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National Staff

Executive Team

  • Daniella Kelley

    she/her

    Executive Coordinator

    Daniella Kelley is an Indianapolis-based executive coordinator at the Green New Deal Network. With a background in communications, operations, and community organizing at various climate organizations, Daniella brings a passion for social change and a lot of awkward humor to the movement for a Green New Deal.

  • Kaniela Ing

    he/him

    National Director

    Kaniela has organized at the intersections of climate and community for over 15 years. In 2020, he cofounded GNDN while working as Climate Justice Campaign Director at People’s Action. He led national campaigns to mobilize communities and Members of Congress to introduce the THRIVE Act and pass the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure and Investments Jobs Act. Kaniela became the Network’s first National Director in 2022.

    Previously, he served in the Hawaii State Legislature, where he secured hundreds of millions of dollars in of climate investments and passed game-changing laws to advance climate justice and democracy. He is a proud parent of two young children, writes and performs music in his spare time, identifies as Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian).

  • Mary Grace Wolf

    she/her

    Chief Development Officer

    Mary Grace brings 20 years of national, regional, and local fundraising experience for social justice, racial equity, and environmental justice groups to her role at GNDN. She has experience as a Fundraising Canvasser, Canvass Director, Development Associate, Director of Individual Giving, Fundraising Director, and Chief Development Officer. She lives in Aurora, IL, with her wife and two cute kids, Everett and Emerson.

  • Talia Harris

    she/her

    Chief Operating and Financial Officer

    Talia Harris is a forward-thinking professional with strong expertise in managing multi-million dollar budgets, streamlining highly complex operations, and building high-caliber teams. She brings extensive nonprofit experience in economic and environmental justice to her role as the Chief Operating and Financial Officer. She is based in the Washington, DC, area and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Communications Team

  • Daniela (Dani) Marin

    she/they

    Senior Communications Manager, Digital & Content

    Dani Marin is a narrative strategist, multimedia producer, and community storyteller based out of Orlando, Florida. With a background as a community organizer and reporter, she brings a media justice lens to Storytelling and Content Work in the fight for a Green New Deal.

  • Jacob Castillo

    they/them

    Comms. Associate, Social Media

    Jacob Castillo is a graphic designer, digital organizer, and social media content creator based in Houston, Texas. Their experiences growing up in some of their city’s most polluted and underserved communities have given them very personal ties to the climate justice movement and the fight for a Green New Deal.

  • Jorge Estevez

    he/him

    Comms. Manages, State and Spanish Comms.

    Jorge Estevez is a communications organizer based in San Antonio, Texas. Raised in a Latine immigrant community, Jorge’s background includes digital and press strategy with a particular focus on decolonial approaches to collective liberation in media from the perspective of queer, Latine, and Indigenous communities.

  • Kayla Gaines

    she/her

    Comms. Associate, Press

    Kayla Gaines is a communications associate based out of Houston, TX. She is a part of the media relations team, where she leads in storytelling through an environmental justice lens. In her spare time, Kayla enjoys browsing the sci-fi section of a bookstore and running around with her puppy, Bo.

  • Prerna Jagadeesh

    she/her

    Press Secretary

    Prerna Jagadeesh leads GNDN’s work to amplify the Green New Deal and stories of people fighting for climate, worker, and racial justice in the media. She previously did comms for progressive ballot campaigns in Massachusetts, labor unions in the Northeast, More Perfect Union, and Data for Progress. She got her start as an organizer, and is passionate about building a worker-centric economy and a just transition.

  • Sumer Shaikh

    she/her

    Communications Director

    Sumer Shaikh is a climate campaigner motivated by the vision of the Green New Deal and the opportunities to make this vision a reality through strategic communications and values-based messaging. Prior to her current role, Sumer launched GNDN’s press operations to bring more stories of people who are impacted by politics & policy to mainstream media.

Field Organizing Team

  • Kanitra Caston Lee

    she/her

    National Field Manager

    A native New Orleanian, Kanitra brings over ten years of nonprofit administration experience to her role at GNDN. After commencing her activism journey working to close the vast inequity gap in her hometown while keeping the cultural integrity of the city intact, she’s since worked with organizations and movements throughout the Gulf South to advance environmental justice in the region through a racial justice lens. She hosts the ‘Loving Blackness’ radio show and believes her greatest accomplishment is her loving & wonderful relationship with her teenage son, Kam. 

  • Mercedes Renshaw

    she/her

    National Distributed Organizer

    Mercedes Renshaw is a national field organizer currently based out of northern Colorado. Her life journey has molded her commitment to engaging in political activism to build a country that truly values Indigenous sovereignty, racial equity, working-class families, education, and the environment.

  • Ryan Rastegar

    he/they

    National Organizing Director

    Ryan Rastegar is an organizer at heart and has worked exclusively in the world of progressive politics and campaigns for over 15 years. With experience on issues ranging from climate and conservation to women’s rights and LGBTQ issues, he deeply believes in the need to apply a justice lens to the fight for a Green New Deal. He is experienced in both field and digital organizing, and is passionate about politicizing and empowering the masses to fight back against intersecting forces of oppression.

Legislative & Politics Team

  • Giancarlo Valdetaro

    he/him

    Legislative Associate

    Giancarlo Valdetaro is a transportation policy professional and movement builder living in Washington, D.C. With a background in electoral politics and the movement for a more sustainable and just transportation system, he looks to pull all the transportation policy levers we can in the fight for a Green New Deal.

  • Nassim Ashford

    he/him

    Legislative Associate

    Nassim Ashford is a legislative associate with a strong commitment to public health and environmental justice, having led and supported initiatives that alleviate community health disparities and promote environmental stewardship. He’s a Yale School of Public Health graduate and former public health associate for the CDC, as well as team member Congresswoman Karen Bass, and co-founder of NoirUnited International.

  • Priya Mulgaonkar

    she/her

    Senior Policy & Field Manager

    Priya Mulgaonkar has worked for a decade at the intersection of policy, planning, and organizing to advocate for environmental and climate justice solutions that center frontline communities. She brings prior experience working at Hester Street and the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance to her current role at GNDN, where her work supports research and capacity building for state and federal climate advocacy campaigns.

  • Saul Levin

    he/him

    Legislative & Political Director

    Saul Levin is a union organizer and climate campaigner from Michigan. He co-founded and served as a Vice President of the Congressional Workers Union and worked as Policy Advisor for Congresswomen Cori Bush and Deb Haaland. In winters, he plays pond hockey with his three siblings.

Operations Team

  • Vincent (Vinny) Eubanks

    he/him

    Senior Operations Associate

    Vinny is an operations professional with over five years of experience in operations, financial, and administrative assistance. Vinny specializes in administrative and information technology and is responsible for educating other employees on using progressive systems and applications, including accounting procedures and organizational apps. Vinny is inspired daily by his daughter and likes to hike, play sports, and play video games in his free time.