Meet the CLP Familia

Community Learning Partnership Staff, Board, and Program Partners

CLP Board and Leadership

Get to know our CLP leadership.

Co-Chairs, Board of Directors

Denise G. Fairchild, Ph.D.

Co-Chair, Board of Directors
President Emeritus, Emerald Cities Collaborative
Climate Breakthrough 2021 Awardee

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Denise G. Fairchild, Ph.D.

– (she, her, hers)

Co-Chair, Board of Directors
President Emeritus, Emerald Cities Collaborative
Climate Breakthrough 2021 Awardee

From 2010-2022 Dr. Fairchild served as the inaugural President and CEO of Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC), a national non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. with affiliates in major urban centers across the United States. She advanced ECC’s “high road” mission to green our cities, build resilient local economies and ensure equity and inclusion in both the process and the outcomes of a green and healthy economy. Dr. Fairchild focuses on building community-led partnerships with labor, environmental and business organizations to increase energy efficiency, clean energy, sustainable foods and clean water with a focus on low-income and communities of color.

Dr. Fairchild is nationally recognized and respected for her 40-year successful track record and innovative programs in sustainable and community economic development, domestically and internationally. In 1995 she founded and directed the Community and Economic Development (CED) Department at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, as well as an affiliated non-profit community development research and technical assistance organization, CDTech. She founded the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI), an initiative of Los Angeles Trade-Technical College to provide inner city residents with career and technical education for high growth/high demand jobs in the L.A. region, with a focus on the green economy. From 1989-1995 she served as executive director of LISC-LA helping to build-out the region’s community development industry creating non-profit housing, jobs and businesses that strengthened and improved the health and environments of L.A.’s low-income, communities of color.

Dr. Fairchild received her B.A from Fisk in 1972, a masters in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and doctorate in urban planning from UCLA. She holds a number of academic distinctions, including serving as a senior fellow at M.I.T. and U.C.L.A., and serves on numerous national boards. Her recent publication is entitled: Energy Democracy: Equity Solutions to the Clean Economy. She has lived, worked, and educated her sons in South Los Angeles since 1977.

Board Members

Angélica Esquivel

Chicanx and Latinx Studies, Faculty
De Anza College

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Angélica Esquivel

– (she, her, ella)

Chicanx and Latinx Studies, Faculty
De Anza College

Angélica Esquivel is a longtime advocate for undocumented immigrant youth and their families. She advocates for undocumented communities in higher education and grassroots organizing in the community. Angélica has been working as an educator for the past 5 years. Her work in higher education began as a community college student 10 years ago where she co-founded the first student run undocumented student resource center. That supports students, families and the community at large. She continues to work with students, colleagues and families to navigate higher education, access to resources and their rights as human beings. She has both the role as a program lead and professor to support students in and out of the classroom to create institutional change in higher education.

Rosa M. García

Executive Director, CLP and CYLC

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Rosa M. García, Ed.D.

– (she, her, Ella)

Member, Board of Directors/Executive Director of CLP and CYLC

Rosa M. García serves as Executive Director of California Youth Leadership Corps and Co-Executive Director of the Community Learning Partnership (CLP), where she collaborates with state agencies, two-year and four-year public institutions, social justice organizations, and other community partners to expand community change career pathways for marginalized students in California and across the nation.

Prior to joining CLP, Rosa served as Director of Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). At CLASP, she worked to promote policies to expand access to postsecondary opportunities and to increase economic security for marginalized students, including first-generation students living in poverty, educationally underprepared adults, students of color, and immigrants.

Prior to joining CLASP, Rosa worked to promote access, affordability, equity and diversity, and student success in higher education through her roles as a public servant and advocate at the federal, state, and local level. Her previous positions include Deputy Chief of Staff/Legislative Director to a senior member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Executive Director of Legislative Affairs at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), Special Assistant/Legislative Aide to a County Councilmember in Montgomery County, Maryland and a gubernatorial appointment to the Maryland State Board of Education.

