It’s time to meet
the future of law.

Diego Alejandro Arp

Diego Arp provides legal support for various business activities both domestic and foreign, for Wells Fargo Capital Finance including regulatory and compliance work, commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions and complex integrations. Strategize and coordinate business activity with internal groups including Senior Management, Treasury, Operations, Marketing, Accounting and Sales. He provides guidance to and manages external counsel regarding business, compliance, regulatory and tax matters as it relates to our company. Diego has developed and assisted with implementing corporate policies and procedures for the group’s business activities. He mentors and provides support to junior team members, interns, and students. Diego assists and plans Diversity and Inclusion activities within the department to broaden opportunities and access to the legal profession.

Dr. Celia Esposito-Noy

Dr. Celia Esposito-Noy has served as the Superintendent/President of the Solano Community College (SCC) District since 2015 and will retire at the end of the 2024 college school year with her tenure ending June 30, 2024.

She began her higher education career as classified staff at Chabot College supervising tutoring services. Following graduate school, she served as a dean at a liberal arts college before returning to work in the community college system as adjunct faculty, director, associate vice president, vice president, interim president and most recently as Vice Chancellor, Educational Services at Chabot-Las Positas Community College District.

She has served as president and past president for the CCCCSSAA (Chief Student Services Administrators) and as a member of the CCCAA Board (Athletic Association). Much of her professional work has focused on developing strategies and interventions for successfully serving students enrolled in basic skills classes, students suffering from trauma, and those with mental health challenges. She has presented at state and national conferences on strategies for advancing student success. Her dissertation examined the use of social modeling in a basic skills math class as a means for informing successful student behavior. Since Esposito-Noy became superintendent-president, the college has seen an increase in enrollment to over 9,000 students, including growth in first-time student enrollment; the establishment of two medical school pathways; a BS degree in Biomanufacturing; and the institution’s sound fiscal practices. In addition to a collaborative effort to provide online courses and additional support for students during the pandemic, Esposito-Noy says she is also proud of continuing efforts to make SCC “a welcoming place.” The college has focused on attending to student and staff needs and wants to be known as a college that cares. “We’ve loaned Chromebooks to hundreds of students, provided new and returning students financial support through the Solano Promise, and have improved the time it takes to complete financial aid packaging,” she said. “We’ve partnered with local hotels to provide temporary housing for students, and with the food bank to provide students access to healthy food at all three campuses. We have partnered with graduate programs to offer psychological counseling to students, both in person and online, and we have worked with community partners to expand training and employment opportunities.” Celia earned her BA degree from San Francisco State University, her MA degree from Stanford University, and her Ed.D. from Mills College. She has lived in Solano County since 1998 and currently resides in Fairfield.

Carlos Garcia

Carlos Garcia grew up in south Sacramento and attended Elk Grove schools. At an early age he was inspired by committed and passionate teachers. Carlos took an interest in history and stories his uncle told him of marching with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. As the first person in his family to attend college, Carlos came to believe that the greatest endeavor one could undertake is to inspire young people to live up to their greatest potential, just as his teachers had inspired him.

In 2006 and chose to a work at Florin High School due to its diverse student population. In 2008 a group of teachers and administrators began work on a grant proposal to create a Law Academy at Florin High School, and Mr. Garcia was chosen to lead the program. The concept behind the Law Academy is to increase diversity in the legal profession by empowering young people with the skills and opportunity to pursue legal careers, and in turn, become advocates for their underrepresented communities.

Since its inception, the Florin High Law Academy has produced several successful attorneys with more in the pipeline. To help prepare students for law school and their future legal careers, Mr. Garcia runs a highly successful regional high school mock trial program in partnership with McGeorge School of Law and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Mr. Garcia continues to teach and coordinate the Law Academy and is inspired by the opportunity to continue to grow and develop the program.

Judge Brenda F. Harbin-Forte

Judge Brenda F. Harbin-Forte retired from the Superior Court of Alameda County in 2019, after serving more than 27 years as a judge.  Her judicial experience ranges from criminal and civil jury trials and hearings, drug courts, Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court, Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court, and full-time settlement judge for civil and family law cases.  Her leadership positions in California’s judiciary include serving on the California Judicial Council, serving as the first African American woman Dean of the B.E. Witkin Judicial College, and serving as Chair of the Judicial Council of the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL). She has consulted on various bench books and benchguides for judges, and has planned and taught judicial education courses in California, Nevada, New York, Fiji, Jamaica, and Panama.  She has worked tirelessly on efforts to diversify the judiciary and the bar.  

