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County. She earned a Master of Social Work degree from Grambling State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Robinson is a Democrat.

Justin Matthews, 43, of Salinas, has been appointed to the Dental Hygiene Board of California. He has been an Associate Professor of General Experimental Psychology at California State University, Monterey Bay since 2014 and a Subject Matter Expert for the Monterey County Department of Human Resources since 2019. He was a Commissioner and Vice Chairperson for the Monterey County Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights Advisory Commission from 2016 to 2021. Matthews was a Teaching Fellow and Staff Research Associate at University of California, Merced from 2005 to 2014 and a Lecturer at California State University, Fresno from 2005 to 2006. Matthews earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Cognitive and Information Sciences and a Master of Science degree in Social and Cognitive Sciences from the University of California, Merced. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology from California State University, Fresno. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Matthews is a Democrat.

Naleni Tribble-Agarwal, 52, of Newark, has been appointed to the Dental Hygiene Board of California. Naleni has been a Dental Hygienist at Casey Herrera DDS since 2007. She was a Dental Hygienist at Marisa Walker DDS from 2014 to 2020, at Shital Kazi DDS from 2008 to 2018 and at Gurjit Randhawa DDS from 2008 to 2015. She was a Dental Hygienist at Ross Stangeland DDS and Richard Jenson DMD from 2008 to 2014. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Tribble-Agarwal is a Democrat.

Alan Felsenfeld, 77, of Marina Del Rey, has been reappointed to the Dental Board of California, where he has served since 2020. Felsenfeld has been an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in private practice since 1977. He was a Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry from 1995 to 2020. Felsenfeld is a member of the Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, American and International College of Dentists, American Dental Association, American Dental Society of Anesthesiology, American Institute of Parliamentarians, Apollonian UCLA Dental Alumni, California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, California Dental Association, Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society, Southern California Academy of Oral Pathology, Western Los Angeles Dental Society and the Western Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He earned a Doctor of Dentistry degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry and a certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery from Cook County Hospital in Chicago. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Felsenfeld is a Democrat.

Yogita Thakur, 50, of Foster City, has been reappointed to the Dental Board of California, where she has served since 2022. Thakur has been Chief Dental Officer at the Ravenswood Family Health Network since 2016, where she was Dental Director from 2010 to 2016. She was a Pediatric Dentistry Resident at the University of California, San Francisco from 2007 to 2010. Thakur is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. She earned a Master of Science degree in Dental Public Health from the University of Iowa. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Thakur is a Democrat.

Megan A. Ellis, 35, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, where she has served since 2021. Ellis has been a Staff Services Manager I, Specialist for the External Financial Operations Unit at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services since 2022. She was a Grants Writer and Coordinator for the federally qualified health care center One Community Health from 2018 to 2022. She served in several positions at the California Department of Education from 2012 to 2018, including Legislative Analyst for the Executive Office, in Strategic Initiatives and Staff Services Analyst for the Migrant Education Office. Ellis was a Policy Analyst Intern for the Napa Valley Unified School District in 2011. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Educational Policy and Leadership from the University of Michigan, Rackham School of Education. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Ellis is a Democrat.

Edward Yee, 53, of Chino Hills, has been reappointed to the Gambling Control Commission, where he has served since 2021. Yee has been Owner and Subject Matter Expert Instructor at Elite Training and Associates since 2014 and District Attorney Investigator in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Bureau of Investigation since 1999. He was Police Officer III and Investigator at the Los Angeles Police Department from 1993 to 1999. Yee was an E-4 Marine Reserve in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1987 to 1995. He is president of the Asian Gang Investigators Association of California, 3rd vice president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs and a member of the California District Attorney Investigators’ Association and California Peace Officers Association. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $170,464. Yee is a Republican.

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