CILA 2024 - Coolest in LA

It’s hard to stay cool when we just experienced the hottest summer on record. Rising temperatures are forcing us to examine the grave impact of severe storms, temperature extremes, and drought in Los Angeles and communities around the globe.

Our organization, Climate Resolve, has been tackling climate change for over 13 years. From paving the way for cooler streets in Pacoima to installing smog-eating cool roofs in the Watts and Wilmington communities, we build collaborations to champion equitable climate solutions to tackle a global problem with local action.

We must continue the momentum for our health and climate resilience to create a cooler LA and beyond. . . which is why we want you to join us on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at our Coolest in LA gala.

This year’s Coolest in LA will be held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. For one unforgettable evening, more than 400 leaders, community members, and advocates will come together to celebrate local climate achievements.

Our sponsorship deck is viewable when you click here — with levels ranging from $2,500 to a premier sponsorship of $100,000.

We’re excited to come together to celebrate a better future!

EMCEE

Yvette Martinez
Executive Director
California Democratic Party (CADEM)

Yvette Martinez was selected as Executive Director of the California Democratic Party (CADEM) in April 2020. The CADEM is the largest state Democratic Party in the nation, and Yvette is currently the only Latina leading a state party in the country. Prior to this position, she served in the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom as Southern California Director. Yvette has over 20 years of experience managing campaigns, coalition building and shaping public policy.

In 2019, Yvette managed the campaign for Rusty Hicks for California Democratic Party Chair. In 2018, she helped lead the effort to pass LA County ballot Measure W which passed in November 2018 with nearly 70% of the vote. Measure W provides millions in funding to help secure a safe and secure water future for the residents of Los Angeles County.

Yvette served as U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s Deputy State Director and worked in communities throughout California representing Senator Boxer on key public policy initiatives such as protecting the environment, enhancing public safety and transportation measures, and expanding access to healthcare for children and families.

HONOREES

Rudy Ortega Jr.
Tribal President, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians

Rudy Ortega, Jr. is the Tribal President of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, a native sovereign nation of northern Los Angeles County. As the elected leader of his Tribe, Ortega Jr. oversees the governmental body and manages affairs pertaining to the rights of all Fernandeño Tataviam tarahat (people).

Ortega Jr. is a member of Siutcabit, the lineage of present-day Encino, CA. His ancestors come from the villages that originated in the geographical areas of Santa Clarita Valley, Simi Valley, and San Fernando Valley. His great-grandfather Antonio Maria Ortega, from whom he receives his traditional role as tomiar or leader, advocated in Los Angeles Superior Court in the 19th century to preserve traditional lands and protect Native title to Mexican land grants from encroaching settlers. Through his role as Tribal President, Ortega Jr. helped establish his Tribe’s first conservation corps, land conservancy, economic development, and co-management agreement with the City of San Fernando for village lands.

His father, the late Rudy Ortega Sr., served as the previous leader of the Tribe for over fifty years and was elected to the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission in 1977. Following his father’s leadership, Ortega Jr. was appointed to the Native American Indian Commission in 2004. From 2004 – 2018, Ortega Jr. spearheaded the Tribe’s social services non-profit Pukúu Cultural Community Services as the Executive Director. Through this role, he served the greater Los Angeles County American Indian community and oversaw Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center.

Ortega Jr. currently serves as chair of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, board member on the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, board member on the Santa Clarita Watershed Recreation and Conservation Authority, and commissioner on the LA City Climate Emergency Mobilization Committee. He previously served on the LA River Master Plan Steering Committee and the Edison Consumer Advisory Panel Board.

Scott Z. Burns
Screenwriter, Director, Producer, and Playwright

Scott Z. Burns is an award-winning screenwriter, director, producer, and playwright. He is the writer, director, executive producer, and creator of the Apple TV+ series EXTRAPOLATIONS starring Meryl Streep, Forest Whitaker, Edward Norton, and Marion Cotillard, which features eight interconnected stories exploring how the upcoming changes to our planet will affect love, faith, work, and family. In film, Burns’ writing credits include THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM as well as THE INFORMANT!, CONTAGION, SIDE EFFECTS, and THE LAUNDROMAT for director Steven Soderbergh. As a director, Burns’ credits include PU-239, starring Oscar Isaac and Paddy Considine, and THE REPORT, starring Adam Driver, Annette Bening, and Jon Hamm, which tells the story of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program. Burns served as a producer for the Academy Award-winning documentary AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, as well as an executive producer for AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL and SEA OF SHADOWS. On stage, Burns’ play THE LIBRARY, which deals with a high school shooting, was produced at The Public Theater and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New American play.

