Student Leadership
Jake Twomey // State Board Chair
Jake is a 3rd year student at UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Economics and Political Science. As well as being treasurer on the statewide board, he also serves as the vice chair of the UCSB chapter. He got involved with CALPIRG in 2023 working to increase protections for California’s coast. After that, he went on to fight climate change by running the CALPIRG Students 100% clean energy campaign, calling on the UC system to lead the nation by committing to 100% clean energy by 2035. Running the 100% clean energy campaign, he was able to organize students across the state to lobby their Universities to set more aggressive targets for clean energy.
Rena Cohen // State Board Vice Chair
Rena is a 3rd year student at UC Davis where they are majoring in Political Science and minoring in Social, Ethnic, and Gender Studies. They are the State Vice Chair of CALPIRG Students, as well as the Chair of UC Davis’ CALPIRG chapter. She got involved with CALPIRG in Spring of 2023, working to defend ocean protections across the California coastline. Since then, they have worked on the Beyond Plastics campaign to ban “reusable” plastic bags across the state of California by organizing volunteers at UC Davis and building a coalition of businesses downtown that support the plastic bag ban. Now, she is working to defend our nation’s old growth forests. As Vice Chair, they plan to improve recruitment, retention, and leadership development across the state.
Ethan Huizar // State Board Treasurer
Ethan is a second year student at UC Irvine majoring in Biological Sciences. He serves as member-at-large for the CALPIRG UCI chapter, as well as member at large on the Statewide Executive Committee. Ethan got involved with CALPIRG in January of 2024, starting as an intern for the Beyond Plastics campaign. After attending a lobbying conference in Sacramento and completing a pledge drive, he became UCI’s Waste is Out of Fashion campaign coordinator, advocating for the adoption of a textile recycling policy across the fashion industry. Since then, he has been on the Statewide Executive Committee as a member at large, focusing on recruitment and leadership development within CALPIRG as a whole.
Toby Ngo // State Board Secretary
Toby is a 4th year student at UC San Diego, majoring in Political Science with a specialization in public policy. As well as being on the statewide board, he also serves as the Chapter chair of the UCSD chapter. He got involved with CALPIRG in 2022 working to increase civic engagement among young people for the 2022 midterm elections. After that, he went on to work on increasing marine protected areas in California and advocating for the University of California system to transition to 100% fully renewable energy by 2035. Running the Protect Our Oceans campaign on a statewide basis, he was able to organize students to help open a petition process within the Fish and Game Commission to continue discussing the fate of California’s marine protected areas. Now he focuses on the protect our old growth forests campaign.
Addison Wendling // State Board Member at Large
Addison is a second year Environmental Science major at UC Berkeley. She is the Chapter Chair at UCB as well as a Member at Large of the state board. She first got involved in CALPIRG during the beginning of her freshman year, working as a social media intern on the 100% Clean Energy campaign before becoming the grasstops coordinator of the Beyond Plastics campaign working to fully ban plastic grocery bags. She has since lobbied on multiple bills and canvassed to increase Marine Protected Areas along the California coastline. She is now working to protect old growth forests.
Sierra Ferrante // Student Campus Organizer
Sierra is a 2nd year Environmental Studies Major at UCSB. She is the State Board Chair of CALPIRG Students, and the Chapter Chair for CALPIRG’s UCSB Chapter. She got involved in 2023, working to get the UC system to commit to 100% clean energy by 2035. Since then, she has worked as the Beyond Plastics coordinator at UCSB, representing the group at the state, national, and international levels. She has also lobbied elected officials in Santa Barbara county, Sacramento, and Washington D.C. about environmental issues. She spent the summer canvassing in Santa Barbara to expand Marine Protected Areas in California and pass a statewide ban on plastic bags.
Our Staff
Veronika Michels // Organizing Director
Veronika Michels is the Organizing Director for CALPIRG Students, based in Los Angeles. Veronika got her start as a chapter student with her CALPIRG chapter at UC San Diego as an undergraduate before coming onto staff as a Campus Organizer in 2019. In her time on staff with CALPIRG Students, Veronika helped win campus and statewide commitments to phasing out single-use plastics and getting to 100 percent clean and renewable energy. In her spare time, Veronika enjoys hiking, surfing, and visiting friends.
Kathryn Gonzalez-Valle // Assistant Organizing Director
Kathryn works in California to recruit and train college students at University of California, Los Angeles, to make a difference on public interest issues. Before joining staff, Kathryn was the vice chair of the UCLA CALPIRG chapter, as well as the treasurer on the CALPIRG Students statewide board of directors. Kathryn lives in Los Angeles where she enjoys reading, coffee and playing with her cat, Nugget.
Jenn Engstrom // CALPIRG Executive Director
Jenn directs CALPIRG’s advocacy efforts, and is a leading voice in Sacramento and across the state on protecting public health, consumer protections and defending our democracy. Jenn has served on the CALPIRG board for the past two years before stepping into her current role. Most recently, as the deputy national director for the Student PIRGs, she helped run our national effort to mobilize hundreds of thousands of students to vote. She led CALPIRG’s organizing team for years and managed our citizen outreach offices across the state, running campaigns to ban single-use plastic bags, stop the overuse of antibiotics, and go 100% renewable energy. Jenn lives in Los Angeles, where she enjoys spending time at the beach and visiting the many amazing restaurants in her city.
Dan Xie // National Political Director
Dan directs the national political strategy and grant fundraising for the Student PIRGs. Dan has managed successful campaigns from coast to coast to cap global warming pollution, fight the high cost of higher education, and make voting more accessible for students. She has recruited and trained hundreds of students and staff on public interest campaigns. Dan lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., where she is an avid cyclist and climber.