SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Thomas Gibson, 47, of Sacramento, has been appointed general counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency. Gibson has been general counsel at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2010, where he was assistant chief counsel from 2008 to 2010. He was a partner at Best, Best and Krieger from 2005 to 2008, where he was an associate from 2002 to 2005. Gibson was an associate at Hyman, Phelps and McNamara from 1999 to 2002 and at Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann and Girard from 1997 to 1999. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $141,948. Gibson is a Republican.
Stephen Lau, 39, of Sacramento, has been appointed assistant general counsel at the California Department of Business Oversight. Lau has been a partner at Mennemeier Glassman LLP since 2014, where he was of counsel from 2010 to 2014 and an associate from 2003 to 2010. He was a law clerk for the Honorable William B. Shubb at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California from 2002 to 2003. Lau is director-at-large of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento and a member of the Sacramento Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, where he was president in 2010. He is a member of the Eastern District Conference Planning Committee and a lawyer representative at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Lau earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $132,408. Lau is a Democrat.
Rohimah Moly, 38, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy commissioner of legislation at the California Department of Business Oversight. Moly has been director of legislative affairs at the California State Treasurer’s Office since 2013, where she served as a special assistant from 2007 to 2013. She was campaign manager and northern political director at Lockyer for Treasurer from 2003 to 2006. Moly is a member of the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project Executive Board. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,004. Moly is a Democrat.
Claudia Crist, 41, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director of Health Care Delivery Systems at the California Department of Health Care Services. Crist has been revenue cycle process leader at Sutter Health Shared Services Center since 2013, where she has held several positions since 2000, including assistant administrator, regional director of training and development, system director of clinical auditing, manager of clinical auditing and senior internal auditor. She has been a multicultural health and healthcare delivery systems lecturer at California State University, Chico since 2013. Crist was a charge nurse at Mercy General Hospital from 1999 to 2000 and a staff registered nurse at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 1999 to 2000. She was a charge nurse at Southern Inyo Hospital from 1998 to 2000 and a staff registered nurse at Lancaster Community Hospital from 1997 to 1998, where she was a clinical laboratory assistant from 1993 to 1997. Crist is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the California Association of Healthcare Leaders. She earned a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $145,008. Crist is not registered to vote.
Hannah Katch, 26, of Washington, D.C., has been appointed assistant deputy director of Health Care Delivery Systems at the California Department of Health Care Services. Katch has served as senior health policy advisor at the Office of U.S. Senator Al Franken since 2011. She was a research assistant at the George Washington University Department of Health Policy’s Center for Health Care Quality from 2009 to 2011 and a project assistant at the National Institutes of Health and at the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2008. Katch earned a Master of Public Policy degree in health policy from George Washington University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $120,000. Katch is a Democrat.
Lande Ajose, 48, of Oakland, has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission. Ajose has been deputy director of California Competes since 2011. She was managing director of Informing Change from 2006 to 2011, a research associate at MDRC from 2005 to 2007 and a senior program officer at the James Irvine Foundation from 2001 to 2005. Ajose was a project manager at the Evaluation and Training Institute from 1991 to 1993, a program associate at Philanthropy New York from 1990 to 1991 and an admissions officer at Vassar College from 1987 to 1989. She is a member of the Institute for College Access and Success Board of Directors and the REDF Board of Directors. Ajose earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in urban and regional studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Arts degree in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Ajose is a Democrat.
Nancy Anton, 62, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission, where she has served since 2010. Anton was a principal consultant for the California State Senate Education Committee from 1992 to 2009 and was a consultant for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office from 1979 to 1992. She served as a legislative fellow for the California Assembly Fellowship Program from 1977 to 1978 and was an assistant administrator at the Alameda County Administrator’s Office from 1975 to 1977. Anton is a member of the California State Parks Foundation, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento Turtle and Tortoise Club, Friends of the Sacramento Public Library, Sierra Club, KVIE Public Television, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Anton is a Democrat.
Jessica Foresti, 19, of Redwood City, has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission. Foresti has been an assistant at the Notre Dame de Namur University Dorothy Stang Center since 2014. She was a crew member at Wendy’s and a service champion at Taco Bell in 2013. Foresti was a ride operator at California’s Great America and a tutor for Project Read at the Redwood City Public Library in 2013. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Foresti is registered without party preference.