SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Adam Quiñonez, 32, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director for legislative and policy review at the California Department of Consumer Affairs, where he has served as assistant deputy director for legislative and regulatory review since 2015. Quiñonez was a legislative manager at the California Employment Development Department from 2012 to 2015. He served as a research analyst at the California Workforce Investment Board from 2010 to 2012, where he was an associate analyst from 2009 to 2012. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $104,988. Quiñonez is a Democrat.
Alana Mathews, 41, of Elk Grove, has been reappointed public advisor at the California Energy Resources and Conservation Development Commission, where she served since 2013 and was senior attorney from 2012 to 2013. Mathews was a deputy district attorney at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2012 and an executive fellow at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2003 to 2004. She is a member of the Sacramento County Bar Association Board. Matthews earned Master of Law and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,592. Mathews is a Democrat.
James Duckens, 59, of Elk Grove, has been appointed project director for the Office of Systems Integration at the California Health and Human Services Agency. Duckens has been project director at Covered California, California’s Health Benefit Exchange, since 2015. He was deputy secretary for information technology and chief agency information officer at the California State Transportation Agency from 2014 to 2015 and director of the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Project at the California Health and Human Services Agency’s Office of Systems Integration from 2011 to 2014. Duckens was a project manager at California Correctional Health Care Services from 2010 to 2011 and chief of the California Department of Finance’s Project Management Office from 2007 to 2012, where he was project oversight manager from 2002 to 2007. Duckens was project oversight manager at the California Department of Information Technology from 1998 to 2002 and information technology supervisor at the California Department of General Services from 1988 to 1998. He served as senior master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Active Duty Reserve from 1982 to 2000 and staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force from 1977 to 1982. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $135,216. Duckens is a Democrat.
Natalie Bamshad-Alavi, 56, of Greenbrae, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where she has served since 2013. Bamshad-Alavi has been president and owner at NBA Engineering Inc. since 1994. She was chief engineer and head of the Mechanical and Electrical Department at Foster Engineering from 1991 to 1994. Bamshad-Alavi was chief engineer at AECOM-DMJM in 1990 and a project engineer at DMJM from 1985 to 1989. She earned a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Bamshad-Alavi is registered without party preference.
Coby King, 55, of West Hills, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where he has served since 2013. King has been president and chief executive officer for public affairs at High Point Strategies LLC since 2013. He was a public affairs executive at Ek and Ek from 2012 to 2013 and senior vice president for California corporate and public affairs at the MWW Group from 2008 to 2012. King was president and chief executive officer of Coby King Communications from 1999 to 2008, vice president of public affairs at Rogers and Associates from 1997 to 1999, an attorney at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP from 1995 to 1997 and legal counsel at the California State Board of Equalization from 1993 to 1995. He was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom from 1991 to 1993. King earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. King is a Democrat.
Asha Brooks Lang, 34, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where she has served since 2013. Brooks Lang has been an advertising, marketing and promotions paralegal at the Walt Disney Company since 2012. She was a project manager at World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. from 2008 to 2011. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Brooks Lang is a Democrat.
Matthew McGuinness, 46, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the California Architects Board, where he has served since 2012. McGuinness has been president at Interior Design Services since 2009, where he was vice president from 1998 to 2009, sales and marketing manager from 1995 to 1998, a sales associate from 1989 to 1994 and a bookkeeper from 1988 to 1989. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. McGuinness is a Republican.
Nilza Serrano, 54, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Architects Board, where she has served since 2013. Serrano has been director of business development at Affinity Flavors Inc. since 2010. She was a producer at Media Shop Inc. from 1999 to 2010. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Serrano is a Democrat.