Placement: General Services Administration, Office of Labor Standards Enforcement

What I Worked On: I helped implement and enforce the Employer Spending Requirement of the groundbreaking Health Care Security Ordinance, a new local law which was created to help bring universal health care to San Francisco residents and workers. I worked to develop protocols for implementing this new law, such as by assisting with the creation of reporting tools and updating Frequently Asked Questions and other public education materials. I presented to different community groups to increase educational awareness and outreach efforts, including the Chamber of Commerce, insurance brokers, and at neighborhood merchant meetings.

I also was the person responsible for answering the HCSO hotline, where employers can call in to find out about this Ordinance or if they need to come into compliance, employees can call in to file a complaint, and the general public can ask questions and find out about the law and be connected with other resources (such as Healthy San Francisco). As a compliance officer, my job was to open investigations and conduct compliance audits based on first hand accounts of non-compliance. This included face-to-face interviews, on-site investigations, and phone interviews with workers and employers, in-depth audits of materials related to health care benefits, payroll records, and health care expenditures/calculations, and issuing determinations and assessing penalties when appropriate.

Hometown: Northridge, CA

School: California State University, Chico

Field of Study: Sociology

Selected Honors: Glenn Kendall Public Service Award; Robert Rankin Outstanding Sociology Student Award

Selected Activities and Community Involvement: Co-founder/president of the Sociological Association of Chico State; Volunteer Teacher for Citizen Schools in San Jose, CA

Prior Work Experience: Senior Research Recruiter, Microsoft Corporation; Sourcer, NVIDIA; Technical Sourcer, Google

Why San Francisco is important to me: While living and working in the Silicon Valley during the two years after college, I found myself driving to San Francisco nearly every other weekend to go to various festivals, rallies, concerts, athletic games, comedy shows, parades, museums, etc. Having grown up in L.A. and then going to college in a small town, I value the diversity that San Francisco offers – from being ethnically and culturally diverse, to the types of music and foods to be found, to the social and political climate that is so hard to ignore.

Something unique about me: I love the outdoors – hiking, camping, swimming, star-gazing, barbecuing, picnics, and any activity outside in the fresh air – especially going to the beach!

What I’m Doing Now: I am continuing to work on local public health issues as a Research Analyst at the SEIU UHW in Oakland, CA.