Agenda Resources Panelist Bios Read our Summary Report

Agenda

REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST NETWORKING

Sponsored by Redistricting Data Hub & Haystaq DNA

Time: 8:00 a.m

Location: Foyer 

WELCOME 

Kathay Feng, Vice President of Programs, Common Cause 

OVERVIEW OF THE DAY 

Patricia Sinay, Volunteer, Common Cause & member of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission 

ICE BREAKER 

Will Brodt, Legal Fellow, Common Cause 

Time: 8:30 a.m

Location: Dr. Beatriz Solis Hall (Solis Hall) & Zoom

2020 REDISTRICTING: OVERVIEW 

Dan Vicuna, Director of Redistricting and Representation, Common Cause

Time: 8:50 a.m

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

CONVERSATION 1: WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO FAIR REPRESENTATION IN 2020? 

Advocates who helped to write reports examining the 2020 redistricting cycle share their perspectives on what policies and practices contributed to fair representation. 

• Saundra Mitrovich, National Congress of American Indians
• Russia Chavis Cardenas, California Common Cause 
• Jon Eguia, Michigan State University 
• Moderator: Dan Vicuna, Common Cause

Time: 9:00 a.m

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

TRANSITION TO BREAKOUT ROOMS 

Time: 10:15 a.m

BRAINSTORMING SESSION 1 

 Drawing from your redistricting experiences, groups will collectively craft recommendations for improving redistricting in 2030.  

 Select a topic you want to discuss & go to the assigned room. A reminder to mix it up & not sit with folks from your state or local district

Time: 10:25am

A. Selection & Composition of Independent Redistricting Commissions

How does a selection process and composition best benefit the creation of fair maps? 

Location: Solis Hall

B. How to Solicit and Use Public Input

How can public participation best serve your state or local redistricting goals? 

Location: Mojave

C. Mapping Criteria & Processes

What mapping criteria and process best optimize transparency and fairness? 

Location: Catalina 

TRANSITION BACK TO THE MAIN ROOM 

Time: 11:40am

RETURN TO SHARE 

Each group shares up to three recommendations.  

Patricia Sinay, Facilitator 

Time: 11:50 a.m. 

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

LUNCH 

Sponsored by Redistricting Partners 

Time: 12:30pm

Location: Foyer & Courtyard

2030 Redistricting: The Path to Fair Representation 

Overview: Dan Vicuna 

Time: 1:00pm

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

CONVERSATION 2: INCREASE STATE & LOCAL INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS (IRCs) 

 What efforts are underway to increase the number of state and local IRCs? 

• Lloyd Feng, Coalition of Asian American Children & Families (New York) 
• Alejandra Ponce De Leon, Catalyst California (City of Los Angeles) 
• Katie Wright, Better Boundaries Utah 
• Moderator: Alton Wang, Common Cause

Time: 1:05pm

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

CONVERSATION 3: OTHER STRATEGIES, CIVIC TECHNOLOGY & DATA 

How can technology & data improve public engagement & fair representation in 2030? 

• Kate Donovan, Redistricting Data Hub 
• Moon Duchin, MGGG Redistricting Lab 
• Andrew Strong, Director of Office Equity & Racial Justice, County of San Diego 
• Moderator: Sarah Andre, Common Cause

Time: 2:00pm

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom 

TRANSITION TO BREAKOUT ROOMS 

Afternoon break sponsored by Data Viewpoint 

Time: 3:00pm

BRAINSTORMING SESSION 2: THE PATH TO FAIR REPRESENTATION IN 2030 

 Drawing from your redistricting experiences, groups will brainstorm strategies for how commissioners and advocates can begin to promote fair representation in 2030. 

 Select a 2030 strategy with which you would like to be involved. 

Time: 3:15pm

A. Increase State and Local IRCs

Advocates promoting IRCs have many questions for IRC commissioners. Join this group to share your knowledge and expertise. 

Location: Solis Hall

B. Increase Fair Representation Using Civic Technology

How could civic technology increase public participation in 2030? How could technology help collect, analyze, and store large quantities of public input and other data?

Location: Mojave

C. Increase Access and Use of Additional Data Sources

What type of data could inform the creation of fair maps in 2030? How can one promote the use of additional data sources in 2030? 

Location: Mojave

D. End Prison Gerrymandering

How can we best prevent population distortions by allocating imprisoned people to their last known address? 

Location: Catalina

E. Working Relations Among Local and State IRCs

How can local and state IRCs leverage each other’s resources?

Location: Catalina

F. Other Strategies

Identify a strategy not listed above and invite colleagues to join you at a table of your choice in Solis Hall. 

Location: Solis Hall

RETURN TO SHARE 

 Each group shares up to three ideas to engage 2020 advocates & commissioners in 2030. 

