Joe Simitian

Annette Porini, Chief of Staff, has 30 years of experience in government. She has worked for the State Senate and Assembly as well as the State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Governor. Prior to joining the Simitian Staff, she was the Staff Director to the Chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.

Kristi Stauffacher, who joined Senator Simitian’s staff in December of 2008, has worked for in the Capitol for the past 12 years – in both the Senate and Assembly in various capacities. Prior to working in the Capitol, she was a fisheries biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.

Kris Kuzmich, Principal Consultant to the Senate Select Committee on Privacy, has 18 years of experience with the State Legislature. She has worked for the State Senate and Assembly in a variety of capacities, including as personal staff in both Capitol and District offices and as a consultant for both a joint committee and a subcommittee. For three years she represented the University of California before the State Legislature. Prior to joining the Simitian Staff, she was the Consultant to the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education.

Alan Gordon has been Principal Consultant to the Senate Select Committee on Coastal Protection and Watershed Conservation since he joined the Capitol Office in 2005. Previously he was a consultant to the Senate Toxics Committee and Senate Insurance Committee and worked as an environmental consultant to then President Pro-Tem Bill Lockyer. He also served as Deputy Director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control under Governor Gray Davis.

Alan teaches a class in Environmental Policy at the University of California, Davis with emphasis on water and energy policy.

Prior to working at the Senate, Alan taught high school in Oakland and was a trial attorney specializing in civil rights and worker exposure litigation in Atlanta Georgia.

Ryan Ojakian joined the Capitol Office in April 2007 as a Legislative Aide after a career in biological research.

Ryan previously served as an intern in the Palo Alto District Office. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from UC San Diego, and a Master's degree in Economics from San Diego State University. He is a Palo Alto native.

Melissa Figueroa joined the Capitol Office in 2009 as a Legislative Aide focusing on Press. Prior to joining Senator Simitian’s staff Melissa spent nearly 8 years as a television news producer in Sacramento and San Luis Obispo. During her time in news, Melissa was awarded with an Emmy Award for “Best 30 minute newscast” and was also honored by the Radio Television News Directors Association for her extensive work related to the 2009 Digital Transition.

Melissa has a degree in Journalism and Communications from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She is a native of Southern California and fluent in Spanish.

Nancy Lynott, who joined Senator Simitian’s staff in December of 2008, has worked in the Capitol for the past 20 years – in both the State Senate and for the Governor. Prior to joining the Simitian staff she was the scheduling coordinator for President pro Tempore Don Perata.

Taylor Glass, who joined Senator Simitian’s staff in January of 2009, is a graduate of Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Political Science. Prior to joining the Simitian staff, Taylor was a field representative for Lois Wolk when she represented the 8th Assembly District.

Anand Parikh joined the Capitol Office in December 2008 as a Senate Fellow. Anand graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of arts in political science and a bachelors of science in biology.

Hema Sareen Mohan joined the Palo Alto District Office in March 2005 as District Outreach Director, and she became District Director in August 2005.

Previously, Hema worked for seven years at the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit policy and research organization. At Vera, Hema created and directed a school violence prevention program, served as Intake Director of an alternative to detention project for people facing deportation, and examined the correlation between juvenile delinquency and childhood loss. She is the author of Reinforcing Positive Student Behavior to Prevent School Violence (Vera Institute, 2001).

Hema graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Hunter College, and earned a Masters degree in Public Administration from Columbia University. She is fluent in Punjabi and Hindi.

Maureen McCarty is the Senior Field Representative for Santa Cruz County. Prior experience with the California State Senate includes serving as Field Representative for former Bay Area Senator Quentin L. Kopp. As a Technical Writer/Communicator, Maureen has published written and online documentation for Maxwell Systems, Inc., a nationally recognized accounting software company, and for other local businesses. Fluent in French, she is an active member of Alliance Française de Santa Cruz County. She is also a member of Leadership Santa Cruz County Class XXII.

Maureen received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from San Francisco State University.

Tyler joined the office in September of 2008. He previously worked as a legislative assistant at a national trade association. Before that he served for two years as a staff assistant on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee staff, where he provided support to the committee’s ranking member, Senator Kent Conrad.

Tyler received his BA in government from Georgetown University and an MA in government from Johns Hopkins University.

Brock Winstead has been a Field Representative in the Palo Alto District Office since October of 2006. Prior to this, Brock interned in the district office of Assemblywoman Loni Hancock in the East Bay, where he worked to engage area youth in the planning and development of San Pablo Avenue, a major East Bay transportation corridor. Brock received a Master's degree in City & Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He also holds Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degrees (summa cum laude) from North Carolina State University.

Keith Weissglass joined the district office in January 2009. He previously served as the Pacific Outreach Coordinator at Ocean Conservancy, where he managed regional communications and grassroots organizing.

A native of Santa Barbara, California, Keith holds a B.A. in psychology from Haverford College.