Mayor Lurie Appoints Labor, Business, Immigrant Rights Leaders to Airport and Immigrant Rights Commissions

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced five appointments and reappointments to the San Francisco Airport Commission and Immigrant Rights Commission. He has appointed Suzy Jones to the Airport Commission and reappointed Jose Fuentes Almanza. Mayor Lurie also appointed Katharine Gin to the Immigrant Rights Commission and reappointed Soha Abdou and Monthanus Ratanapakdee. Together, the appointees bring decades of experience they will leverage to strengthen the city’s economic recovery and support immigrant communities across San Francisco.

“San Francisco's airport and our immigrant communities are both vital to what makes our city special,” said Mayor Lurie. “Keeping SFO running smoothly supports our economic recovery and connects San Francisco to the world. Supporting our immigrant neighbors is a core San Francisco value—and it’s what we will always do, as long as I’m mayor. I appreciate this group of leaders for their continued service to San Francisco, and I look forward to working with them to support the people and communities they will serve.”

Airport Commission

Suzy Jones (new appointment) is a biotech executive, board member, and social impact investor. She spent 20 years at Genentech before founding DNA Ink, a life science advisory firm where she serves as managing partner. She is also co-founder of two seed-stage biotech companies developing antibody drug conjugate therapies for cancer, and has served on the boards of Calithera Biosciences, Patrys, and Stem CentRx.

Raised by a single parent, she has focused much of her career and philanthropy on economic development for underemployed and under-resourced communities. Jones was appointed president of the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom and reappointed by Mayors Ed Lee and London Breed. In 2015, she served on Attorney General Kamala Harris's transition team, and she previously served on the board of Equality California, earning the State Farm Humanitarian and Good Neighbor Award. She provides pro-bono business guidance to executive directors of San Francisco nonprofits, and her social impact investment portfolio includes 1300 on Fillmore, Red Bay Coffee, and Moon Child, opening in the former Fog City Diner location.

Jose Fuentes Almanza (reappointment) is a labor leader representing San Francisco's electrical workers. He has served as business representative for IBEW Local 6 since 2014, and as a labor trustee for the San Francisco Electrical Workers Health and Welfare Plan since 2012. Fuentes Almanza also serves as the public policy committee chair of the San Francisco Building Trades Council and has been elected to the Inside Wireman's unit committee, to the examining board, and as a delegate to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Convention. He has also been appointed to the Inside Wireman agreement negotiating committee and the San Francisco Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee apprenticeship interview committee. Before entering union leadership, he worked as a foreman electrician. He trained through the San Francisco Joint Apprenticeship for the electrical industry and continues his education through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans' annual trustee education program.

Immigrant Rights Commission

Katharine Gin (new appointment) is the co-founder and former executive director of Immigrants Rising (originally founded as Educators for Fair Consideration), a San Francisco-based nonprofit that provides direct resources, leadership development, legal support, and advocacy for undocumented young people. She has also led the Legalization Project and the Bay Area Dreamer Initiative and serves as a strategic advisor to Path2Papers. Gin has developed educational programming in schools, housing projects, and detention facilities. She has served on the National Advisory Board of TheDream.US, on the leadership committee of the California Immigrant Policy Center, and as a philanthropic advisor to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. A San Francisco native, she studied at Yale University.

Soha Abdou (reappointment) is the senior resident services supervisor at the Chinatown Community Development Center, where she has held progressively senior roles since 2018. Bilingual in Arabic and English, Abdou also provides advocacy and translation support through the Asian Women's Shelter and as a freelance translator. She serves on the Tenderloin Community Benefit District board and organized San Francisco's first City Hall Ramadan Iftar Initiative. In 2021, she received the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission's Immigration Leadership Award. Abdou holds a Health Care Interpreter Certificate and earned her master's degree in environmental economics from the University of Birmingham.

Monthanus Ratanapakdee (reappointment) is a nonprofit executive focused on immigrant rights, public safety, and anti-Asian hate prevention. Following the death of her father, Vicha Ratanapakdee, she founded and serves as CEO of the Justice for Vicha Ratanapakdee Foundation, which promotes victims' rights and elder safety. She brings Thai, Southeast Asian, and limited-English-speaking perspectives to her seats on the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission and the board of the Southeast Asian Development Center. She also works with the San Francisco Unified School District's Student Nutrition Services to support student wellbeing.