Burns is a frequent advisor at the Sundance Institute and a member of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Leadership Committee. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in English Literature. Burns began his career in advertising. Before leaving the industry, he was part of the team that created the ‘Got Milk?’ campaign.

Representative Judy Chu

Judy Chu was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2009. She represents the 28th Congressional District, which includes Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley of southern California.

Rep. Chu currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to taxes, revenues, Social Security, and Medicare. In that Committee, Rep. Chu is a member of the Subcommittees on Health, Worker and Family Support, and Oversight, giving her oversight over healthcare reform and crucial safety net programs.

She also serves on the House Small Business Committee, which has oversight of the Small Business Administration.

In 2011, Chu was elected Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which advocates for the needs and concerns of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community across the nation. She helps lead the Tri-Caucus, a joint effort with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Chu founded and co-chairs the Congressional Creative Rights Caucus, which advocates for the copyright protections of those in the creative industries, such as music, film and visual arts. She also serves in leadership of the House Democratic Caucus as a Member of the Steering and Policy Committee.

Some of Rep. Chu’s proudest accomplishments in Congress include: introducing and passing a Congressional resolution of regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; working with President Obama to declare the San Gabriel Mountains a national monument; requiring the Department of Defense to address military hazing; helping entrepreneurs by establishing two new Small Business Development Centers in the San Gabriel Valley; and helping small businesses refinance old, expensive real estate loans by reviving the Small Business Administration’s 504 loan refinance program.

Chu was first elected to the Board of Education for Garvey School District in 1985. From there, she was elected to the Monterey Park City Council, where she served as Mayor three times. She then was elected to the State Assembly and then California’s elected tax board, known as the State Board of Equalization. In 2009, she became the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress in history.

Chu lives with her husband, Michael Eng, in the city of Monterey Park, where they have been residents for over 30 years.

Honorable Mike Eng

Mike Eng authored AB 685, making California the first state to declare Water As A Human Right, which, despite opposition from every major water agency, was recognized by the United Nations as an inspiring policy for governments around the world after its eventual passage. Previously, he authored legislation to clean up polluted water in the San Gabriel Valley after being appointed to the Legislature’s working group of bipartisan members of the Assembly and Senate that wrote the language for California’s Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010.

While serving as Mayor of Monterey Park, he worked on solutions to the unprecedented perchlorate contamination of the city’s wells and, as a result, formed the first city Environmental Commission in the San Gabriel Valley to enable residents, especially youth, to fight for a better quality of life. Mike also authored the Homeowner Bill of Rights, which helped save thousands of homes from unlawful foreclosure practices-legislation, which was named by the Huffington Post as in the top ten most significant progressive victories in the U.S. in the year of passage. He helped obtain major funding for the first survey of Asian Pacific Islanders’ views on important environmental policies.

Mike Eng currently serves as a Director for the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, his fourth position as an elected official. He previously served as State Assemblymember, 49th District, Vice Chair of the Los Angeles Community College District, and Mayor of the City of Monterey Park.

His public service also includes appointments to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, the California Acupuncture Board, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (Advancing Justice), the Monterey Park Library Board of Trustees, PACE, and the ACLU.

Mike earned his law degree from UCLA and his M.A. from the University of Hawaii. As an immigration lawyer, he originated the nation’s first course on Asian Americans and the Law and produced the video “How to Become a United States Citizen,” which was the basis for a local television series that won the Emmy as the Best Instructional Video.

Antonio Villaraigosa
Co-Chair and Partner
Actum

Antonio Villaraigosa is a respected voice in American politics and a prominent policymaker with a keen understanding of America’s mainstream and emerging communities. Known for his exceptional skill at building broad bi-partisan coalitions, he draws support from the broad center of progressive Democratic and Republican voters.

