Team - Clean Mobility Options

Meet the Team

Brytanee Brown (Founder and Principal – emergent labs) She/Her

Brytanee is the Founder and Principal of emergent labs, a justice-oriented design studio that uplifts the multi-layered experiences of Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color to navigate complex issues. She brings over 10 years of experience centering people, with a particular focus on the healing of racialized communities through the lenses of transportation, arts and culture, and economic development. Brytanee seeks to leverage her passion for the built environment to develop justice-oriented organizations, governments, and companies while building power in communities of color.

Before starting emergent labs, she launched several regional and local initiatives. Brytanee has complementary work experience in the fields of health equity and affordable housing and has led community engagement projects focused on addressing racial disparities. This unique experience has honed her ability to design comprehensive and crosscutting transportation-related programs, projects, and policies, build coalitions, and deeply understand how vital it is for transportation infrastructure to create healthy communities and connect residents to economic opportunity. Brytanee is a McNair Scholar, Next City Vanguard Alum, and the daughter of the Black Feminist movement. She has spoken and moderated panels for the American Planning Association, PolicyLink Equity Summit, National Association for City Transportation Officials, San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, and the North American Bikeshare Association.

Cesar Hernandez (Deputy Director – CALSTART) He/Him

Cesar Hernandez joined CALSTART in 2021 and is the Deputy Director for the Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program (CMO). He manages the CMO team members and all aspects of the CMO program deliverables including developing a model that could be replicated in other states or at the national level. He oversees industry engagement and collaboration with multiple partners including the California Air Resources Board. He aims to embed racial equity in program design, team operations, implementation, partner development, outreach, and support. He leads key elements of voucher processing to launch, manage, and continuously improve operations of CMO’s voucher application and processing division. Cesar holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Cesar considers himself a commuter cyclist and enjoys navigating through the urban landscape on his bike.

Katarina Hou (Senior Program Associate – Shared-Use Mobility Center) She/Her

Katarina Hou is a Senior Program Associate at Shared-Use Mobility Center, supporting the Clean Mobility Options Program. As a Cohort Facilitator, she provides technical assistance to Mobility Project Voucher and Clean Transportation Needs Assessment awardees. She supports the Clean Mobility Equity Alliance by co-leading the Carshare Working Group, providing trainings, and developing resources and toolkits. Katarina received a Master’s of Science in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Liberal Arts from Soka University of America.

Sarah Huang (Program Manager – Shared-Use Mobility Center) She/Her

Sarah Huang is a Program Manager at Shared-Use Mobility Center, where she supports the Clean Mobility Options Program to provide clean transportation solutions to California’s under-resourced communities. She leads the Clean Mobility Equity Alliance, which is a peer-learning network which provides resources, training, and group discussions to help support project implementation and advance equity and justice in the clean mobility space. Sarah received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Geography & Environmental Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Joey Juhasz-Lukomski (Program Manager – Shared-Use Mobility Center) He/Him

Joey is a Program Manager at Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC). Prior to joining SUMC, he was the Executive Director of BikeVentura, a grassroots bicycle education and advocacy nonprofit. Previously, he was the Operations Manager at the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. He currently sits on the Ventura County Transportation Commission’s Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee and the CALTRANS California Walking and Biking Technical Advisory Committee.

Robyn Marquis (CALSTART – Directory, Innovative Mobility) She/Her

Robyn Marquis is the Senior Director of Innovative Mobility at CALSTART. She oversees a portfolio of personal mobility, school mobility, and last-mile delivery. This includes the Clean Mobility Options program administrator team and CALSTART’s Innovative Mobility Working Group, a consortium of public agencies, solution providers, and other key stakeholders advancing more equitable mobility options to reduce climate impacts. Robyn previously served as the Program Lead for the New York Clean Transportation Prizes, an $85 million initiative to improve mobility and accelerate electrification in underserved communities. Robyn earned her doctorate in Transportation Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Erlin Martinez (Manager, Mobility Funding and Partnerships – CALSTART) She/Her

