SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 13 announced his appointments to the Commission on the State of Hate.
Created by legislation Newsom signed last year and established in the 2022 Budget Act, the commission will assess data on hate crimes in California, provide resources for victims, and make policy recommendations to better protect civil rights.
These positions do not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Appointees include:
Cynthia Choi, 56, of San Francisco, who has been co-director of Chinese for Affirmative Action since 2016 and a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate since 2020. She held several positions at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy from 2006 to 2016, including vice president of philanthropic partnerships and deputy director.
Choi was interim executive director at Khmer Girls in Action from 2004 to 2006 and held several positions at the California Endowment from 1997 to 1999, including program officer and regional manager. She was co-director of MultiCultural Collaborative from 1994 to 1997 and program developer at the Asian Law Caucus from 1989 to 1992. Choi is a Democrat.
Shirin Sinnar, 45, of Palo Alto, who has been a professor since 2012 at Stanford Law School, where she has been John A. Wilson Faculty Scholar since 2015. She was staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus from 2006 to 2009 and a law clerk for Judge Warren J. Ferguson at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2004.
A member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy Editorial Board and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sinnar earned a Master of Philosophy degree in international relations from Cambridge University and Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. Sinnar is a Democrat.
Also appointed were Brian Levin, 58, of Orange County, founding director at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor at the CSU San Bernardino School of Criminology and Criminal Justice since 1999; Bamby Salcedo, 53, of Los Angeles, who has been president and CEO at the TransLatin@ Coalition since 2015; and Erroll G. Southers, 65, of Los Angeles, who has been associate senior vice president of safety and risk assurance at the University of Southern California since 2022.