SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Mollie Simons, of Oakland, has been appointed Legal Advisor for the California Public Employment Relations Board. Simons has been a Partner at Leonard Carder LLP since 2021 and was an Associate there from 2015 to 2021. She has been a Pro Bono Attorney for the Centro Legal de La Raza Asylum Project since 2018. Simons was an Associate at Reich, Adell & Cvitan from 2013 to 2015. She was a Legal Fellow at FairVote from 2012 to 2013. Simons was a Purchasing Analyst and Quality Assurance Representative for Stryker Endoscopy from 2007 to 2009. Simons earned a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $162,000. Simons is a Democrat.
Jacque Roberts, of West Sacramento, has been appointed Undersecretary at the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Roberts has served as Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom since 2020. She was Senior Advisor at the Department of General Services from 2015 to 2020. Roberts was Deputy Legislative Secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2011 to 2015 and Assistant Legislative Secretary in the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2005 to 2010. Roberts earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science from Biola University. This position does not require Senate Confirmation and the compensation is $205,848. Roberts is registered without party preference.
Pharris Treskunoff, of Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Secretary for Strategic Planning and Equity at the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Treskunoff has been a Deputy Chief of Staff at California Professional Firefighters since 2022, where she held several positions from 2003 to 2022, including Director of Operations, Assistant to the President, and Legislative, Political and Communications Assistant. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $145,968. Treskunoff is a Democrat.
Patrick Gage, of Sacramento, has been appointed Senior Labor Relations Officer at the California Department of Human Resources. Gage has served as a Labor Relations Manager at the Department of Human Resources since 2022. He served in several positions at the State Compensation Insurance Fund, including as Vice President of Corporate HR from 2010 to 2020 and as a Claims Adjustor and Underwriter from 2001 to 2007. He was a Senior Labor Relations Officer at the California Department of Human Resources from 2007 to 2010. Gage was an Assistant Division Chief in the Office of Enterprise Compliance at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System in 2007. He was Chief of the Office of Labor Relations at the Department of Health Care Services from 2005 to 2007. Gage held several roles at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2000 to 2005, including Labor Relations Specialist, Employee Relations Officer and Labor Relations Analyst. He held several roles at the Department of Motor Vehicles from 1997 to 2003, including Manager and Acting Manager of the Health Management Unit and Return to Work Coordinator. Gage is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,928. Gage is registered without party preference.
Monica Bobra, of Portola Valley, has been appointed Principal Data Scientist at the Office of Data and Innovation. Bobra was a Senior Research Data Scientist at Tomorrow.io from 2022 to 2023. She was a Research Scientist at Stanford University from 2010 to 2021. Bobra was an Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 2005 to 2007. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Astronomy from Boston University, and a Master of Science degree in Physics from the University of New Hampshire. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,008. Bobra is registered without party preference.
Arman Madani, of San Francisco, has been appointed Senior Data Scientist at the Office of Data and Innovation. Madani has held several roles at Affirm Inc. from 2019 to 2023, including Analytics Lead, Senior Data Scientist and Data Scientist. Madani held several roles at Delta Analytics from 2020 to 2023 as a Data Project Lead and Advisor. He was an Analyst at FTI Consulting from 2017 to 2019. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $150,000. Madani is registered without party preference.
Carl “Chip” Robertson, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco Board of Directors, where he has served since 2011. Robertson has been a Co-Managing Partner at Warland Investments Company since 2009. He was a Management Committee Member at Dax LLC from 2000 to 2014 and an Associate at Paul Hastings LLP from 1999 to 2001. He is a member of the Board of Visitors for the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, the Board of Advisors for the UC/CSU Collaborative for Neurodiversity and Learning and the Advisory Board for the UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science. Robertson is a Board Member of Jewish Vocational Services of Los Angeles and the California Coalition for Public Higher Education. Robertson earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Diploma in Business Studies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Robertson is a Democrat.
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