Cristy Johnston Limón

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CSSL

Cristy Johnston Limón joins Berkeley Haas as a serial social sector leader having most recently held executive director roles at national poetry and spoken word organization Youth Speaks, Oakland based performing arts organization Destiny Arts Center, and San Francisco economic development organization in San Francisco, Excelsior Action Group.  Her professional experience includes real estate and community development, public policy as a legislative aide, and nonprofit leadership with a focus on organizational change. Cristy grew up in San Francisco and is passionate about advancing social change through broad cross-sector engagement, investing in leaders and in social impact organizations. On the board of Oakland’s Bandaloop and former co-chair of the Haas Alumni Diversity Council, Cristy mentors and leads rising and established leaders in arts, culture, and business to advance positive social change. Cristy speaks often about distributed leadership models, community engagement, diversity in recruitment, hiring, board engagement, and how to develop arts and cultural facilities centered around connection and place keeping.

Cristy is a UC Berkeley alum with an EMBA (2016) from Berkeley-Haas School of Business and a BA with honors (2002) in Political Science. Cristy has been a guest speaker in Haas classes, including the Center’s Nonprofit Boards class.

Stéphanie van Nassau

PROGRAM COORDINATOR OF CSSL

Stephanie is the Program Coordinator at the Center for Social Sector Leadership and oversees the administration and logistics of the Center’s events. She manages event planning, accounting, and expense reports. Prior to joining CSSL, Stephanie was a project manager at an Incentive Travel Company in New York City. Before moving to the States she worked in communications at the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Stéphanie is in the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and spends the rest of her time at the playground with her children.

Stephanie can be reached at 510-642-4884 or by email.

Eric Cortez

Administrative Assistant (2021-2022)

Eric is one of the Center for Social Sector Leadership’s newest team members, but he joins the Berkeley Haas community with years of experience in the field of advocacy work and civic engagement. Since 2014, Eric served on the City of Fairfield Youth Commission; for many of those years, he also served as the Chairman for the Commission. Beyond the Youth Commission, Eric has worked with nonprofit organizations, such as the Solano Children’s Network, to ensure that the voices of youth in the community are amplified. As a Fairfield, California native, Eric has used his own experience in civic engagement to take his representative roles a step further through the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (F.S.U.S.D.). He was appointed as the 2020-2021 Student Governing Board member, where he represented all students in the school district. From this position on the governing board, to other advisory bodies within the school district, to representing Assemblymember Tim Grayson in the field, Eric has used his leadership positions to ensure that the voices of his fellow community members are just as heard as his own.

Eric is a second-year student at UC Berkeley, on-track to graduate with Bachelor’s degrees in French and Political Science by Spring 2023.

Joyce Chiang

Administrative Assistant (2021-2022)

Michelle Son

Administrative Assistant (2021-2022)

Michelle is a third-year undergraduate studying Economics with a minor in Data Science. Her experiences span start-up and nonprofit industries. Michelle has been and is currently involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, along with youth mentoring. She hopes to contribute to CSSL’s efforts of advancing social change.

Sunnie Wu

Administrative Assistant (2021-2022)

Sunnie is a third-year undergraduate student double majoring in Business Administration and Society & Environment. Passionate about sustainability and social impact work, she worked in various student organizations and has professional experience in waste management, real estate, and informational technology to explore the intersectionality of sustainability and business. At CSSL, Sunnie manages the website and marketing strategies to expand our social impact. With this, she continues to explore the intersection of business and social impact opportunities.