Facilitator: Patricia Sinay 

Time: 4:30pm

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

CLOSING: COMMITTING TO FAIR REPRESENTATION IN 2030 

 Very few individuals have your unique experience in drafting fair maps. Fair representation for all in 2030 can become a reality with your efforts.  

 Kathay Feng & Patricia Sinay 

Time: 4:40pm

Location: Solis Hall & Zoom

RECEPTION 

Hosted drinks and appetizers

Time: 5:00pm- 6:00pm

Location: Courtyard 

Today was made possible because of the generous support of the following sponsors:

Resources

CHARGE Community Redistricting Report Card

Promise of Fair Maps: California’s 2020 Local Redistricting

New Mexico Redistricting Evaluation Report

Fair Maps in the State of California: The 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission

Our Panelists

CONVERSATION 1: WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO FAIR REPRESENTATION IN 2020? 

Saundra Mitrovich

External Engagement/Civic Engagement Lead, National Congress of American Indians

Saundra Mitrovich, she/her, Tyme and Yahomee Maidu, is serving as the National Congress of American Indians External Engagement/Civic Engagement Lead. In her current role, she works in coalition with National Native serving organizations, Tribal Nations, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) citizens to strengthen voter access, education, and engagement across Indian Country and advancing AIAN data equity. Saundra serves in various task force groups to enhance and promote civic education, data collection, and election protection as part of NCAI’s mission to enhance, promote, and protect tribal sovereignty.

Prior to her work at NCAI, Saundra worked for decades in higher education to develop and expand college and career pathway programs for American Indian and Alaska Native youth. Her research interests include, creation and promotion of education and access to voting in AIAN communities, best pathways to strengthening civic participation, and advancing policy related to voting rights and equal representation of AIAN data across all federal data collection. Additionally, Saundra works with the NCAI youth Commission in support of youth leadership development. Finally, Saundra has helped manage and lead several grant funded programs in supporting civic engagement initiatives, youth development programs, and overall community development.

She is an alumni of several organizations including McNair scholars program, AmeriCorps VISTA, United National Indian Tribal Youth, and founded the Indigenous Research Institute for Student Empowerment (IRISE) at the University of Nevada, Reno. Saundra resides in Numu (Northern Paiute) and Wasiw (Washoe) lands in northern Nevada with her partner Sam and their daughter Sasha.

Russia Chavis Cardenas

Voting Rights & Redistricting Program Manager, California Common Cause

Russia has over 15 years of experience in public policy, advocacy, government relations, social impact, and nonprofit management, focusing on public policy and community advocacy. She serves as the Voting Rights & Redistricting Program Manager at California Common Cause.

Russia was previously the Senior Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs at Community Risings [formerly Community Health Councils] in Los Angeles as well as Deputy Secretary for Budget and Finance at the California State Transportation Agency in Sacramento. She has deep policy analysis and policy implementation skills, and worked at the California Legislative Analyst’s Office early in her career, drafting analyses of ballot measures. Russia serves as a national advisor for the University of Southern California Center for Inclusive Democracy and facilitated the Center’s training and community learning for underserved communities to participate in local and statewide redistricting processes. She has a passion for racial equity and leveraging her policy experience to increase civic engagement within communities of color.

Russia has a Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern California, Sol Price School, and is based in Long Beach.

Jon Eguia

Professor, Michigan State University 

Jon X. Eguia, Ph.D., is a Professor of Economics and (by courtesy) of Political Science at Michigan State University. He joined Michigan State in 2014. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the European Economic Association. His expertise is in Collective Choice, Institutional Design and Political Economy. He has published work on partisan fairness in redistricting in the Election Law Journal, and is the lead author of Institute of Public Policy and Social Research’s Report on the 2021 Michigan Redistricting Maps. He earned his doctorate in Social Sciences at Caltech in 2007.

CONVERSATION 2: INCREASE STATE & LOCAL INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS (IRCs) 

Alejandra Ponce De León 

Senior Manager of Political Voice, Catalyst California

Alejandra de Dios Ponce de León is the Senior Manager of Political Voice at Catalyst California. She leads collaborative efforts, technical support, and policy research and analysis to strengthen our democracy by advancing policy changes that eliminate racial disparities and institutional barriers to authentic public participation in decision-making and increase the representation of low-income communities and communities of color.

At the end of 2021, she successfully finalized a three-year campaign leading the Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) Redistricting Alliance to ensure communities of color across the state engaged in and effectively advocated for fair district maps in California’s redistricting process. As a result of the Alliance’s advocacy and mapping efforts, as well as its capacity-building of residents of color to fully participate throughout the redistricting process, the final maps kept many of our partners’ communities of interest together and contributed to an increase in the number of minority-majority and minority-influence districts, setting the stage for greater opportunities in representation in the next ten years.

