On February 4, 2004, dozens of community and political leaders gathered in San Francisco to discuss the state of social justice politics in California. Out of that meeting, 50 leaders, activists, and organizers pledged to work together to build a powerful statewide electoral political network for a social justice agenda.
The list of PowerPAC.org's First 50 Founders is below. Organizational affiliations are presented for identification purposes only.
| Roberta Achtenberg | Senior Vice-President for Public Policy, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce |
| Olivia Araiza | Associate Director, Justice Matters Institute |
| Sheila Arcelona | Senior Analyst, San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department |
| Iris Archuleta | Principal, Emerald Consulting |
| Keith Archuleta | Principal, Emerald Consulting |
| Dennis Arguelles | Assistant Director, UCLA Asian American Studies Center |
| Linda Asato | Executive Director, Wu Yee Childrens’ Services |
| Catherine Atkin | Attorney/Consultant, Sanz Group |
| John Avalos | Organizer, SEIU Local 1877 |
| Teveia Barnes | President, Lawyers for One America |
| Pierre Barolette | Special Assistant, San Francisco Assessor-Recorder |
| Heather Borlase | Attorney, Borlase Law Offices |
| Joe Brooks | Director of Capacity Building and Civic Engagement, PolicyLink |
| Dave Brown | Principal, BC Designs |
| Johnnie Carter | San Francisco Community College Trustee |
| Cynthia Cary-Grant | Principal, Community Consulting Group |
| Emily Chang | Principal, BC Designs |
| Patti Chang | President, The Women's Foundation |
| Ronald Colthirst | Consultant |
| LisaDuarte | Partner, Minami, Lew & Tamaki |
| Amy Epstein | Education Reform Consultant |
| Monica Flores-Lodise | Policy Analyst, JMPT Consulting |
| Michelle Foose | |
| Liz Guillen | Policy Advocate, Public Advocates, Inc. |
| Emi Gusukuma | Attorney, Haas & Najarian |
| Alli Harper | Statewide Coordinator & Lead Organizer, Parent Voices |
| Michael Harris | Associate Director, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights |
| Saidiya Hartman | Associate Professor of English, University of California at Berkeley |
| Alexa Hauser | Coordinator, Principals' Anti-Racist Leadership Institute |
| Sharen Hewitt | Community Activist, Instructor, San Francisco State Urban Institute |
| Genethia Hudley-Hayes | Former President, Los Angeles Board of Education |
| Lisa Le | Principal, PVL Accounting |
| Michelle Levynh | Social Worker, San Mateo County |
| Shauna Marshall | Professor, Hastings College of the Law |
| Sam Miller | Staff Attorney, Honorable Thelton Henderson |
| Esther Morales | Policy Analyst, JMPT Consulting |
| Kei Nagao | Network Coordinator, Southern Californians for Youth |
| Stephanie Ong | Principal, Hope Road Consulting, Inc. |
| Julie Padilla | Executive Dean, Lorenzo Patino School of Law |
| Vinay Patel | Administrative Director, Asian Improv Arts |
| Steve Phillips | President, PowerPAC.org |
| Susan Sandler | Director, Justice Matters Institute |
| Alan Sankin | Attorney, Fair Isaac Corp. |
| Michael J. Schmitz | Executive Director, California League for Environmental Enforcement Now (CLEEN) |
| Johanna Silva-Waki | Principal, Hope Road Consulting |
| Phoenix Streets | Deputy Public Defender, City and County of San Francisco |
| Jamienne Studley | Former President, Skidmore College |
| Nicole Taylor | Executive Director, College Track |
| Mabel Teng | Assessor/Recorder, City & County of San Francisco |
| Jeffrey Thomas | District Director, Congresswoman Barbara Lee |
| Elsa Tsutaoka | Physician |
| Rachel Weinstein | Field Representative, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock’s Office |
| Andy Wong | CEO, JMPT Consulting |
| Karen Zapata | Executive Director, Teachers for Social Justice |
| Crystal Zermeno | Policy Analyst, SEIU 1877 (Justice for Janitors) |
