To learn more about any of the ten Human Rights Commission Commissioners, please click on the Commissioner's respective name below for their detailed biography:
Commission Chair Chung was first appointed to the Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in September 2004, and reappointed in December 2006. She was elected Vice Chair by the Commission in September 2006.
Cecilia Chung is an immigrant from Hong Kong and has been a San Francisco resident since 1985. Cecilia attended City College of San Francisco and was later transferred to Golden Gate University in 1987 where she pursued her undergraduate studies in International Management.
Cecilia worked as court interpreter for the Santa Clara County until 1992 and began her active involvement with the transgender community shortly after.
Cecilia was amongst the transgender advocates who sat on the Transgender Discrimination Task Force in 1994 when the Human Rights Commission wrote the report on transgender discrimination. She has worked for UCSF AIDS Health Project as an HIV test counselor and residential counselor for Ferguson Place, a residential treatment program for people living with HIV where she successfully increased the agencies sensitivity for transgender people.
In 1998, Cecilia joined the Board of Directors of San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (http://www.sfpride.org ) and served on the executive committee of the board. In 2001, Cecilia became the first Asian and first transgender woman elected as President of the Board and led the organization to a new standard of inclusion and excellence.
In 2001, Cecilia joined the Board of Directors of Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center (http://www.apiwellness.org ) where she once received direct services.
Cecilia has served on many planning bodies which include the Transgender Community Advisory Board for UCSF TRANS, HIV Service Planning Council ( http://www.sfcarecouncil.org ) and Gay.coms HIV Life Channel ( http://gay.com/health/hiv/hivlife ).
Since 2002, Cecilia has joined a group of transgender advocates and founded San Francisco Transgender Advocacy and Mentorship (SF TEAM) to host quarterly events for the transgender community at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Cecilia is one of the founders and producers of the annual Trans March (http://www.transgenderpride.org ).
As an Asian transgender woman living with HIV, Cecilia is committed to the advocacy works to end stigmas and discriminations in all communities. Cecilia is also proud to be a person in recovery.
Commissioner Chan is an attorney and a founding partner with the San Francisco law firm of CHAN, DOI & LEAL, LLP. His law practice is concentrated on transactions involving business formations, energy efficiency programs, joint ventures, technology licensing, product distribution and supply arrangements, asset protection planning, and strategic counseling for domestic and international companies. As a professional, he has received the highest (“a-v”) peer-review rating from the Martindale-Hubbell directory for more than a decade and named a Northern California “Super Lawyer” for business law.
Chan has had a varied career in public service. He currently serves as a San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner, and he is a former member of several other San Francisco commissions and boards. His previous experience includes service as a Police Commissioner from 2004 to 2006, a member of the San Francisco Board of Permit Appeals from 1993 to 1995, two terms as a member of the Assessment Appeals Board from 1987 to 1993, and as a commissioner on the San Francisco Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board from 1983 to 1987. In 1992, Chan was also appointed to serve on the board of directors and chairman of the Mayor’s Chinatown Economic Development Group, Inc., a quasi-governmental, nonprofit corporation charged with promoting the economic recovery and development of the Chinatown community. In 2001, Governor Gray Davis appointed Chan to serve on the California Small Business Board, where he served until 2006.
Prior to his admission to the bar in 1981, Chan was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Alan Cranston in Washington, D.C., advising on the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, Postal Service reorganization, civil aviation deregulation, labor law reform legislation, federal procurement policy and practices, and product liability insurance reform. In 1984, he was the principal author of Asian Americans and the Presidency of the United States, the first nationally-circulated position paper on Asian American issues.
Prior to his service with the U.S. Senate, he worked for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission where he was assigned to evaluate the effectiveness of the police community relations unit of the San Francisco Police Department and report on the state of multicultural educational programs in the San Francisco Unified School District.
Chan's professional affiliations include memberships in the Bar Association of San Francisco; the Business Law and Real Property Law sections of the State Bar of California; and the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area.
A native San Franciscan, Mr. Chan’s civic participation in numerous business and community organizations spans three decades. He is a former chairman of the board of directors of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee, Inc. (a nonprofit organization engaged in nonpartisan voter and civic education, demographic research, and polling), and he has served on the boards of trustees of several Bay Area educational organizations, including The Bay School of San Francisco, The Cathedral School for Boys, Five Branches Institute (in Santa Cruz, California), and the American Cooks Training School (formerly located in San Francisco’s Chinatown). He is currently a member of the Advisory Council of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, the Lowell High School Site Council, the Chinese American Citizens’ Alliance, and the board of directors of the Chinese Historical Society of America.
Chan received his J.D. degree from the King Hall School of Law at the University of California, Davis, and he holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University. He lives with his spouse and their two sons, in the Sunset District of San Francisco.