Before becoming a judge, she was an equity partner at Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges in Oakland and San Francisco, handling business litigation matters. Her bar activities include service as the first African American woman President of the Alameda County Bar Association, President of Black Women Lawyers Association of Northern California, and Chair of the State Bar of California’s Council on Access and Fairness. She received her Bachelor’s degree from U.C. Berkeley in 1976, and her law degree from U.C. Berkeley’s Law School in 1979, the same year she was admitted to the California Bar.  

Judge Harbin-Forte’s current post-retirement activities include service as the President of the Foundation for Judicial Education, Vice President of the Bernard E and Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation, Treasurer for the Judicial Council of the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), General Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Oakland Branch, and Judicial Advisor North for CABL’s President. She recently completed service on the State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE Commission), which evaluates candidates seeking judicial appointment from the Governor, and the Oakland Police Commission, which oversees the Oakland Police Department to ensure that its policies, practices, and customs meet or exceed national standards of constitutional policing. 

Judge Harbin-Forte has received numerous honors and awards from many different organizations over the course of her distinguished career, including the following: Distinguished Service Award from the California Judicial Council; Lifetime Achievement, and Hall of Fame Awards from the Charles Houston Bar Association and CABL; Alba Witkin Humanitarian Award from the California Judges Association; Criminal Justice Award from the NAACP Oakland Branch; Crystal Gavel Award from the Judicial Council of CABL; Judge of the Year Award from the Alameda County Bar Association; Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association; Champion of Diversity Award from the Minority Bar Coalition; Rose Bird Memorial Award from California Women Lawyers; Woman Jurist of Distinction Award from Women Lawyers of Alameda County; and several awards recognizing her work on diversifying the judiciary and the legal profession.

Toni Jaramilla

Toni Jaramilla is an employment and civil rights attorney. Since 1994, she has successfully litigated hundreds of cases of discrimination, racial and sexual harassment, wrongful termination, disability accommodations, leave law violations, retaliation/whistleblower, and wage and hour claims resulting in multi-millions of dollars in settlements, verdicts, and arbitration awards. She represents clients from minimum wage earners to high level executives in all industries. She has extensive experience in both state and federal courts and has successfully argued before the California Court of Appeal. Several of her civil rights cases (police brutality and wrongful death) and activism have been featured in news media, including her meetings with LA Chief of Police, Michel Moore and LA County Sherriff, Alex Villanueva on the issues of police abuse towards protestors during the civil unrest following George Floyd’s murder. She is a frequent speaker at seminars and on radio shows and has been a guest lecturer at law schools. She leads several legal bar organizations as the first Pilipina woman to fill such leadership roles while advocating for improved cultural and gender diversity in the legal profession. She lobbies and testifies at the California State Capitol and helps draft stronger legislation to protect California workers, particularly on the issues of sexual harassment and gender equality, several of which have been signed into law by Governors Brown and Newsom (SB 1300 and AB 9).

Linda Kingston

Linda Kingston is a retired public educator of 30 years. Serving five districts spanning her three-decade career. She has extensive experience with secondary instruction and leadership. As a director in Sacramento City Unified School District, she supported the districts CTE programs including the California Partnership Academies (CPA’s) from providing curriculum support, to master scheduling challenges to building partnerships with advisory boards and local community colleges.
Jesse Bethel High School Law Academy in Vallejo, California was built under her leadership while she was the principal. During her tenure Bethel’s Law Academy established a Restorative Practice Youth Court where law academy students processed school discipline cases through Restorative Practices. Created a partnership with Solano Community College for the Law Academy seniors to take two of the Law pathway courses in their senior year. As well as building strong relations within the community to support the students, which was imperative for the Law Academy’s success.

As a 5th generation Californian, she believes in the public school system. High Schools have an amazing energy. Dreams are created and supported, relationships matter, and it takes the whole community to support the child through high school. She looks forward to continuing the work of equity & inclusion in the field of Law to ensure that the educational dreams of our students are fulfilled.

She graduated with a BA in History from California State University of Fresno and a MA in education from University of California Berkeley.

Alana Mathews

Alana Mathews is an equity champion, inclusion strategist and agent of change. She currently serves as an Assistant District Attorney for the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office. She is also an Adjunct Professor at McGeorge School of Law teaching and training on Implicit Bias and is the Founder of the Racial Equity and Justice Summer Practicum program. Ms. Mathews began her legal career as a deputy district attorney for Sacramento County before being appointed Public Adviser by Governor Brown for the California Energy Commission. She was later appointed Chief Consultant for the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change for the California Legislature and is Director Emeritus of Policy, Training and Membership for the Prosecutors Alliance of California.

