1964-2022

Susan Sandler was a philanthropist and political donor. She was the first and largest donor behind the independent efforts to support Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She was also the lead investor in the independent activities supporting Kamala Harris’ 2010 campaign for California Attorney General and Cory Booker’s 2013 election to the United States Senate. She was a national leader in education reform and served as a board member of several progressive non-profit organizations including the Democracy Alliance.

PRESIDENT

Steve Phillips is a national political leader, bestselling author, and columnist. He is the author of TheNew York Times bestseller Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majorityand the newly released national bestselling book How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good.

He is a columnist for The Guardian and The Nation, and an opinion contributor to The New York Times. He is also the host of “Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips,” a color-conscious podcast on politics. He is the founder of Democracy in Color, a political media organization dedicated to race, politics and the multicultural progressive New American Majority.

Phillips is a graduate of Stanford University and University of California College of the Law, San Francisco and practiced civil rights and employment law for many years. Phillips has appeared on multiple national radio and television networks including NBC, CNN, MSNBC and C-SPAN.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL

Emi provides legal and strategic advice to the founders of the Sandler Phillips Center, manages outside counsel, and is responsible for all legal matters and operations associated with the Center’s activities. With over 20 years of legal experience, Emi litigated a broad array of employment and commercial matters in private practice. She was a trusted adviser to clients large (including companies in the Fortune 500) and small, in the nonprofit and for profit sector, representing a wide range of industries from healthcare to tech. She regularly defended clients in investigations by state and federal agencies, and conducted scores of trainings, understanding that education was key to achieving compliance.

Emi has a long-standing commitment to public service. She was President of the Asian American Bar Association, one of the largest minority bar associations in the country, from 2012-2013. Active in civil society, she served on the Immigrant Rights and Ethics Commissions for the City and County of San Francisco. Appointed to the Ethics Commission in 2004, she chaired the Commission for two years before her term concluded in 2010. During her tenure, she oversaw a dramatic increase in the staff and budget, which allowed the Commission to expand its public and municipal education programs, and to fulfill its mandates.

Emi is a 2010 recipient of the Best Under 40 Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and a 2013 recipient of Minority Bar Coalition’s Unity Award for her longstanding work to increase diversity in the legal profession and in the judiciary.

Emi holds a BA degree from UCLA, and a law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law.