Contributing Writers

David L. Englin, Founding Editor
david@rippleofhope.net
Published Work

David L. Englin is a writer, consultant, and activist from Alexandria, Virginia. He is currently a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates. Born and raised on American bases overseas during the Cold War, he is an Air Force veteran and a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. David launched the blog RIPPLE OF HOPE in July 2004 as an online home for his writing and activism. As readership grew, he invited this group of contributors to share their keen insight, incisive commentary, and strong progressive voices through RIPPLE OF HOPE.
Click here for David Englin's full biography.

Zach Carstensen
zach@rippleofhope.net

A Seattle attorney and native Iowan, Zach Carstensen has been active in politics since 1996. That year, he caucused for Republican Senator Phil Gramm. After identifying himself as a pro-choice Republican, the party he grew up with turned him out. That year he voted for Bill Clinton and became active in progressive politics and the Iowa Democratic Party. Zach has been active at all levels of the political and campaign process. In 2000, as a second year law student, he ran for State Representative. In 2001, he started a two year career as a lobbyist and worked for multiple real estate clients at the Iowa General Assembly and before municipal bodies. Since 2001, Zach has managed campaigns and provided consulting services to municipal, county, and state-wide candidates running for office in Iowa. Zach moved to Seattle in 2003 and spent a year as a volunteer community organizer before returning to the practice of law.

Tiziana Dearing
tiziana@rippleofhope.net

Tiziana Dearing has a decade of experience consulting to senior managers in nonprofits and corporations. In 1997, she started her own consultancy, working with nonprofits and specializing in strategy development and implementation, executive decision making and coaching, and large and small group facilitation. Prior to her work in consulting, Tiziana worked for a nonprofit organization doing microlending for women starting businesses in order to work their way out of poverty. A committed Catholic, she has been active both personally and professionally with Catholic social justice issues. Tiziana received a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School in 2000 with concentrations in International Security Policy and Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She received a Bachelor's in English in 1992 from the University of Michigan. Tiziana lives in Bedford, Mass., with her husband, a daughter, and another child on the way. She is currently the Executive Director of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, and publishes occasional opinion and commentary. (The views expressed by Tiziana Dearing do not necessarily reflect the views of Harvard University, the Kennedy School of Government, or the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations.)

Shayna Englin
shayna@rippleofhope.net

Shayna Englin is currently the Fundraising Practice Manager at Mindshare Interactive Campaigns, an interactive communications firm. She joined Mindshare from her consulting firm, Englin Inc., where she raised money and consulted on strategy for Democrats and progressive issue organizations.  Shayna got her start in progressive politics at Colorado NARAL, where she spent six years coordinating campaigns to increase pro-choice voter turnout for everything from local school board to statewide elections. At Colorado NARAL she developed a love of all things field and an appreciation of how well executed field campaigns can make the difference in tight elections. Shayna was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and attended the University of Colorado at Denver. Shortly after graduation, Shayna married David Englin, and they moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Shayna did time at Mass. NARAL, the Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Programs, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the John O’Connor for Congress campaign, before heading to the Kennedy School for a Masters in Public Policy.  Shayna lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with David and their wonderful son, Caleb.  She’s a runner and a gardener who will deny to the death that her scrapbooking phase proves she was a stay-at-home mom for just a little too long.

Glenn Gritzner
glenn@rippleofhope.net

Glenn Gritzner is Special Assistant to the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, former Colorado governor and Democratic National Committee chairman Roy Romer. As the superintendent's primary political and strategic advisor, Glenn oversaw campaigns for the two largest local school bonds in the nation’s history, raising over $7 billion for new schools as part of a construction and repair effort that is currently the nation’s largest public works project. Glenn was also instrumental in LAUSD’s recent effort to win approval for three new schools on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, where Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. Glenn is President of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, serves on the board of Heart of Los Angeles Youth, an after school educational enrichment program for at-risk youth, and is a City Council appointee to the Citizens Unit for Participation in Housing and Community Development. Glenn and his wife, Lisa, live with their two dogs and their cat in Silverlake, just outside of downtown Los Angeles.

Lisa Gritzner
lisa@rippleofhope.net

Lisa Gritzner is a Vice President at Cerrell Associates, Inc., a Los Angeles-based public affairs/government relations firm. Prior to that, she was the chief of staff to a Los Angeles City Councilmember, where she was instrumental in representing the City of Los Angeles on a wide range of issues. Lisa received a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from California State University Sacramento and was selected to participate in the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Lisa and her husband, Glenn, enjoy traveling the world seeking excellent food and exciting adventures. When she grows up, Lisa hopes to live in a world free of neocons, especially Paul Wolfowitz and that scary guy on CNN with the bow-tie whose parents must have been very, very mean to him.
Click here for Lisa Gritzner's full biography.

