About Us

Empower Oakland is a volunteer-led organization of 150+ Oakland residents working in education, technology, non-profits, media, development, and government with a wide range of political affiliations and opinions.

 

For many of us, this is our first foray into politics — and it’s none of our full-time jobs. We’ve collectively spent hundreds of hours building Empower Oakland, all as volunteers. We have no full-time or paid campaign staff.

 

We do this because we believe Oaklanders deserve to be well-informed about local elections and because we are committed to a better future for Oakland. Learn more about our organization.

Endorsement Committee 2025

Isaac Abid

Isaac Abid is the founder and managing partner of Lakeside Group, an Oakland based real estate company focused on commercial investment opportunities across Northern California.

Alongside his work at Lakeside Group, Isaac has an eye towards increasing safety and vibrancy in Oakland, CA, his hometown. This includes starting the Downtown Partnership and the Northlake District, as well as sitting on the board of the Oakland School for the Arts.

Isaac graduated from Columbia Business School with an MBA in Real Estate Finance, as well as a Masters of Science in Urban Planning. Isaac also has a BA in Political Science from UCLA.

Isaac Abid Headshot

Isaac Abid

Gagan Biyani

Gagan Biyani was born and raised in Alameda County (Fremont, CA) and graduated from UC Berkeley. He has lived in the Bay Area for 32 years and has founded multiple businesses in the Bay Area, including Udemy, Sprig and Maven.

After spending 5 years outside the Bay, he and his wife decided to settle down in Oakland because they love the people, culture, weather, location and food. He's passionate about bringing his digital marketing experience to help Empower Oakland with its mission to educate Oakland voters.

gagan-biyani copy

Gagan Biyani

Arielle Fleisher

Arielle Fleisher is a transportation strategist with a unique combination of public health, design thinking, and urban planning expertise. With extensive experience in public policy across the private, public, and non-profit sectors, Arielle is dedicated to improving government by bringing innovative approaches and diverse skill sets to government practices. Her primary focus is on transportation, and she has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of the Bay Area's transportation system, including initiatives to make Oakland’s streets safer. 

A committed community leader, Arielle recently ran for the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee. Though she didn't win, the experience underscored for her the importance of civic and community engagement. She's also the founder of the Pandemic Mom's Club, a neighborhood group that blossomed from offering support to new mothers at the height of the pandemic into a vital source of connection and resources. Arielle serves on the Steering Committee for UCLA’s Center of Excellence on New Mobility and Automated Vehicles and is an ITS Senior Fellow at ITS Berkeley. 

Arielle’s strength lies in her ability to bring people together to tackle complex challenges and drive meaningful change. She is excited to bring her policy expertise and passion for improving government practice to Empower Oakland.

Arielle Fleisher

Arielle Fleisher

Derreck Johnson

Derreck Johnson

Jacob Klein

Jacob Klein

Raul Maldonado

Raul Maldonado

Digital Leadership

Gagan Biyani

Gagan Biyani was born and raised in Alameda County (Fremont, CA) and graduated from UC Berkeley. He has lived in the Bay Area for 32 years and has founded multiple businesses in the Bay Area, including Udemy, Sprig and Maven.

After spending 5 years outside the Bay, he and his wife decided to settle down in Oakland because they love the people, culture, weather, location and food. He's passionate about bringing his digital marketing experience to help Empower Oakland with its mission to educate Oakland voters.

gagan-biyani copy

Gagan Biyani
Digital Director

Reze Wong

Reze Wong manages the Empower Oakland newsletter. He’s currently an operating partner at Khosla Ventures, where he helps startup founders with communications and messaging.

 

He moved to the East Bay more than 15 years ago, and has lived across Oakland for more than a decade, including in West Oakland, Lake Merritt, and Rockridge. Reze graduated from UC Berkeley.

Reze Wong_500x500

Reze Wong

Editor-in-Chief

Volunteer Team

A few of our Empower Oakland volunteer leaders.

Front row: Stephen Salinas, Matthew Barnes, Trishala Vinnakota, Loren Taylor, Gagan Biyani, Matt Cobos, Reze Wong. Back: Jonathan Lewis, Chris Hadley, Jacob Klein, Arielle Fleisher, Stephanie Quan, Alex Taylor.

A packed house at our Voter Guide kickoff event!

Want to help bring competent leaders and common sense solutions to Oakland? Join our volunteer team.

Because everyone
in Oakland deserves better.

Because everyone in Oakland deserves better.

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© 2024 Empower Oakland. All rights reserved. Empower Oakland is a 510 (c)(4) non-profit recognized by the IRS. Tax ID Number 93-2828341.