Currently, her work is focused on making governments more responsive to racial equity by (1) leading the advocacy and coalition efforts to establish and implement an Office of Racial Equity in the City of Los Angeles, and (2) supporting the statewide campaign efforts to establish the California Office of Racial Equity (SB 17).

Prior to joining Catalyst California, Alejandra was the Statewide Campaigns Manager at Californians for Justice, where she laid the infrastructure to engage and mobilize thousands of young voters of color across the state to vote in order to ensure greater accountability by elected officials, as well as the passage of progressive ballot measures that address the needs of low income, communities of color. As Lead Organizer with Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD), she was instrumental in bringing together and leading the coalition’s initial legal strategies, organizing plans, and actions that brought about district-based elections in Anaheim. In addition, Alejandra was a union organizer with UNITE HERE! Local 11, where she co-led a successful campaign to unionize food and retail service workers at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, as well as gain higher wages and better health benefits through contract negotiations with LAX food and retail service workers.

Alejandra received her Master’s in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley and her Bachelor’s in International Development Studies, including minors in Chicana/o Studies and Political Science at UCLA. She currently lives in Jurupa Valley with her husband, Adán, and their two children, Ameyaltzin and Ollin.

Lloyd Feng

Special Projects Policy Coordinator, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

Lloyd Feng (he/him) has served as the Special Projects Policy Coordinator at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) since August 2021. In his current role, Lloyd leads the Invisible No More Campaign (INM) that advocates for disaggregated data by ethnicity on Asian communities at NYC, NYS, and federal government agencies. In convening INM, CACF successfully led the fight for the first-ever demographic data laws in NYC in 2016 and the historic NYS Asian and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander data disaggregation law in 2021. The campaign’s focus is focused on community-centered implementation of existing data disaggregation laws, developing further legislation, and ensuring that data disaggregation remains a funded mandate. In addition, Lloyd represents CACF on the APA VOICE Redistricting Task Force, the largest and most diverse coalition of Asian-serving community-based organizations that advocates for fair and effective representation of Asian communities in NYC, NYS, and congressional-level redistricting.

Katie Wright

Executive Director, Better Boundaries

Katie Wright is a professional in the nonprofit sector with a focus on connecting human and financial capital to challenges such as climate change and democracy reform. As executive director of Better Boundaries, she is charged with advocating for all Utahns in securing an independent redistricting process that centers the needs of voters, not politicians.

From 2008-2021, Katie led Park City Community Foundation as its executive director and its programs director. During that time, the Community Foundation tackled critical issues such as early childhood education, mental wellness, climate change, and equity and inclusion. Under her leadership, the Community Foundation was recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing community foundations, greatly expanding its grant making and community investments while also growing total assets under management and an endowment to secure enduring change.

Katie is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Morocco 2005-2007) and received a Master’s in Public Administration from Rutgers University and a B.A. from Colorado College. A deep love for nature and winter brought Katie to the mountain west at age 18. She loves to ski, mountain bike, hike, and camp in the mountains and deserts of Utah with her spouse and two children.

CONVERSATION 3: OTHER STRATEGIES, CIVIC TECHNOLOGY & DATA 

Kate Donovan

Director, Redistricting Data Hub

Kate Donovan is the Director of the Redistricting Data Hub (RDH). She joined in September 2020 as a Support Specialist, before taking over management of the Support Team and eventually becoming Co-Director. In her position she coordinates data collection efforts, leads trainings, and provides support through the Help Desk. She was previously an associate professor of political science and statistics at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York.

Moon Duchin

Professor, Tufts University

Moon Duchin is a Professor of Mathematics, a Senior Fellow in the Tisch College of Civic Life, and recently finished a term as Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at Tufts University. Her pure mathematical work is in geometry, topology, groups, and dynamics. Her applied work includes collaborations with civil rights organizations, data scientists, political scientists, lawyers, and geographers on large-scale projects in elections and redistricting. She has recently provided expert reports and/or testimony in redistricting litigation in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Georgia.

Professor Duchin concentrated in mathematics and women’s studies at Harvard and received her PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago. Her work has been recognized with an NSF CAREER grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Radcliffe Fellowship, and she is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

Andrew Strong

Director, San Diego County Office of Equity and Racial Justice

Andrew is San Diego County’s Director of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice. His office works to identify and eradicate systemic bias and racism while co-creating, with the community, a culture of equity and belonging within the County of San Diego. Prior to this role, he was the Chief of Staff to the Chief Administrative Officer of the County of San Diego.

He’s held several leadership positions in County government including in Human Resources, the Finance & General Government Group Executive Office as a CAO Staff Officer; and Chief of Departmental Operations for the Department of Planning & Development Services.

Mr. Strong also served in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman before joining the County of San Diego in 2007. Mr. Strong also serves as a Commissioner for the City of Chula Vista’s Civil Service Commission and has also served on Chula Vista’s Growth and Oversight Management Commission.