Michael Ceraso
Board President Michael Ceraso has engaged with politics for as long as he can remember. Michael went to work on President Barack Obama's first presidential run after he graduated from Citrus College, a 2-year school in Southern California. After working on several down-ballot races in the Northeast, Michael returned home to earn his Political Science and Government degree from Pitzer College. His rise through the political ranks led him to manage statewide operations for presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. In between, he worked on Capitol Hill and managed down-ballot races in the rural South. Michael founded Winning Margins in 2017, a public relations firm and organization that lowers the barrier of entry for underfunded candidates who lack the financial resources and staff talent to compete. He is a former candidate for the city council and contributing writer for the Claremont Courier. He is currently an actor at the Theatre Lab in Washington D.C. and writes and interviews up-and-coming comic book talent.
Linh Nguyen
Linh Nguyen comes from years in electoral politics both in Canada and the U.S. In 2016, she worked for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, mobilizing communities on the National Political & Constituency team, spent 2017 on two governor races in New Jersey and Virginia, and during the 2018 midterm elections, was the Special Projects Director for the Beto O'Rourke for U.S. Senate campaign. Linh specializes in building outreach strategies to reach communities of color, Asian-Americans, students, and millennial voters. Since November 2018, she managed two special elections in Houston, winning both that sent two Latina community leaders to the Texas state capitol, before jumping into the 2020 presidential primary with Sen. Cory Booker and Mike Bloomberg. Linh most recently launched a super PAC, Pac that Ass (it's a real thing!): a rapid response incubator for politics, comedy, and culture that speaks to young Black & Brown voters. Linh has recently made Houston, Texas, her home and enjoys no longer living on the road.
Alan Smith
Alan Smith is the Manager of Community Leadership at Consumer Reports. Alan builds consumer power by distributing leadership and investing in educators, organizers, storytellers, and testers. He was the Associate Director of Networked Initiatives at the Roosevelt Institute and a producer on WNYC’s Peabody award-winning Brian Lehrer Show. Alan graduated from Swarthmore College with bachelor's degrees in English and African History. He earned his master's in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
John Hill
John Hill is a Founding Partner at the Deinde Group. A Dallas native, John returned home to become a public school teacher in Dallas ISD. He has been a key adviser in over 20 successful campaign operations at various levels and has worked closely with local organizations to support candidates seeking office.
John received his bachelor's degree in Government from Harvard University and his master's in Education Policy and Leadership from Southern Methodist University.
Jed Leano
Jed Leano is serving his second term on the Claremont City Council. In 2019, he was named Democrat of the Year for the 41st Assembly District by the LA County Democratic Party. Leano serves as chair of the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust Board, Chair of Tri-City Mental Health Board, and Claremont’s representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments Homelessness Committee. He represents the SGV COG on the Southern California Association of Governments Community Economic and Human Development Committee, charged with the Regional Housing Needs Assessment methodology, and represents SCAG on the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, charged with overseeing programs to reduce motor vehicle air pollution. He serves as chair of the Claremont Lincoln University MPA program Advisory Council, Vice Chair of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus of the CA Democratic Party, and on the board of the San Gabriel Valley Immigration Resource Center.
Mayor Leano works as an immigration attorney in private practice in Pasadena, CA. He obtained his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law and B.A. from the University of Kentucky. He and his wife Liz have one son, Welles.
Pablo Ordóñez Bravo
Pablo Ordonez Bravo is a tech strategist & business operator with broad experience in product growth, organizational transformation, operational scale, and user activation at scale. In his current role as a Growth Product Manager at Salesforce, Pablo leads product growth for Your Account, a core self-service product that lets the global Trailblazer community view, manage, and buy Salesforce online. At Cisco, Pablo set enablement strategy for Meraki users, sellers, and product portfolios. Pablo is also a former management consultant, working as a part of Accenture in advising Fortune 500 companies on planning, executing, and delivering scaled business transformation across levels and functions.
Pablo completed his undergraduate studies in Public Policy & Economics at Pomona College in Claremont, California. In his free time, you can catch him reading biographies, building and refinishing furniture, playing single-player campaign video games, cheering on the Miami Heat, and hiking with his dog Mitski.
Linda Serrato
State Rep. Linda Serrato has served New Mexico since 2020 and has brought multiple Community Groundworks graduates into her campaign as interns. Rep. Serrato serves the southside of Santa Fe and is the vice chair of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. She has more than 15 years' experience on campaigns, in government, and with advocacy and nonprofit organizations.
She proudly lives in House District 45 with her husband, Matt, daughter, Alma and pup, Hemingway.
Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor is Founding Principal at CIVIL, a public affairs, impact and political communication agency. He’s built consensus campaigns to move critical social justice issues forward in legislative bodies, influence public opinion, and win elections. His work has included helping private and public sector clients develop strategic communications strategies and message campaigns to end oil drilling in Los Angeles neighborhoods, build consensus around public health priorities in the Mountain West, advocate for the release of a wrongfully convicted man on death row in Oklahoma, and launch an historic 1.3 mile outdoor Black art museum in Los Angeles’ Crenshaw District.
During the 2020 election cycle, he advised House Democrats’ campaign arm on its seven-figure outreach effort to reach Black communities in competitive Congressional districts. During the 2022 election cycle, he managed engagement with House Democrats’ national press corps as its chief on-the-record spokesperson and helped deliver the best Democratic Party midterm since the Kennedy Administration. Chris earned his Bachelors of Science in Public Relations at Ball State University. He’s a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.