Brandi Donaldson

I have been an AC Transit Bus Operator for 8 years, actively involved in organizing transit riders and workers. I played a key role in the 2021 hazard pay campaign and continue to advocate for better conditions through the People Transit Alliance.

Andrew Gena

Andrew Gena is the Director of Strategic Research at the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the largest labor union representing transit and allied workers in the U.S. and Canada. His work supports collective bargaining, organizing, and special projects at all levels of the union. Recently, Andrew has focused on emerging issues such as on-demand microtransit and automated vehicle technology. Active in the labor movement for 19 years, he was previously a rank-and-file member of NABET-CWA Local 213 and UAW Local 2322, and a Senior Research Associate at UFCW. Andrew holds a Master of Science in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Jamaine Gibson

Jamaine Gibson is the Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Development for the Amalgamated Transit Union International in Silver Springs, Maryland, where he is responsible for developing and implementing workforce programs for U.S. and Canada ATU locals along with their transit agencies. As a coach operator at Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority (VTA) in San José, California, he participated in the Joint Workforce Investment (JWI) program. Jamaine quickly became aware of the value and guidance that his mentor supplied and wanted to do the same in return. He became a mentor for new employees and was promoted to Apprenticeship Director for ATU local 265. As the Director he helped enroll over 400 new apprentices in four different apprenticeship programs at VTA.

Ana Luz Gonzalez-Vasquez

Dr. Ana Luz Gonzalez Vasquez is the Project Director for POWER in Workforce Development. She has over 20 years of experience conducting quantitative and qualitative research and using a participatory and popular education approach to engage research participants. In 2006, Dr. Gonzalez Vasquez was the Project Manager for the National Day Labor Project, the first comprehensive study of day laborers and day labor worker centers across the nation––a project that (1) helped formalize worker centers as critical actors in economic justice nationwide; and (2) shed light on the workplace conditions of and labor law violations endemic to informal labor markets in the United States. In 2010, she co-authored a report on the prevalence of wage theft and workplace violations among low-wage workers in Los Angeles. In 2017, in partnership with the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) and the UC Berkeley Labor Center, she co-led the High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) initiative. She is currently working with CWDB to develop an HRTP framework.

Before joining the Labor Center, Dr. Gonzalez-Vasquez was the Project Coordinator of the UC Irvine Community and Labor Project. At UCI, she conducted a wage theft study on low-wage workers in Orange County and was a lecturer at the Law School. Dr. Gonzalez-Vasquez earned a dual B.A. in Economics and Social Science, specializing in Public and Community Service, and a minor in Spanish from UCI. She earned her Master’s and Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Andrea Slater

Andrea Slater currently serves as the Director of CARE at Work with the UCLA Labor Center. Her background includes applied policy research and extensive time in the political arena as a political consultant. She has been a California-based community advocate and coalition builder since 2000, focusing on equity, accessibility, and voter engagement. Her outreach and relationship-building over the years has focused on communities impacted by economic disinvestment and environmental injustices. While serving as a staff member, consultant, and community advocate with organizations such as CORO, UCLA Labor Center, Common Cause, AAVREP, and SEIU, she has effectively advanced the concept of “opportunity for all” with an emphasis on increasing economic and educational opportunities for marginalized groups. She is a graduate of UCLA with degrees in Political Science and History and holds a Master’s in Public Policy from UC Irvine.

Chris Van Eyken

Chris Van Eyken is a transportation planner dedicated to the development of environmentally sustainable cities. He is the Director of the Research & Policy at TransitCenter. Chris’s work has identified key obstacles to improved transit service and promoted the adoption best practices and needed reforms at American transit agencies. Chris has worked toward better transit as an agency staff member and as an advocate. He previously worked at MTA New York City Transit and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

Jacob Wasserman

Jacob Wasserman studies and manages research on public transit, the intersection of transportation and other social issues, and a range of mobility questions at UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. With a background in transportation equity, finance, and demand management, Wasserman serves as the lead scholar of ITS’ Public Transit research program.

Prior to joining ITS, he worked for the Cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New Haven on capital planning, vehicle miles traveled development review thresholds, budget process improvements, and active transportation. He also served as a Transportation Justice Fellow for BART Director Lateefah Simon, coordinating passage of the system’s Safe Transit sanctuary policy.

Wasserman has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, with concentrations in transportation policy and planning and in community economic development and housing, in the housing stream. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Yale.

Veronica Wilson

Veronica develops projects to advance labor-climate initiatives at the UCLA Labor Center. She coordinates with government agencies, community partners, and researchers to advance action aimed at addressing and mitigating the impacts of climate change and advancing workers rights. Since 2021, she has served on a task force to provide recommendations for a strategy to support workers and communities impacted by the phase out of oil drilling and extraction in the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated areas of LA County. Her current focus includes a landscape analysis and mapping impacts of zero emissions transportation transition on workers in manufacturing, maintenance, and operations in California. Veronica helped organizers who led Transit Equity Day 2022, an annual, national effort featuring racial justice, labor, disabiliity rights among many more community organizations advocating for quality careers to ensure safe, reliable, climate-safe and affordable transit accessible to all.