Leadership

Steering Committee

Steve Cohn resides in Sacramento and was the longest-serving Sacramento City Council member in history, elected to five terms from 1994 to 2014, while also serving as Chief Assistant General Counsel for SMUD until retiring in 2010. Currently, he serves as President of the Breathe California Sacramento Region Board of Directors, Chair of the Sacramento Regional Rail Working Group, Chair of the San Joaquin Rail Advisory Committee, Board member of the Natomas Basin Conservancy, and is one of the co-founders of the SacMoves Coalition. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of San Diego Law School. Steve is also the author of two books, Citizen Cohn, a memoir, and The Blue Sky Rebellion, a novel.

Dwayne Crenshaw is a well-vested, longtime, inclusive community leader and highly effective executive management professional and innovator. For more than 21 years, Dwayne has advanced issues of community development, social justice and racial equity with several community-based organizations focused on historically underserved and marginalized communities. Prior to these leadership roles, he was a public servant as a policy aide to state and local elected officials.  

Presently, Dwayne is the President & CEO of Greater Sacramento Urban League responsible for furthering GSUL’s empowerment mission and vision by helping Sacramentans to increase their educational opportunities, gain meaningful employment, strengthen their financial well-being, and work together to build communities where all can live well, be well and thrive.

Dwayne graduated from San Diego State University where he majored in elementary education and was student body president. While working in the Capitol, he completed the coursework for a master’s in government from Sacramento State. Dwayne Crenshaw received his juris doctorate from California Western School of Law, where he twice earned the highly coveted Distinguished Advocate recognition.

Roger Dickinson resides in Sacramento and served Sacramento constituents in public office for nearly 21 years from 1994-2014 on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and as a state Assembly Member. Throughout his legal, legislative, and nonprofit leadership career he has focused on issues related to transportation and public transit, environmental quality, education, health and human services for children and families, economic development, and consumer protection.  He was a 20-year member and Chair of the Sacramento Regional Transit Board and past-President of Friends of Light Rail.  Roger currently serves on the boards of the Aerospace Museum of California, the Sacramento Tree Foundation, and the Northern California Multiple Sclerosis Society.  He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UCLA Law School.

Sarah Geraty, is the owner of QHC Consulting. Sarah functions as a Business Development Consultant for her client base, with focus & strong concentration on customer re-branding, marketing, quality
improvement, & business line expansion & integration. Sarah earned her degree in Psychology at California State University Sacramento (CSUS).

Sarah is a native Sacramentan, with strong roots & investment emphasis on progressive growth and expansion in the Sacramento Region. Her 20 + years of UC Enterprise commitment & experience,
resulted in marked achievements impacting improvements in areas of hospital regulatory compliance, patient safety, language access for Non-English Speaking populations, & QI in large-scale clinical operations.

Sarah is an avid supporter of “access for all”, specifically to include regional transit services & options that are accessible, visible, centrally located, cost effective, & progressive, for our community in the Sacramento region.

In Sarah’s spare time, she enjoys international travel, & engaging with community members, to build collaboration efforts; making a difference with favorable outcome-based results.

Sotiris K. Kolokotronis resides in Sacramento and he has been involved in the development of many mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented master-planned communities and projects. He has played a vital role in the renaissance of Midtown Sacramento over the last 20 years.

Sam Rice is a Sacramento native and a lifelong advocate of public transportation. He has a background in labor advocacy, organizing, and the management of intermodal transportation operations at one of the nation’s largest container ports. Sam earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley and has traveled to more than 30 countries. Through his travels and work experience, Sam has focused on local and regional transportation networks with an eye towards how creative solutions could benefit the Sacramento region. Sam currently works as a Senior Union Representative at SEIU Local 1000 and serves as a board member to the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) and the C.K. McClatchy Law and Public Policy Academy Advisory Committee.

Frank Teran resides in Sacramento and is currently serving as the Board President for the Rosemont Community Association. Originally from the bay area, Frank moved to Sacramento in 2016 and is dedicated to improving rail and transit in the greater Sacramento region. Frank is employed in the tech sector and feels that with the right tools in place, we can solve our transit problems within this region. Frank holds a B.A. degree in Sociology from San Francisco State University and believes commuters should have more options when commuting around areas outside the city limits.

Emel Wadhwani resides in Sacramento where she is an officer of the Midtown Neighborhood Association and a member of the Board of Directors for Breathe California – Sacramento Region. Emel is an Assistant Chief Counsel with the State Water Resources Control Board where she oversees the work of attorneys counseling the Governor-appointed regional water boards on permitting and enforcement actions to protect and restore the quality of water bodies throughout the state.  She also previously worked in private legal practice on land use and environmental matters.  Emel holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Emel’s interest in transit and active transportation is rooted in her commitment to environmental protection and her reliance on bike and transit for transportation at home in Sacramento.