Paul Hernandez
paul@rippleofhope.net

Paul Hernandez has over ten years of experience working on critical policy issues. He currently is Manager of Public Affairs for The California Endowment, the state's largest nonprofit health foundation which to date has provided nearly $1.2 billion in grants to nonprofit organizations across California to address today's most pressing health issues. As The Endowment's primary liaison to government and civic leaders at the state and local level, Paul is responsible for building partnerships with the public and private sectors to address issues such as the uninsured and chronic disease prevention. He previously served as Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina's chief advisor on transportation and law enforcement issues. He has also managed a job training program for at-risk youth in San Francisco, and served as Executive Director of an advocacy group focused on improving ways to build public schools. When he gets a chance to pull away from the rubber chicken charity dinner circuit, Paul can be found trying to convince his wife Martha, why he needs to watch highlights of his beloved L.A. Lakers or U.C. Berkeley "Cal" Golden Bears on Sportscenter for the third time.

Jason Kearns
jason@rippleofhope.net

Jason Kearns is an international trade attorney currently working for the Office of the U.S Trade Representative. He was previously an associate at the firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where he analyzed trade policy and represented a wide range of U.S. and international clients. His diverse legal background includes work for the World Trade Organization and a year in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, advising clients doing business in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. A graduate of Denver University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, he also holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Jason lives with his wife, Lindy, and their daughter, Ellie, in Washington, D.C., where he pines for his native rural Colorado. (The views expressed by Jason Kearns do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the U.S Trade Representative or the United States Government.)

Terry Klein
terry@rippleofhope.net

Terry Klein is an attorney practicing in Boston, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife Lindsay Sobel and their daughter Zoe. Before dedicating himself to the practice of law, he worked as a stock boy at a printing press, as a semiprofessional and minimally competent heavy metal guitar player, as a gopher in the endocrinology department at one of the top teaching hospitals in America, and as a political hack in North Carolina and Washington D.C. He still plays guitar and dabbles in politics. He still knows nothing about either endocrinology or printing.

Lucy Okumu
lucy@rippleofhope.net

Lucy Okumu is Legislative Advocate for the Los Angeles Unified School District and has extensive experience in education policy at the local and state level. Lucy previously served as executive director for New Schools Better Neighborhoods in Los Angeles, where she guided efforts to plan, design and build joint-use school facilities between school districts, local municipalities, and non-profit organizations. Lucy’s family immigrated to the United States from Uganda when she was six years old.  Lucy's personal and professional goals to pursue justice, equity, and democracy for all are grounded in her mother's tireless activism against an oppressive dictatorship. It was her mother's courage and boldness that led her to immigrate to the United States so her children were free to pursue their dreams. Lucy has a Bachelors Degree in International Relations from the University of California Davis, a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the University of Southern California, and has served on various boards, including the Los Angeles County Young Democrats and the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution. Lucy’s friends describe her as, among other things, “brutally honest but with enough good nature and charm that it somehow works for her,” and “honest with a wicked sense of humor."

Traci Parmenter
traci@rippleofhope.net

Traci Parmenter currently serves as the Program Director at Admission Possible, a non-profit organization devoted to helping talented, motivated low-income students gain admission to college. She's a former high school Spanish teacher and earned her Master’s Degree in education policy at Harvard'’s Kennedy School of Government. Traci has fed her inner political junkie by working on local, congressional, and presidential campaigns, and despite some heartbreaking losses, she still believes there's good to be found in the world. After ten years of wandering around the U.S., she has come back to her native Midwest, where she'’ll try to survive her first Minnesota winter. She'’s thankful to know that all those nights of debate in the Englins'’ living room are finally going to pay off with this lucrative blogging contract. Or not.

Tom Polger
tom@rippleofhope.net
Tom Polger's Web Site

Tom Polger is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. His work focuses on philosophy of mind and philosophy of science, especially understanding the nature of sensations. He is the author of many articles and reviews, and of Natural Minds (MIT Press, 2004). Before becoming a professor, he worked occasionally as a dishwasher, juggler, information systems consultant, and fire eater.

Angelo Williams
angelo@rippleofhope.net

Angelo Williams is the Education Policy and Economic Development Consultant to California State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero. Before working for the majority leader, Angelo severed as Director of Legislation and Press Deputy to California State Assemblyman Carl Washington, specifically in the fight to secure enterprise zones for the City of Compton and for areas of economic distress statewide. Angelo is a graduate of the University of Ghana, University of California, Crenshaw High School and Marie Fagan Pre-School. Angelo (aka Uncle Lo Lo) is a guest lecturer and published author of comparative history and social anthropology. His nieces and nephews think he’s the funniest man alive. And that, as Baldwin would say, is worth the price of the ticket. (The views expressed by Angelo Williams do not necessarily reflect the views of the Senator Majority Leader or the California State Senate and Legislature.)