In 2013 Mr. Villaraigosa finished his two terms as 41st Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, after eight years of major strides in transportation, crime reduction, infrastructure, energy and resource sustainability, right-sizing government, business development and education reform.

Prior to his election as Mayor, Mr. Villaraigosa served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 2003 to 2005. From 1994 through 2000, Mr. Villaraigosa served in the California State Assembly as Democratic Whip, Majority Leader and Speaker of the Assembly. He was a member of President Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board, the 2012 Chairman of the Democratic National Convention and President of U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Mr. Villaraigosa also has served in academia, as a fellow at Harvard University and a professor in public policy at the University of Southern California. He was also a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he has served on the McGraw Hill Global Education Board of Directors, and currently serves as Board Chair of The Change Company.

He also serves on numerous non-profit Board of Directors including but not limited to UC Merced, AltaMed, and Peace Over Violence.

In August 2022, Mr. Villaraigosa was appointed to be the Infrastructure Advisor to the state of California.

Mr. Villaraigosa is currently a partner and co-chair at Actum where he focuses on strategic and crisis communication consulting to senior executives in large public and private sector organizations.

Presenting Antonio Villaraigosa:
David Nahai

Bio coming soon…

Presenting Antonio Villaraigosa:
Assemblywoman Wendy Carillo
California State Assembly

Wendy Carrillo was elected to serve in the California State Assembly in December 2017. She represents the 52nd Assembly District which is home to close to 500,000 residents in the City of Los Angeles. Prior to being elected to office, Assemblywoman Carrillo was a broadcast journalist for twelve years covering human rights, global conflict and US politics. Additionally, she worked in communications for the Service Employee International Union United Long Term Care Workers, which represents over 350,000 Home healthcare workers in California and served in local government as a communications deputy for a member of the Los Angeles City Council.

In the State Assembly she has served as the Chair of the Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration, in addition to the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Budget, Budget Sub. 6 on Budget Process, Oversight and Program Evaluation, Health, Housing and Community Development, Utilities and Energy, and the Joint Committees on Legislative Budget and Climate Change Policies. She has been an advocate for workforce development, restorative justice, climate justice, women’s rights, education, immigration reform, healthcare for all, job creation and innovation. Assemblywoman Carrillo immigrated to the United States as a young child during El Salvador’s Civil War and is a first generation American with Salvadoran and Mexican heritage. She is the eldest of five daughters and received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from California State University Los Angeles and a Masters Degree in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Southern California.

ENTERTAINMENT

Que Madre

Que Madre is a Los Angeles based DJ and mother. She began collecting vinyl records in her early 20’s to connect with her upbringing in East Los Angeles, primarily focusing on lowrider oldies and soul. She joined the all women-of-color vinyl collective, Chulita Vinyl Club, in 2014 and since then has cultivated a musical style and vibe of her own. Que Madre is a regular in the Los Angeles DJ scene and has several residencies around town where she plays a mix of hip hop, r&b, cumbia, reggaeton, world tunes & more. You can keep a lookout where she’ll be dj’ing next by staying up to date on her instagram where she posts a calendar of dj gigs every month.

CO-CHAIRS

David Nahai

President

David Nahai Consulting Services, LLC

Victor Griego

President and Founder

Diverse Strategies for Organizing, Inc.

Randall Winston

Attorney

O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Renee Dake Wilson

Partner

Dake Wilson Architects

Glen Dake

Principal

Dake Landscape

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Presenting Sponsors

Diamond

Coolest Sponser

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Non-Profit

Community

Thank you for joining us to celebrate our Honorees’ and organization’s accomplishments towards creating a just, equitable future! Your contribution directly supports cutting-edge strategies to combat the climate crisis.

To sponsor the event or purchase an advertisement in our awards journal, choose from one of the available benefit packages below:

Questions? Contact the Development Team
development@climateresolve.org
(213) 468 – 1957

COVID-19: Climate Resolve and our events team will be following of-the-moment COVID safety guidelines to provide our attendees with the most comfortable and enjoyable experience possible. We’re excited about gathering safely to celebrate a better future together!

*If you are affiliated with a nonprofit or a community member who is seeking a discounted rate on tickets, please contact Mayra at development@climateresolve.org or
(213) 634-3790 X405.