CA FWD is proud to welcome eight emerging professionals to the CA FWD Young Leaders Program (YLP). These dynamic changemakers from across California join our current members to bring new and unique perspectives to this leadership initiative designed to shape California’s future.
The 2025 cohort represents a variety of regions and professional backgrounds, bringing experience in environmental sustainability, legislative policy, renewable energy, economic development, local government, and community development. Emily Boettger (Southern Central Valley), Guadalupe Dabos (Sacramento), Erik Hagstrom (Solano County), Lizbeth Martinez-Ramos (Riverside), Fabiola Moreno Ruelas (San Diego/Salinas Valley), Andres Murillo (Santa Cruz/Saratoga), Yuridiana Pantoja (Yolo County), and Angel Pippins-Lopez (San Diego) will participate in this comprehensive two-year leadership development program.
New and current members will take part in an immersive curriculum designed to build policy expertise, leadership skills, and powerful statewide networks. Throughout the program, members will engage in monthly virtual sessions with expert speakers and workshops exploring systems thinking, policy writing, legislative processes and strategic communications. The program will focus on advancing CA FWD’s integrated approach to building a resilient and inclusive economy from the regions up, with emphasis on how climate action and sustainable energy transition can drive equitable economic development across California.
Members are currently planning a summer convening in Sacramento, an in-person event that combines policy research, project management, and networking with decision-makers and leadership development programs. . This gathering will provide opportunities to build community, enhance public speaking skills, and engage with content knowledge experts while examining how California’s regions are implementing integrated economic strategies that simultaneously advance climate resilience and clean energy transition.
For full biographies of YLP members and more information about the program, visit cafwd.org/ylp.
