Commissioner's Bios

 Julie D. Soo

President

 Julie D. Soo is a senior staff counsel with the California Department of Insurance. She has volunteered in a variety of community causes, including hate crimes projects, civil rights education, campaign work, and community health advocacy. She is well-recognized as a former staff writer with AsianWeek, where she continues to be a features contributor. Julie is a fourth-generation San Franciscan on her mother’s side of the family and a graduate of Lowell High School. In addition to serving on the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, she is a member of the Board of Trustees for Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and is active with the California Democratic Party Executive Board as a co-chair of the Platform Committee, now entering her sixth term as a delegate. She holds an A.B. with a double major in Pure Mathematics and Statistics from U.C. Berkeley, an M.A. in Applied Mathematics from U.C. San Diego, and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law.

Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez

Vice President

Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez serves as Vice President of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. Kirshner-Rodriguez also serves as National Board Secretary of Emerge America and on the San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council. Kirshner-Rodriguez’s experience spans more than 25 years in the public and private sector including national, state and local policy development and program implementation. From 2008-2012, Kirshner-Rodriguez served in senior positions with the City and County of San Francisco. In her position as Director of Government Affairs for Mayors’ Gavin Newsom and then Edwin Lee, she had direct responsibility for implementation of a comprehensive government relations program that advanced the mission and priorities of the City at the federal and state and local level. Kirshner-Rodriguez represented San Francisco on the Association of Bay Area Governments and also co-chaired the San Francisco Collaborative against Human Trafficking. Kirshner Rodriguez also managed External Affairs for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.Kirshner Rodriguez spent many years in senior positions in Washington DC. During the Clinton Administration, Kirshner-Rodriguez served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, DC from 1997-2001 and before that held a similar position at the US Department of Labor.  She served as Director of the Women’s Council for the Senate Committee and Chief of Staff to the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. She served as a senior member of Senator Barbara Boxer’s first Senate campaign in 1992 and in 1997.  

Commissioner

Alicia M. Gamez has been a resident of San Francisco since 1992.  She is an attorney who practices in the areas of Tax, Business Counseling and Estate Planning.   She has a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) and is currently pursuing an LL.M. in Taxation at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.  In addition Alicia has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a B.A. with High Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.  In addition to her work with the Commission, Alicia serves on the Board of the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, serves on the Executive Committee for the Taxation Section for the Bar Association of San Francisco, and volunteers with the Legal Services for Entrepreneurs program of the Lawyers Committed for Civil Rights. 

Commissioner

Commissioner

Becca is the Senior Manager of Community Affairs for Levi Strauss & Co. where she manages corporate involvement with community partners, employee engagement events and cause marketing initiatives. Previously she worked in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office both as the Assistant to the Mayor and in the Mayor’s Office of Protocol. Becca moved to San Francisco from New York City 7 years ago. In New York, she worked in the Marketing, Communications and Events department at the Robin Hood Foundation, a poverty-fighting organization in New York City that distributes more than $100 million annually to direct service providers in the five boroughs.

Andrea Shorter

Commissioner

Andrea Shorter has served on the Commission on the Status of Women since 2001. A longtime advocate in the women's community, she has served as President of the San Francisco chapter of the National Organization for Women, Founding Board Member of the International Museum of Women, and Board President for both La Casa De Las Madres, and Standing Against Global Exploitation. The former Deputy Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, Andrea is the co-author of a groundbreaking report on the status of girls in San Francisco's juvenile justice system that is still widely referenced as a catalyst for reform.

Commissioner