Rosa received a bachelor’s in History and Latin American Studies at Wesleyan University. She holds master’s degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, UCLA, and Baruch College, CUNY. In 2015, she earned her Ed.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Rosa has authored and co-authored numerous publications focused on advancing racial and economic justice in higher education and society and serves on the board of the Emerald Cities Collaborative. Rosa was born in East Los Angeles and is a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Lena Jones

Political Science Faculty, Minneapolis College
Coordinator of the Community Development A.S. Degree Program

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Lena Jones

– (she, her, hers)

Political Science Faculty, Minneapolis College Coordinator of the Community Development A.S. Degree Program

Lena is a political science faculty member and coordinator of the Community Development A.S. Degree Program at Minneapolis College where she has been teaching since 2002. From 2006 to 2020, Lena was the Director of Race in America, Then and Now, a summer field study course of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs. Lena was the recipient of a two-year Bush Leadership Fellowship, through which she explored concrete ways for higher educational institutions to build lasting partnerships with community organizations and governments to support the development of students into leaders who can tackle the challenges faced by low-income communities and communities of color in the Twin Cities. In addition to teaching about civil rights and social change in the US context, Lena has also participated in research projects exploring racism, immigration, and social movements in Western Europe and South Africa. Lena has an MA in Political Science with a focus on International Relations and Comparative Politics and a MS in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University-Mankato.

Felecia Bennett-Clark

CLP Board Member

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Felecia Bennett-Clark, MA

– (she, her, hers)

CLP Board Member

Felecia Bennett-Clark is an adjunct faculty member at Macomb Community College in Michigan, where she teaches Leadership Development, and Organizing/Conflict Resolution as part of the CLP Program, as well as Political Science. In addition to her role in academia, she serves as a Senior Project Manager at JFM Consulting Group, a Detroit-based evaluation and planning firm. Through this work, Felecia collaborates with nonprofit organizations, local and state government agencies, and philanthropic institutions to address a wide range of community needs.

In recognition of her dedication to the field of evaluation, Felecia received the Michigan Association for Evaluation Service Award in 2023. She holds a master’s degree in political science and brings over 20 years of experience in teaching, evaluation, research, project management, and philanthropy support. Deeply committed to community-based initiatives, she is passionate about the transformative impact of CLP in fostering education, leadership development, and civic engagement.

Brian Murphy

CLP Board Member

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Brian Murphy

– (he, him, his)

Emeritus President, De Anza College

Brian is the former president of De Anza College, where a key focus of his presidency was the preparation of students to be active, involved citizens committed to transforming their communities. Brian was instrumental in the development of The Democracy Commitment and served as executive director of the San Francisco Urban Institute at San Francisco State University. He has taught political theory at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Santa Clara University; and San Francisco State University.

John Krinsky

CLP Board Member

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John Krinsky

– (he, him, his)

CLP Board Member

John Krinsky is a professor of political science at the City College of New York and the City University of New York Graduate Center. Since 2015, John, with his colleague, Hillary Caldwell, has led the Community Change Studies program at City College, which introduces students to community organizing and grassroots politics in the city and in their communities. It also opens the classroom to movement leaders and activists with fellowships and open courses. Community Change Studies was begun in conversation with the Community Learning Partnership, and John is pleased to be on the latter’s board now. John is also a founding board-member of the New York City Community Land Initiative, which advocates for and assists community land trusts in an effort to decommodify land and housing for affordable housing.

John’s scholarship has focused on social movements, labor, welfare rights, and housing. He is the author of Free Labor: Workfare and the Contested Language of Neoliberalism (2008) and, with Maud Simonet, Who Cleans the Park? Public Work and Urban Governance in New York City (2017) both with the University of Chicago Press. He is co-editor (with Colin Barker, Laurence Cox, and Alf Gunvald Nilsen) of Marxism and Social Movements, (with Nick Crossley) Social Networks and Social Movements, and (with Jenny Pickerill, Graeme Hayes, Kevin Gillan, and Brian Doherty), Occupy! A Global Movement. He is also the author of many articles and book chapters about movements, urban politics, housing, workfare, and learning in the context of activism. He is an editor of Metropolitics, an online urban affairs journal, and is currently exploring alternative pedagogy in popular education with community organizations in New York.

Ana Melendez

CLP Board Member

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Ana Melendez

– (she, her, hers)

CLP Board Member

Ana Melendez is a community organizer and advocate with over 20 years of experience in grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, and social justice. She has dedicated her career to empowering low-income communities, fostering leadership, and advancing racial and economic equity.

