Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Ricardo Reyes, 35, of Lynwood, has been appointed deputy secretary of minority veterans at the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Reyes has been a veteran employment coordinator at Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles since 2014. He was political coordinator at SEIU-United Long Term Care Workers from 2011 to 2014, a member of the California Mexican American Veterans’ Memorial Beautification Committee from 2012 to 2014 and administrative assistant at the TELACU Education Foundation’s Veterans Upward Bound from 2010 to 2011. Reyes was director of military outreach at the Veterans Project from 2009 to 2010 and consultant at the Brave New Foundation and Brave New Films from 2008 to 2009. Reyes served as an infantry rifleman in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2000 to 2008 and as a cavalry scout in the California Army National Guard from 1998 to 1999. Reyes is a member of the Jobs to Move America Coalition Steering Committee and the American Legion Los Angeles County Council Board of Directors. He earned a certificate in Executive and Management Development from the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $118,128. Reyes is a Democrat.
Hazel Miranda, 37, of Sacramento, has been appointed director of the Office of Governmental Affairs at the California Public Utilities Commission. Miranda has been an advisor to commissioner Andrew McAllister at the California Energy Commission since 2013. She was a public utilities regulatory analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission from 2011 to 2013 and a researcher and consultant at SEIU Local 1021 from 2010 to 2011. Miranda was a graduate consultant at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in 2009 and legislative director in the Office of California State Assemblymember Warren Furutani in 2008. She was a legislative aide in the Office of California State Assemblymember Jose Solorio from 2006 to 2008 and in the Office of California State Senator Martha Escutia from 2004 to 2006. Miranda was a Polanco fellow at the California Latino Legislative Caucus Institute for Public Policy from 2003 to 2004. She earned a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $119,004. Miranda is a Democrat.
Negar Noushkam, 41, of Rancho Palos Verdes, has been reappointed to the State Mining and Geology Board, where she has served since 2013. Noushkam has been chief engineer of the Aerospace Corporation’s Advanced Concepts Division since 2015. She was a senior principal engineer and space environment scientist at the Orbital Sciences Corporation from 2012 to 2015, lead space environment scientist and engineer at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems from 2006 to 2012 and senior project manager and engineer at Environmental Remediation Services Inc. from 2007 to 2011. Noushkam was lead photovoltaic design engineer at Northrop Grumman Space Technology from 2004 to 2006, environmental compliance manager and lead security assessor at Hudson Marine Management Services from 2001 to 2004 and environmental project manager and process engineer at the Exxon Mobil Corporation from 1997 to 2001. She earned a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Noushkam is a Democrat.
