Mayor Lurie Announces Appointments to San Francisco Committees, Commissions

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced seven appointments and reappointments to San Francisco committees and commissions. He appointed Matthew Nguyen to the Youth Commission and Tina Yun to the Human Services Commission. The mayor reappointed Ronald Benitez to the Small Business Commission; Ancel Martinez to the Park, Recreation, Open Space Advisory Committee (PROSAC); Anna Van Degna to the Office of Community Infrastructure and Investment Oversight Committee (OCII); and John Lisovsky and Frank Zepeda to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Citizens’ Advisory Committee. 

“These appointees bring decades of community engagement and public service,” said Mayor Lurie. “I look forward to working with each of them as we work to support San Francisco’s kids and families, build healthier communities, and drive our economic recovery.” 

Matthew Nguyen is a high school junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory with a strong academic record. Nguyen is the co-founder of Young Leaders in Climate Action, where he leads a team of students addressing climate education gaps through youth workshops, citywide events, and partnerships with the San Francisco Environment Department and community-based organizations. In addition to his climate leadership, Nguyen brings technical and collaborative experience through robotics, 3D printing, and engineering focused programs at U.C. Berkeley and Cornell University. Across all roles, he demonstrates communication skills, initiative, and the ability to bridge technical problem solving with community impact. 

Tina Yun is an operations, business development, and community engagement professional with ties to San Francisco and the Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods. She brings over two decades of experience across aviation operations, sales leadership, entrepreneurship, and client services, with a strong track record of managing complex stakeholder relationships, solving operational challenges, and leading teams. Yun currently works for JetBlue at San Francisco International Airport and is the founder and owner of Atomy Connect. She has an extensive record of civic and community leadership and has served in multiple leadership roles within San Francisco Unified School District communities. 

Ronald Benitez is a business and community leader with more than 20 years of experience across retail, wellness, fitness, and community focused enterprises. He currently serves as CrossFit director and head coach at The Cave, where he leads program strategy, staff development, youth programming, and business growth initiatives. Benitez has built a long career in retail merchandising and project management and brings civic and small business leadership in San Francisco as past president of the Fillmore Merchants Association. He combines strong people leadership and entrepreneurial experience with a demonstrated commitment to community development—making him well-suited for advisory and governance roles that require stakeholder engagement and practical, on-the-ground insight. 

Ancel Martinez is a communications executive with experience spanning Fortune 30 companies, global financial institutions, and consultancies. Martinez is a bilingual Spanish speaker and author and brings a strong public service lens to his work, including 19 years of volunteer service with PROSAC and current board service with Root Division, a nonprofit supporting visual arts. He is the principal of AAM Communications, where he advises executives on messaging, executive presence, and stakeholder engagement. His earlier experience includes private equity, higher education, and journalism, including reporting with NPR and KQED. 

Anna Van Degna serves under the controller at OCII. In this role, she represents the city, manages general fund and district debt, and brings strong communication skills and extensive debt experience to her oversight responsibilities. As redevelopment agencies undergo full dissolution, her work includes overseeing replacement housing obligations and providing effective representation during a critical transition period. She is an experienced banking and finance professional and from 2002 through 2018, she advanced from analyst to managing director at a bank, building deep expertise in debt management and public-sector finance. She lives in Cow Hollow with her husband, who is also a city employee. 

John Lisovsky is a public-school educator, writer, and civic leader with more than a decade of classroom teaching experience in San Francisco. He currently teaches English Language Arts at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, and he previously taught at Francisco Middle School and Richmond High School. Lisovsky has served on the SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Council since 2020 and currently serves as vice chair of the SFMTA Bond Oversight Committee. He is a former lead of San Francisco YIMBY and has held leadership roles within the California Federation of Teachers, including on its Climate Justice Education Committee. John holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree from San Francisco State University. 

Frank Zepeda is a San Francisco transportation advocate with more than four decades of experience supporting Muni’s rail and transit operations. He has supported developing conceptual schedules and service plans, preparing historic railcars for service, advancing ADA accessibility demonstrations, and advocating for the preservation and expansion of San Francisco’s transit fleet. Zepeda has served on the SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Council since 2012, including five years as vice chair and ongoing service as chair of the Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee. Through both formal advisory roles and decades of volunteer service, Zepeda brings a combination of subject matter expertise, public accountability, and dedication to San Francisco’s transportation infrastructure.