In 2003, Ana was awarded the George Soros Open Society Institute Fellowship, through which she founded A STEP UP (Access Schools and Training to Exit Poverty Unity Project). This initiative became the foundation for Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), a key force in community advocacy.

Her passion for community-driven change led her to We Stay/Nos Quedamos, where, as Chief Program Officer she expanded partnerships, built organizational capacity, and helped South Bronx residents transition from social service reliance to leadership. Her work resulted in the creation of Asociación Huerto y Cultura (Harvest and Culture Association), a network of community gardens promoting food access, environmental education, and cultural enrichment.

Currently, Senior Community Affairs Coordinator at NAICA, ensuring residents have access to critical resources for long-term stability. She is also the Founder & CEO of DOT Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that strengthens nonprofits and community leadership through strategic planning, development, and program design. She continues to empower community gardens, transforming them into hubs for environmental education, arts, and cultural programming while integrating them into broader environmental justice and affordable housing initiatives.Her leadership earned her several recognitions as one of the Bronx Times’ 25 Influential Women (2017), Bronx Power Women (2022), and Crain’s Notable Hispanic Leaders (2022). She has served on the boards of Jobs with Justice, NYC Civic Engagement Committee, and 2021 Female State Committee 79th Distrct . She served on the board of Legal Services NYC for the past decade and remains actively involved with Mothers on the Move and the Lincoln Hospital Community Advisory Board.

With a lifelong commitment to equity and justice, Ana continues to drive transformative change, ensuring communities have the power and resources to thrive.

Edmundo Norte

CLP Board Member

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Edmundo Norte

– (he, him, ese)

Senior Fellow

Born and raised in the heart of East LA, Edmundo identifies as a Chicano and is connected to his indigenous roots while holding multicultural sensibility. He has been both a student and teacher at every level of public and private education, from Kindergarten in South-East LA to graduate school at Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology. He served as the Dean of Intercultural and International Studies at De Anza College for 12 years and has now shifted to Emeritus status, where he continues to teach the year-long cohort courses for the College’s Certificate in Leadership and Social Change. He serves as a Senior Fellow for the Community Learning Partnership (CLP)––a national network of community colleges working closely with community-based organizations to develop educational pathways for organizers from historically marginalized communities. Through CLP he provides training and guidance for the California Youth Leadership Corps (CYLC) statewide project with the same mission, but with greater social-emotional/wellness and financial support for students and CBO’s.

Edmundo brings a critical, social-justice lens to his own integrated practice and teaching of Nonviolent Communication for personal and social transformation, with a focus on indigenously-rooted transformative leadership addressing race, class, difference, and power at the internal, interpersonal, and structural/systemic levels of human experience. He is an avid runner, writer, artist, and the father of two who has lived in Oakland, California for over 30 years.

Angelina Rodriguez

CLP Board Member

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Angelina Rodriguez

– (she, her, hers)

CLP Board Member

Angelina is a proud Chicana who was born and raised in San Jose, California, with indigenous roots in Chihuahua, Mexico. She is an alumna of De Anza’s College’s Leadership & Social Change Program and also has an Associate’s Degree in Social Justice Studies from De Anza. Angelina is the founding Executive Director of the Concrete Rose Coalition, which provides accessible, Indigenous based, healing-centered spaces for system-involved and system-impacted families in Santa Clara County. As a new Board member, she is committed to CLP’s strategic vision to bring intentional investment in our communities, especially in marginalized youth of color, to bring us justice, equity, and social change. As a community organizer, Angelina’s commitment to social justice and communal healing stems from her personal experiences.

Sean Crossland Ph.D.

CLP Board Member

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Sean Crossland, Ph.D.

– (he, him, his)

CLP Board Member

Sean is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Utah Valley University, focusing much of scholarship on the public purpose of higher education, community engagement, and community organizing. He earned a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah, MA in Community Leadership from Westminster College. Sean has also taught courses on Organizational Leadership & Change and Research Justice with College Unbound and was formerly Director at the Thayne Center for Service & Learning at Salt Lake Community College. Sean is passionate about CLP’s mission and focused his Ph.D. dissertation on De Anza College’s Leadership and Social Change program and the institutional characteristics that foster a culture of democratic engagement on campus.

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