Mayor Lurie Announces Appointments of Civic Leaders to City Organizations

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced ten appointments and reappointments to San Francisco committees, commissions, and boards. Mayor Lurie appointed Sarah Atkinson to the environmental seat and Loretta Y. Dickerson Smith to the engineering seat of the Public Utilities Commission Citizens’ Advisory Committee. He nominated Eric Dasmalchi and Kojo Minta to the Treasure Island Development Authority and appointed Shadi Kaileh to the Film Commission and Teresa M. Lee to the Civil Service Commission. To support San Francisco’s young people, the mayor appointed LaVonda Baldwin and Dr. Cedric Jackson and reappointed Allison Magee and Elijah Mercer to the Juvenile Probation Commission.

“Our administration is working every day to accelerate our economic recovery, create a more affordable city, and support San Francisco's young people and families,” said Mayor Lurie. “These appointees bring decades of experience across government, the private sector, and community engagement. I look forward to working with each of them to build a stronger San Francisco across all our communities.”  

Sarah Atkinson is a policy and research professional specializing in hazard risk and climate adaptation. She currently serves as a senior policy manager at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), where she leads research and advocacy efforts focused on climate adaptation. Atkinson has authored several policy reports for SPUR, including analyses of groundwater rise in East Palo Alto and its implications for equity in disaster prevention and infrastructure planning. She has served as a director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Northern California Chapter since 2023 and holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from U.C. Berkeley.

Loretta Y. Dickerson Smith is a supervisory industrial engineer and pastor with more than 35 years of professional experience. She works at the U.S. Mint, where she has worked for more than three decades. In this role, she applies strong technical and managerial expertise to develop, analyze, and implement industrial process improvements. Dickerson Smith has served as a pastor for six years and is the Pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church in San Francisco. She oversees day-to-day operations, facilities management, and financial stewardship. She has led donations efforts and volunteer support, organized conferences and community events, and built partnerships with other organizations.

Eric Dasmalchi currently serves as a research data specialist and analyst with the California Department of Transportation. In this role, he developed the first statewide regularly updated dataset of major transit stops and advanced the development of transit signal priority methodology, which was adopted as a primary framework for Caltrain. He has also collected and analyzed transit data for the Philadelphia public transit system to support system-wide operations and planning. Dasmalchi holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from UCLA.

Kojo Minta is a consultant and economist with nearly 20 years of professional experience. His community leadership includes serving on the host committee for former President Joe Biden’s visit to San Francisco and as a leadership council member for Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Scholars San Francisco, which supports public high school students in their transition to college. Minta has held roles as an expert solutions consultant at Adobe and as a senior consultant for law firms. He holds a degree in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics and has published work on development strategies in different countries.

Shadi Kaileh is an experienced legal counsel with a background in corporate law. He has worked as an associate at Seyfarth Shaw LLP representing Fortune 500 companies. With an emphasis on bond financing and mortgage-backed securities, he established himself as a respected corporate attorney working on high-profile matters. In Kaileh’s current role, he serves as legal counsel for EMPIRE Distribution Inc., where he focuses on real estate, digital retail licensing, and corporate affairs. He also maintains an interest in the restaurant and hospitality industry, as well as the arts and entertainment sector. Kaileh graduated from Arizona State University School of Law in 2019.

Theresa M. Lee is a public sector executive with nearly three decades of leadership experience. She spent the majority of her career at San Francisco International Airport, retiring as deputy airport director for the Administration and Technology Division. Earlier in her career, Lee served as a budget manager and special assistant to Mayor Frank M. Jordan. She has also held roles with California state agencies focused on developmental services and mental health policy. Lee has a long record of civic and nonprofit leadership, including board service with Pacific Asian American Women Bay Area Coalition, the Mayor’s San Francisco–Taipei Sister City Committee. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and is a San Francisco native.  

LaVonda Baldwin is a former U.S. diplomat who served with the U.S. Department of State for five years and brings more than 12 years of experience in public diplomacy. In that role, she developed performance frameworks and led communications campaigns focused on crisis response and outreach in Costa Rica. Since 2023, Baldwin has served as executive director of Oasis for Girls in San Francisco, a nonprofit that provides after school and summer programming for girls ages 14 to 18. As executive director, she introduced the organization’s first multi-year strategic plan and strengthened operational oversight. She leads workshops and program initiatives while ensuring the organization maintains high standards of performance and community impact.

Dr. Cedric Jackson is a clinical psychologist with nearly 20 years of experience in the field and more than 50 years of professional experience. After graduating from the American School of Professional Psychology in 2008, he continued his work as a behavioral psychologist. He currently practices at Pathfinder Psychological Services. He has served on several boards, including those focused on forensics and mental health, the NAACP, and the California Psychology Internship Council. Prior to entering the field of psychology, he had a career in mortgage consulting and financial analysis, with an emphasis on supporting minority and low-income communities. Jackson also has played a role in reopening a formerly closed homeless site, continuing his work to serve individuals in poverty.

Allison Magee is an award-winning policy analyst and social worker with more than 20 years of professional experience. She began her career at the U.S. Department of Justice as a program analyst and grant coordinator and later joined the Mayor’s Office of Public Policy and Finance, where she conducted policy analysis related to roughly $500 million in budget expenditures and served as a key point of contact for major policy and program initiatives. She currently serves as president and executive director of the Zellerbach Family Foundation, which supports youth arts and cultural expression across California. Her public service includes membership on the San Francisco Juvenile Hall Working Group, reflecting her continued focus on youth advocacy and protection.

Elijah Mercer currently serves as a data coordinator for Instituto Familiar de la Raza in San Francisco, where he leads data workshops and supports budgeting and reporting functions for an organization focused on mental health and wellness services for the Latino community. He has worked with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, supporting gun crime prosecution through data analysis and research and in a similar capacity with the New York City Police Department. Mercer is the founder of Data for JustUS, a San Francisco-based consulting firm dedicated to empowering marginalized communities through data research and communications. Mercer holds a master’s degree from U.C. Berkeley.