Ms. Mathews earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Spelman College and her Juris Doctor (J.D.) and a Master of Laws, (LL.M) in Governmental Affairs and Public from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

Ms. Mathews has won numerous awards including the Wiley Manual Bar Association’s Attorney of the Year, the National Bar Association’s Nation’s Best Advocate award, Sac Cultural Hub and UC Davis’ Exceptional Woman of Color award, The Ella Hill Hutch award and she was recently recognized by the Sacramento Bee as one of the region’s Top 25 Changemakers. Last year she made history as the first African-American and woman of color to run for Sacramento County District Attorney.

Ms. Mathews currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Girls Scouts Heart of Central California Council and the Advisory Board for Fitrah, Inc. She is a Life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Black Women Organized for Political Action, and Girl Scouts. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento County Bar Association, the Wiley Manuel Bar Association, was the inaugural Advisory Board Chair for the Florin High School Law Academy. She is the founder of the Critical Thinking Workshop series, the Summer Institute for Energy Law and Policy and the Community Justice Collaborative. She is the proud Army wife of retired First Sgt. Eugene Arcurio and mom to Caleb, Jordan, and Josiah.

Scott Newman

Scott Newman is a proud graduate of UC, Berkeley and Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He worked as a civil litigation attorney for 10 years before transitioning into a career in education. After earning his teaching credential from Cal State University, Long Beach, he was hired to teach in the Cabrillo Academy of Law and Justice (CAL-J) at Cabrillo High School in Long Beach, California. During his career at Cabrillo, Scott has taught numerous classes within the pathway and had the opportunity to impact the lives of hundreds of students. For the last three years, he has also had the pleasure of being the lead teacher for CAL-J, working with other pathway teachers, administrators and the community to improve the pathway and provide opportunities for students. During this time, CAL-J created a Summer Forensic Institute for students, strengthened its advisory board, and grew its mentoring program, while giving students opportunities to attend field trips throughout Southern California and hear from guest speakers in a variety of legal fields as part of its CAL-J Guest Speaker Series.

Dr. Carol Ross-Burnett Penn

Dr. Carol Ross-Burnett Penn brings her unique lived experience, expertise, scholarship and spirit to her professional and creative endeavors through her company, CRB Global LLC. She has helped organizations identify and overcome behavioral and systemic bias for over thirty years and is widely known in the legal profession for this work. Her doctorate is in organizational change and leadership from the University of Southern California.  

Dr. Ross-Burnett Penn held long tenures in law firm and law school senior administrative roles and has also consulted with prominent clients in entertainment, education, non-profit, business and other settings. Her resume includes decades of volunteer leadership in legal organizations, publications in law-related print and on-line media, and chapters in two best-selling books with stories highlighting African Americans and African American women.

A dynamic speaker, Dr. Ross-Burnett Penn holds the highest designation of DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster) from Toastmasters International. She is a singer and songwriter who performs regularly with the music outreach of Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo of Fifth Dimension fame, and is the founder of a support group for prominent women in the creative and performing arts.

Hon. Fumi Wasserman

Hon. Fumiko Wasserman graduated from Narbonne High School at the age of 16 and went on to obtain her B.A. and teaching credential from UCLA.  After teaching in the South Bay, she obtained her J.D. from Loyola Law School, where she was on Law Review and the Dean’s List.  After clerking for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr., Judge Wasserman became the first Asian American woman appointed Assistant United States Attorney in the United States.   She was appointed to the Municipal Court in 1986 and elevated to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1989 by Governor George Deukmejian.  She served on the California Commission on Judicial Performance, the Judicial Council’s Access and Fairness Committee, and as Chair of the Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER).  Her many awards include the Joan Dempsey Klein Distinguished Jurist Award from California Women Lawyers (for the advancement of women), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Trailblazer Award, and the Constitutional Rights Foundation Judge of the Year.  Judge Wasserman mentors new judges, lawyers, and at-risk youth.  She has taught at USC and Loyola Law School and judicial colleges.

Han Mi Yoon-Wu

Han Mi Yoon-Wu is the Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions for the University of California system. She has worked in admissions at the University of California Office of the President for 24 years, and the chief admissions officer for the UC system since 2018. During her tenure at UC, she has provided steadfast leadership in developing and implementing equitable admissions policies and technology solutions for the University of California. As a first-generation college graduate, she has dedicated her professional career to promoting access to higher education for students from all walks of life. Ms. Yoon-Wu holds degrees from Drake University and Stanford University.