The County’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice is now complete with its first director, new staff and new digs and is ready to begin carrying out its mission.
The Board of Supervisors established the OERJ in June 2020. The office works hand in hand with the community, the San Diego County Leon L. Williams Human Relations Commission and County departments to advance equity. The office champions belonging for all and advocates for people suffering from structural and systemic racism and exclusion.
Six people make up the OERJ staff.
The director, Andrew Strong, brings 15 years of experience in local government leadership and community engagement to the new office. Most recently, Strong was the Chief of Staff of the Chief Administrative Office. In this role, he worked with the community and County leaders to develop and implement strategies to address inequities, disparities, and disproportionality in the most underserved communities.
“It’s time to work with our community to reimagine and change County government through the lens of equity and justice in all we do,” said Strong. “And that means we must start from the inside out to create enduring systemic change, root out systemic racism and create equity in all we do.”
The OERJ includes three equity impact managers.
Samuel Tsoi will lead the organizational change through targeted universalism principles and work with the chief data officer in developing equity indicators and the equity impact report. Previously, he was the assistant director for the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego and served on the County’s Human Relations Commission. He’s currently the board vice president at Alliance San Diego, a core member of the San Diego API Coalition and a civic seminarian at Citizen University.
Vanessa Green will act as the community engagement lead and take charge of the Uplifting Boys and Men of Color initiative. Green has over 20 years of experience in racial justice work, organizing and training including anti-oppression and domestic violence program leadership in New York. She also played major roles in organizations focused on ending sexism, racism, homophobia and forms of oppression. Most recently, Green worked with Alliance San Diego on the U.S. Census and the State’s Redistricting Commission.
Janie Regier will lead the social equity program for commercial cannabis and OERJ’s social justice program. She has 12 years’ experience working in local government as District 3’s health policy advisor and community representative, and as a CAO staff officer for the Public Safety Group where she led the implementation of the Proposition 47 Grant Program. She supported the development of three substance use disorder treatment programs for people cycling through the criminal legal system. Separately, Regier supported efforts to divert youth away from the criminal legal system and served as the office liaison for community groups such as the San Diego Reentry Roundtable and the North County Gang Commission.
Management Fellow Alejandra Chaidez will support the development of the County’s budget equity tool and the OERJ’s communications strategy. Chaidez has worked for nonprofits in research, grant writing, data analysis and program evaluation. She’s also planned and coordinated communications for United Nations conferences in Quito, Ecuador. Her policy interests include mental health and well-being, disability rights, universal design, equity and inclusion, transnational and immigration issues, and issues in bilingual and English as a second language education.
Nawras Hakak is the office administration lead. Hakak has over 15 years of experience working as a manager for multiple international companies. She has also worked at the County’s North Inland Family Resource Center, and Housing and Community Development Services. Nawras will be supporting both the OERJ and the Office of Strategy and Intergovernmental Affairs.
For more information about the OERJ, visit their website.