Commissioner Dajani was appointed to the Human Rights Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in May 2009. He was first appointed to the Immigrant Rights Commission in 2005 also by Mayor Gavin Newsom, where he was elected Vice Chair in 2006, and Chair in 2008.
Mr. Dajani is a journalist, and a Peabody Award-winning producer. He is the Senior Director of Middle Eastern Programming at Link TV, where he has produced more than 2,000 installments of Mosaic: World News from the Middle East and the Mosaic Intelligence Report. He is a frequent commentator on national and international television and radio networks. He hosts his own radio talk-show on KPOO and blogs regularly on the Huffington Post. Mr. Dajani serves on the board of directors of New America Media, the largest collaboration of ethnic news organizations in the U.S., and the San Francisco 2010 Census Complete Count Committee. He was President of the Arab Cultural & Community Center (2005-2006).
Mr. Dajani was born in Jerusalem and has been living in San Francisco since 1989 with his wife and son. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University.
Commissioner Dajani currently serves as co-chair of the HRC's Equity Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Lee was first appointed to the Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004 and reappointed in 2007.
She is a past president of San Francisco Lodge, Chinese American Citizens Alliance, a local chapter of a national, one hundred and fourteen-year-old civil rights organization that advocates for equal rights and equal opportunities for all Americans. She remains involved, and chairs the Real Estate and Investment Committee and other programs for the organization. She is also the Assistant Secretary for the national chapter. .
Currently she serves as a trustee on the Chinese Hospital Board of Trustees. Chinese Hospital strives to provide access to a broad range of affordable, medically competent and culturally sensitive healthcare services to the Chinese community.
She is a trustee on the Board of Trustees of Chinese Community Health Plan Inc., which is an affordable health plan with bi-lingual and bi-cultural health care providers.
She is a director on the Board of Directors for the Chinese Community Health Resource Center, which provides workshops, classes and written materials in Chinese and other Asian languages on healthcare to the community. Hospitals all over the country use the translated articles on health issues provided by this national award winning organization.
Commissioner Lee was born in China, raised in Hong Kong and Madera, California,. She received a B.A. degree in Social Work from Fresno State University and a Master of Social Work Education degree from San Francisco State University. She worked for the San Francisco Department of Social Services (Has been re-named Department of Human Resources) as a Child Welfare Social Worker in Foster Care Licensing, Day Care Licensing, Long Term Placement and Adoptions. She also worked in the Southeast Asian Resettlement Program, worked to provide training for foster and adoptive parents and worked as a Child Welfare Supervisor in charge of Adoptions. She is now retired.
Commissioner Mohajer was first appointed to the Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in July 2005 and reappointed in January 2007.
Ms. Mohajer was born in Iran and came to the United States in 1976 to continue her education. After obtaining her Degree in Computer Science, she worked in the hi-tech field and later moved on to the textile industry.
Ms. Mohajer is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in business development, management, international trade, and trade finance. She is the founder and CEO of Minagratex Corporation, a manufacturer and importer of textiles and basic knit products. Its products are imported into the USA, Canada, and Central/South America.
Prior to her involvement in the textile industry, Ms. Mohajer held several positions in the hi-tech field. She worked for Control Data Corporation as a Systems Analyst on the Space Shuttle program for NASA Johnson Space Center and later on as a Marketing Analyst for Cal State University systems. She then headed the Visualization Applications segment for Tektronix focusing on multi media and defense applications. Subsequently, she joined IDC as Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.
Ms. Mohajer is a very active member of the community and is involved in many charitable and civic organizations and is serving on several advisory boards. She is also the founder of Persian Arts & Cultural Society (PAC Society,) a non-profit public organization.
Commissioner Mohajer currently serves as co-chair of the HRC's Local Business Enterprise Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Richardson was appointed in September 2006 by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Ms. Richardson is the former President of the Civil Service Commission and is a former member of the Commission on the Environment, Planning Commission, and served as president of the Southeast Community Facility Commission. Commissioner Richardson led the negotiations with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company that resulted in the historic agreement in 1998 to close the aged Hunters Point power plant, a major source of pollution in San Francisco. The agreement with PG&E led to the State Legislature granting $13 million to the Southeast community for energy and health related projects. Through Ms. Richardson’s continued leadership and efforts working with the community, the Hunters Point power plant was finally shut down in May, 2006 after extensive upgrades to the region's transmission lines.
Ms. Richardson is a tireless advocate on behalf of the Southeast neighborhood community where she worked on issues ranging from environmental justice, health, land use and planning, and community revitalization. She has also led successful efforts on behalf of women, children, and persons with disabilities. Ms. Richardson advocates and supports the use of sustainable alternative energy sources and has advised and collaborated on citywide sustainable economic development.