Erlin is the Manager of Mobility Funding and Partnerships at CALSTART. She helps Mobility Project Voucher (MPV) awardees of the Clean Mobility Options (CMO) program and community partners to address the long-term sustainability challenges of shared mobility projects. She provides guidance and coordinates efforts to secure partnerships and funding sources, actively engaging with the Clean Mobility Equity Alliance (CMEA). She co-leads the CMEA Long-term Sustainability Working Group, which focuses on scaling clean mobility projects to foster greater inclusivity and environmental resilience while collaborating, identifying, and developing resources and toolkits. Prior to joining CALSTART, Erlin worked in public transportation and higher education, where she served in various roles, cultivating a diverse background in government relations, grant funding and administration, community outreach, and regulatory compliance. Erlin holds a bachelor’s degree in business economics from California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s degree in transportation management from California State University, San Jose.

Lauren N. McCarthy (Senior Director, Research and Impact – Shared-Use Mobility Center) She/Her

Lauren is the Senior Director of Research and Impact at Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC). Her work includes overseeing SUMC’s research initiatives, and leading strategic impact reporting. Lauren is also a Ph.D. Candidate at the Schar School for Policy and Government. Her dissertation work investigates the applicability of established policy process models in the introduction of novel technologies, with a focus on micromobility.

Jill Sherman-Warne (Executive Director – Native American Environmental Protection Coalition) She/They

Jill Sherman-Warne is the Executive Director of the Native American Environmental Protection Coalition. She regularly works with 29 tribes throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Jill graduated from Humboldt State and built her respected professional reputation serving tribes in a variety of capacities from language learning, vocational rehabilitation, grant writing, environmental planning and emergency response. Jill immerses her energy into building scalable tribal programs to increase and strengthen tribal sovereignty. Her service as an elected Tribal Leader gives her an intimate understanding of tribal governance and sovereignty.

Terri Steele (Development and Sustainability Advisor – Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center) She/Her

Terri Steele’s commitment to public service, sustainability, equity and innovation spans the trajectory of her 35-year career. Terri serves as a communications, development and sustainability advisor for the recently-opened Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center (CPMCC) in the portside San Diego community of Barrio Logan. She is an integral part of the team delivering over $15 million in funding to CPMCC for clean energy program innovations. These innovations address chronic air pollution, extreme heat as a threat to public health, transportation inequities and residential and business parking strangleholds imposed on San Diego’s portside communities for decades. Terri is spearheading the launch of La Via Verde — San Diego’s first no-cost, bilingual, zero-emission, app-based microtransit service. This service aligns with CPMCC’s mission of preserving, celebrating and advancing understanding of the region’s Chican@, Latin@, Mexican and Indigenous cultures, while empowering individuals to be agents of positive change in their communities.

Launching this year, Via Verde is anticipated to eliminate an estimated 26,000 combustion engine vehicle trips a year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, driving transportation equity and serving as a beacon of sustainability for the community. Via Verde is being fueled by a 163 kW solar cantilever and 860 kW of storage, which supports grid independence, climate resilience and a charging innovation that keeps La Via Verde free for the community while at full buildout creating 18 local jobs for driver/ambassadors.

Josephine S. Talamantez (Founder and Board Chair – Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center) She/Her

Josephine S. Talamantez is an Organizational Management, Public Policy and Governmental Relations consultant with a specialization in Arts, History and Cultural Public Programming, Historic Preservation, Cultural Resource Management and Public History. Talamantez has a Master’s degree in History focusing on the Chicano civil rights era and on public history programming and is the Former Chief of Programs/Legislative Liaison for the California Arts Council. Representing a family with 100 years of multi-generational activism in the portside Logan/Barrio Logan community, Josephine S. Talamantez is Founder and Board Chair of the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. As an 8-year elected member of the Barrio Logan Planning Group, Talamantez helped deliver the first community plan update in 43 years.

Ms. Talamantez is an active member of the San Diego Air Pollution Control District’s Portside Communities Steering Committee, the Barrio Logan Association and an appointed member of the Latinx Advisory Committee for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. This year, she’s delivering San Diego’s first app-based, bilingual, zero emission microtransit service to San Diego’s portside communities.

