Authors

In alphabetical order

MICHELLE FOWLE

Michelle, Founder and Chair of TRNI, is a regular person who woke up on November 8, 2016. So much so that she has dedicated herself to full time activism. She holds a degree in Business Marketing from Vanguard University. 

Michelle leads a team of many first-time activists in her neighborhood by enthusiastically challenging them to move out of their comfort zone to drive real change. Examples include, face to face voter contact, lobbying state and federal representatives, making just one more call, taking up a local cause, like, education and more. She has created solid partnerships with other grassroots groups across California that include the ACLU, Women's March, March for Our Lives, CHIRLA (Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights), Indivisible CA State Strong, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Code Blue, Swing Left and many more. 

Michelle also works closely with students in and around Los Angeles by offering herself as a resource for student led organizing, youth empowerment, and voter education. 

LORAINE LUNDQUIST 

Dr. Loraine Lundquist, a member of the steering committee here at TRNI, is a scientist, an activist, and a mom. With a Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley, she is now a Faculty Associate at the Institute for Sustainability at California State University, Northridge, and a frequent speaker on climate change. Previously, she has served as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences and a research scientist at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and she is currently active in climate policy at the city, state, and national levels. She’s also a social justice advocate who’s taught in prison and has been a foster parent to three children, one of whom she recently adopted. A board member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, she is also an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party. In 2017, she was was honored by the LA County Democratic Party as the Female Democrat of the Year for Assembly District 45.  

CARL PETERSON 

Carl Petersen is a parent and special education advocate, elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and was a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race. During the campaign, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action and Dr. Diane Ravitch called him a “strong supporter of public schools.” His past blogs can be found at www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.

COLLEEN TOUMAYAN

Colleen, Co-Chair at TRNI, has built her career in the Public Relations Profession. Her background is rooted with an education in International Relations focused in Political Science. She worked for Amnesty International while at university and lived in China for a year post Tiananmen Square. She feels that her education was a privilege and with that comes responsibility. 

The election of 45 brought to light an America filled with injustices and the marginalization of people based on their ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation.  For her, it was no longer an option to be an “arm chair Democrat”.  She needed to find a way to help and she found this wonderful group with The Resistance Northridge, Indivisible. With this group, she is able to work with like-minded individuals who are all volunteering their time to ensure that the values that America stands for are safeguarded.  

Colleen truly believes that grassroots organizations and individuals can effect change in society.  She is involved in memory of the countless individuals who worked tireless before us to fight to overcome inequalities and prejudice.