CATALYZE SV

Steve is a A 3rd generation resident of the Bay Area, Steve was raised in Fremont before moving to San Jose in 2004. Spending his early years living on his family’s walnut and apricot orchard, he witnessed firsthand the impact of urban expansion on agricultural land. This experience shaped his view on the importance of approaching development through engagement to enable a better understanding of communities’ needs and aspirations. Steve has a BS degree in Business Administration from the University of the Pacific. He has worked in a wide range of industries from banking and consumer finance to educational and collaboration solutions. Steve currently is the Director for North America for Re Mago Ltd., a meetings and collaboration solutions company headquartered in the UK.

Originally from Fresno County, California, Elizabeth has lived and worked in the San Jose area since 2005. Each academic year, Elizabeth leads two dozen community engaged learning projects in Central San Jose. Elizabeth holds a degree in Liberal Arts from Fresno City College and a degree in Recreation from San Jose State University. 

Rocio Molina is the Executive Director of IMPACT Bay Area after having served two years as Catalyze SV's Community Engagement Manager and then Interim Deputy Director. Rocio is a Bay Area native who grew up in Oakland. She graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University. She has extensive experience in nonprofit management and community engagement across the Bay Area. She has fundraised and advocated to establish sustainable fiscal business practices in nonprofit businesses, as well as coordinated housing advisory groups for the City of San Francisco. She has been a long-time advocate for increased social services, economic access, and civic engagement through her work with the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits and the San Jose MBDA Center.

Working at the intersection of housing, land use, and environmental policy, Lisa is committed to building a more inclusive and sustainable future for our cities and communities. Lisa currently serves as Housing & Land Use Policy Advisor to San Francisco Mayor London Breed. She previously worked as a land use attorney, helping clients navigate the complex development process in jurisdictions across the Bay Area. Prior to that, she acted as a research fellow for the World Resources Institute in Mexico City, exploring and addressing issues of spatial injustice and urban accessibility. Lisa received a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Williams College. In her free time, Lisa enjoys being in/around the ocean, biking around the city, and cooking vegan meals for family and friends.

Steve Lynch is Director of Planning and Entitlement for Sand Hill Property Company, a Silicon Valley-focused real estate holding & development firm. Sand Hill’s portfolio of stabilized investments and development projects includes retail centers, mixed-use communities, office developments, affordable housing, and hotels. Steve is involved with the management and planning of several large-scale office projects (Redwood City, Mountain View), a new mixed-use town center (Vallco Fashion Mall Cupertino), mixed-use office/residential corporate campus (San Jose), as well as other retail and office properties in the South Bay area. Prior to his time with Sand Hill, Steve worked in the public sector as a city planner for 16 years. This experience includes time with the Town of Los Gatos as Assistant Planner, City of Sunnyvale as Senior Planner, and City of Santa Clara as the Planning Division Manager. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley (1993) and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly (2000).

Michael has called San Jose home for over 5 years after living across the US: originally in Northern Virginia, and also in Austin, Atlanta (twice), and Los Angeles. He embraced the nuanced cultures and appreciates the unique challenges faced by individuals & groups in each locale. Michael is a strong believer that walking, biking, & public transit enable a healthier community and environment; and that smart, citizen-led development can achieve this reality in an equitable and sustainable manner. Michael is a Manager in PwC Advisory’s ‘Customer Strategy & Operations’ practice, where he advises global technology companies on sales and go-to-market strategy, business case development, pricing structure, new business models, and lead-to-cash transformations. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson and undergraduate degrees from the University of Virginia.

Jamie landed in San José in 2010, thrilled to find herself in a city where she can bike and garden year-round, after living most of her life on the East Coast. Since then, she has worked as an organizer in many forms: labor organizer with SEIU working to organize a union for security officers in Silicon Valley; electoral organizer with Working Partnerships USA managing field campaigns including raising the minimum wage; and community organizer and garden network manager at Sacred Heart Community Service, where she worked to creatively combat food and housing insecurity. In her work with primarily low income and immigrant communities in San José, she has seen firsthand the importance of ethical, sustainable, and inclusive housing development in the area, and how people from all walks of life working together can build power, shift policy, and influence development for the better. She holds a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.S. from the London School of Economics, and now works on the Organizational Effectiveness team at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.