Roger Teal (President – DemandTrans Solutions, Inc.) He/Him

Dr. Roger Teal has 4 decades of experience in research, development, and implementation of innovative transportation services. He is a former tenured faculty member at UC Irvine in the field of transportation systems who during the past 30 years has managed large technology development projects in multiple industry sectors, including for demand responsive transit (DRT) services. Dr. Teal organized and chaired 2 international conferences on DRT in 2014 and 2016, and is widely known for his expertise in this field. Dr. Teal oversees DemandTrans transportation technology portfolio, which includes platforms for DRT (microtransit) service management, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), and the automated exchange of trips across multiple DRT service providers in a region, as well as an application for driver/vehicle scheduling optimization for large paratransit operations. He has managed the implementation and functional expansion of DemandTrans’ MaaS platform for the Stockton region for San Joaquin Council of Governments.

Anne Wallach Thomas (Founder and Executive Director – Shasta Living Streets) She/Her

Anne Thomas is the founding Director of Shasta Living Streets. For 15 years, she has led the organization to share a vision, provide amenities, and empower people to bring innovations in active living excellence and clean mobility that improve the quality of life — day in, day out—for all people in Shasta County. Anne is inspired by working with creative people and diverse groups to solve problems that improve the wellbeing of people and nature. She has 20 experience facilitating collaborations and working across sectors to achieve breakthrough results. Shasta Bike Depot and Redding Bikeshare is a 10-year vision that involved engagement, planning and collaboration with local residents, and organizations at the national, state and local levels. Previously, Anne worked as a knowledge manager for The Nature Conservancy Global Climate Adaptation Program and spent five years with the Stupski Foundation to deliver equity-focused public education programs for large US urban school districts.

Patrick Toppin (Climate Finance Analyst – IBank) He/Him

Patrick is a Climate Finance Analyst at the California Economic Development and Infrastructure Bank (IBank) developing and deploying financial products to decarbonize California and leverage private capital in California under the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program. At IBank he covers a variety of clean infrastructure sectors and specializes in zero-emission vehicle and infrastructure markets. Previously he worked at the state’s Department of Finance and was a Fellow in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. He’s also worked as a business development consultant and a freelance sports journalist.

Diana Voss-Gonzalez (Program Manager – Shared-Use Mobility Center) She/Her

Diana is a Program Manager at the Shared-Use Mobility Center with over four years of experience in active transportation planning, education, capacity building, and technical assistance. She has supported a wide variety of urban and rural communities across California through community-centered engagement. Diana has led, in both English and Spanish, numerous focus group meetings, interactive workshops, stakeholder advisory groups, and pop-up events that informed transportation plans. In her current role, Diana serves as a capacity builder and technical assistance provider to California Tribes through the California Air Resources Board’s Clean Mobility Options Program, as well as to the community of Billings, Montana, through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities Program. She received her Master’s of Science in Agricultural Production and Business, with a focus on the urban environment from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Eric Washington (Community Relations Specialist – Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles) He/Him

Eric Washington, BS, MPA is an experienced public servant with several years of advocacy experience – both at the local and state levels. Eric received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a concentration in constitutional law from the University of North Texas followed by a Master’s in Public Administration from Grambling State University. He is an influential change agent in social justice advocacy, public safety awareness, and policymaking. Eric has conducted extensive work in the field of public policy and non-profit organizational work as part of the Watts Rising Collaborative at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) where he leads a dedicated Watts Rising Street Team in optimizing community-engaged outreach efforts as a Community Relations Specialist. Prior to his current role, Mr. Washington worked as a Field Representative within the California State Assembly’s District 64 to discuss and advocate constituent concerns related to healthcare, transportation, food insecurity, homelessness, and other social determinants of health.

Craig Williams (Traffic and Transportation Engineer – City of Escondido)

Craig has more than four decades of experience in transportation planning, engineering and project management, both in the private and public sectors. His areas of expertise include traffic engineering, street design, bicycle and pedestrian planning and design, ADA accessibility design, and design for “all ages and abilities.” He is currently the City of Escondido’s Traffic and Transportation Engineer. This position includes the responsibility to lead the Clean Mobility Options program’s Community Transportation Needs Assessment for the City of Escondido, taking an in-depth look at the transportation needs of Escondido’s disadvantaged areas.