The Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs

 

PBI Staff at Cal State L.A.

Raphael J. Sonenshein, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Dr. Raphael J. Sonenshein is the Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at CSU Los Angeles.  Previously, he was Chair of the Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice at CSU Fullerton.  He received his B.A. from Princeton, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale. He is the author of three books on Los Angeles politics and government.  Dr. Sonenshein served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles (Appointed) Charter Reform Commission. He served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Review Commission. He was Best Educator and Distinguished College Faculty Member at CSUF. He received a Wang Family Excellence Award. He was the first winner of the campus wide Carol Barnes Award for Teaching Excellence and one of two co-winners of the Haynes Foundation Research Impact award.   He was the fall 2008 Fulbright Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in American Studies at the University of Paris 8. 

raphael.sonenshein@calstatela.edu

Taffany Lim
Associate Director

Taffany Lim is currently the Associate Director of the Pat Brown Institute after enjoying an affiliation with PBI that dates back to 1997 when she was brought on board to lead the Community Policing Training Program.  Taffany has been involved in the public sector and non-profit community for more than 20 years with professional experiences with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, KCET Public Television, the Museum of Tolerance, and The Children’s Council. Taffany spent many years as an independent consultant specializing in program development and management, strategic and operational planning, training and facilitation with clients such as the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Community Health Councils, Inc., King Drew Medical Center, and Children’s Bureau. She was an adjunct faculty member at Cal State Los Angeles for several years where she taught “Volunteer Management and Fundraising” and “Youth Agency Administration.”  Taffany has a bachelors in psychology and social welfare from UC Berkeley and a masters in public administration from USC.

tlim@cslanet.calstatela.edu

Lily Baba
Administrative Analyst

Lily Baba is currently PBI's administrative analyst. She has been a Cal State L.A. employee for the past 28 years, 16 of those years with the PBI. Lily has been a dedicated community volunteer for over twenty years. She serves on the executive committees of the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center and the Asian Youth Center boards. She is also a board member of Pacific Film Currents (PFC) and served as an associate producer for two PFC documentary productions, "442 for the Future" in 1997, and "Mothers, Daughters, Sisters," in 2000. Lily received her Bachelor of Arts in Management from the University of Phoenix in 1996.
lbaba@cslanet.calstatela.edu

Jacqueline Ruiz
Director, Public Policy Education Program

Jacqueline Ruiz is the Director of PBI's Public Policy Education Program (PPEP). Ms. Ruiz received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women's Studies and Chicano/Latino Studies from California State University, Long Beach. Before joining the PBI, Ms. Ruiz worked for former Assemblymember Judy Chu and Assemblymember Mike Eng in the capacity of field representative and senior field representative respectively.
jruiz@cslanet.calstatela.edu

 

Yea-Lan Chiang
Senior Coordinator, Youth Enrichment Policy Program

Yea-Lan Chiang spent many years working on leadership and training as well as developing policy when she served as the Ethics Officer for LAUSD. She has worked extensively in support of youth, having served previously as the Director of Policy and Planning for the Children's Planning Council, as Executive Director to an educational nonprofit, as head of Public Programs for the Tech Museum in San Jose, and as a high school teacher in Boston. Yea-Lan was also a management consultant for Monitor Group, helping Fortune 500 companies to develop strategies for improving their organizational performance. Yea-Lan received her B.A. and teacher's certification from Harvard, her Master's in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and is in the process of completing her doctorate in Education at UCLA.

 

Roberto Campos
Coordinator, Youth Enrichment Policy Program

Robert Campos previously worked for and volunteered at various non-profits located throughout the Boyle Heights area such as the East Los Angeles Community Corporation, Homeboy Industries, and Proyecto Pastoral. Mr. Campos received his Bachelor of Arts degree in politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Roberto is is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Social Work at the University of Southern California.

rcampos9@cslanet.calstatela.edu

Jaime A. Regalado, Former Executive Director & Professor Emeritus