Selections Team

Pod 11 Selections Committee

Breanna Diaz

Mentor

Breanna Diaz (she/they) is a queer, Latinx person whose lived experience deeply informs their advocacy. She received her law degree from American University, Washington College of Law. Breanna currently serves as Senior Policy Counsel for ACLU. Prior to that, they served as Policy & Legislative Counsel for ACLU of Virginia, where they worked on LGBTQ rights, reproductive freedom and First Amendment issues. They are a recipient of the 2023 OUTStanding Virginians award as well as recognized as a Richmond History Maker for their LGBTQ+ rights advocacy. Breanna is also a “proud mediocre powerlifter” and hosts annual deadlift fundraisers raising money for VA-based LGBTQ+ organizations.

Kajsa Foskey

Pod 9

Kajsa Foskey lives in Richmond, Virginia where she works on state energy policy and advocacy. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2020, where she studied Political Philosophy, Policy, and Law. Her fun fact is that she enjoys genealogy work, and has been able to trace her maternal family tree back generations to her fourth great-grandparents who were enslaved in Louisa, Virginia.

Kelly Evans

Pod 9

Kelly Evans is an experienced problem solver where she has proven outcomes within the education, housing, and healthcare systems. As an authentic leader she is known for her ability to encourage, train, and motivate staff and stakeholders in local communities across the state of Virginia. Kelly considers herself an out of the box thinker who thrives to build confidence and camaraderie amongst those she encounters. I have done tandum skydiving.

Khenia Haro-Perez

Pod 10

Khenia is the proud daughter of Mexican and Panamanian immigrants. Hailing from Norfolk, VA, Khenia got her start in social justice by advocating for her undocumented mother from a very early age. After earning a degree in History/secondary education, Khenia decided to intern for the Virginia General Assembly – an experience that changed her life. From then on in 2018, Khenia worked in and around VA state government and politics, like being an aide to Congressman Bobby Scott and Chief of Staff to Delegate Jay Jones, before finding her home at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. First, as a state policy advocate, in which she lobbied at the state and federal level for reproductive justice-centered legislation and advanced the needs of her Latine community members. Since 2023, Khenia has served as the State Manager for Virginia – overseeing all state work for the Latina Institute. In her free time, Khenia enjoys reading (a self-described bookworm), running competitively, traveling and dancing folkloric Panamanian music with her dance team – the Panamanian Folkloric Group of Hampton Roads.

Kristin Lennox

Facilitator

Pod 8

Kristin Lennox (she/her/We) is a first-generation daughter of Filipino diaspora immigrants residing on occupied Powhatan land in Richmond, Virginia. Kristin is the owner and operator of Onward Consulting and Care Services, LLC. Kristin also provides therapy and teaches at VCU as a licensed clinical social worker. Kristin was radicalized through her early work as a crisis and trauma therapist for 2–17-year-olds for almost 7 years. Inspired to influence greater systems change, Kristin has worked with advocates influencing state-level change at the Virginia General Assembly. As a facilitator, organizer, care provider, and community advocate, Kristin is inspired by her courageous ancestors, abolitionist daydreaming, the Womanist lens (global feminism), Tricia Hersey’s nap ministry, and the Healing-Centered Engagement framework by Dr. Ginwright. In her free time, Kristin loves to dance and perform with her Filipino dance troupe, read fiction and non-fiction, craft and collage, practice mindfulness, take long meandering walks to nowhere, and go on adventures with her friends and family.

Loni Wright

Pod 10

Loni Wright hails from the small historic town of Bedford, VA. She spends her time capturing and sharing the stories and experiences of its residents to build connections across demographics. As a Fun Fact, she also runs an online bakery (Boss Cakes LLC) with her mother!

Nico Climaco

Facilitator, Program Steward

Nico currently resides on occupied Piscataway land (Washington, DC), and joined VCET in January of 2022. As the Director of Leadership Development, they primarily support the Virginia Progressive Leadership Program. Passionate about social justice, collective liberation, and community solutions, Nico finds home in collective and visionary spaces woven together by queer and trans people. Nico is a proud JMU alum (go dukes~) and holds a Next Economy MBA with LIFT Economy.

Nico learned some of their most important political lessons outside the classroom and was first politicized by the genocide in Darfur in the mid-2000s and their own Filipino and Puerto Rican diaspora. As a facilitator, Nico draws on the teachings of Paulo Freire and bell hooks with a lens of popular education and experiential learning. They are invested in co-creating loving spaces and considers relationships & community to be the basis of their work. Nico’s pop culture icons are Gizmo the gremlin, HIM from Powerpuff Girls, and the nerds from nerds candy.