Ms. Richardson has held numerous positions in the City and County of San Francisco government; most notably, in the administration of Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., on the San Francisco Planning Commission where she promoted economic growth, approved development of commercial and residential projects, which resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs and new businesses for the San Francisco economy. She also served in the administrations of former Mayors Art Agnos and Frank Jordan.
Ms. Richardson is frequently sought by businesses and corporations for advice on land use issues, business development and neighborhood revitalization especially to numerous Fortune 500 companies.
Ms. Richardson has also worked on several community development projects with a variety of agencies to increase health and environmental services to the Southeast neighborhood, worked with the City and Lennar Partners on the reuse and safe development of the Superfund Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. She serves as a steering committee member to the Southeast Neighborhood Jobs Initiative Coalition; Chair of the Land Use, Planning and Transportation Committee of the Bayview Hunters Point, in collaboration with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, worked on the establishment of the Southeast Career Center, the MUNI Third Street Light Rail Project, the Southern Waterfront Advisory Committee, and led the efforts against building the controversial proposed Applied Energy Services, Inc. power plant in the Bayview Hunters Point area. She co-founded the Southeast Alliance for Environmental Justice (SAEJ) and the Health and Environment Assessment Task Force; helped secure $10 million to upgrade the Southeast Sewage Treatment plant; and chaired the Land Use, Planning and Transportation Project Area Committee. As part of her work with the City's Commission on the Environment, she was instrumental in establishing the Integrated Pest Management System, a national model in non-toxic pest management.
Ms. Richardson has extensive expertise in telecommunication and electronic data systems. She serves on a 12-member task force appointed by Mayor Brown to advise his administration, the Public Utilities Commission, and the City on the proposed $4.5 billion capital improvement of the vast San Francisco public utility infrastructure.
Ms. Richardson is an internationally recognized leader on environmental justice and economic development. In July 2002, California Governor Gray Davis appointed Commissioner Richardson to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), a regulatory agency with representatives from the nine Bay Area counties. The Commission was established to prevent the unnecessary filling of the San Francisco Bay, to increase public access to and along the Bay, great natural resources for the benefit of the public and to encourage development compatible with this protection. She has lectured, advocated, and appeared before the United States Congress, various government institutions, academic, business, and community organizations. She received recognition from the United States Congress for her lifetime work on health and environmental justice. She also advises many African leaders on environmental, technology, infrastructure assessment, and development issues. Most recently, she was invited to provide counsel to several African nations and plans to facilitate trade opportunities between the United States and Africa.
Ms. Richardson received the Rookie of the Year award from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic Club for her work in protecting persons with disabilities, the 2000 Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Community Service Award, and the Bank of America Employee of the Month Award for her work on interstate and large-scale technology projects.
She served on the Boards of many civic and professional organizations including the League of Women Voters, National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), San Francisco Women Political Committee, and the Southeast Neighborhood Jobs Initiative Coalition.
Commissioner Ruiz was appointed to the Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in January 2008.
Ms. Ruiz earned a Master’s Degree in Public/Private Management from Yale University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley. Currently, she is a Senior Program Manager with Cordoba Corporation and manages the operations of the firm’s Bay Area office. She lives in the City’s South Beach neighborhood and is an avid Giants fan.
Michael Sweet is a San Francisco native who earned his law degree from UCLA. He is a partner with the San Francisco-based McNutt Law Group where he specializes in general civil litigation, restructuring and insolvency, and election law. He was appointed to the Human Rights Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in July 2007 and became Vice-Chair of the Commission in 2008.
Commissioner Sweet is active in many communities. He is the Past-president of the Raoul Wallenberg Jewish Democratic Club of San Francisco. He also serves on the California State Democratic Party's Resolutions Committee and is Vice President of the San Francisco Metropolitan Jewish Community Relations Council.
Commissioner Sweet Chair s the Rincon-Point/South Beach Citizen's Advisory Committee to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and recently served as a member of the Port of San Francisco’s Cruise Terminal Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Sweet lives in San Francisco's Ingleside Terraces neighborhood with his wife and two daughters. He is an avid runner who has completed more than 15 marathons.
L. Julius M. Turman is an attorney with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius where he has tried to verdict, jury and bench trials and successfully represented companies in actions for wrongful termination, employment discrimination, unfair competition, and a variety of other actions. Julius authors articles and conducts trainings for employers on a range of workplace issues, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, workplace violence and drug and alcohol testing. He is a former assistant U.S. attorney. In 2007, Julius co-chaired a San Francisco Bar Association committee that produced a ground breaking report on best practices in the hiring, retention and promotion of LGBT attorneys. He was the first African American to head the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club as well as Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom. Julius also serves as Assemblymember Mark Leno's proxy to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. Commissioner Turman currently serves as co-chair of the HRC's Equity Advisory Committee.
