About Us
Evolve California is a grassroots nonprofit based in the Bay Area. Our work to fully fund California’s public schools is guided by our commitment to equality, equity, and empowering local communities.
The simple truth is that California’s education system is failing all of us, especially students in low-income communities of color. We believe that to truly bring about racial equity and economic equality we must fully fund public education. To fix the crisis in education, we are building a grassroots movement to inspire and empower people to take action.
Evolve Staff
Ben Grieff, Executive Director: After graduating from Boston University in 2006, Ben began his organizing career right away by working to unionize healthcare workers in Massachusetts. After that he fundraised for various non-profit organizations, directed canvass operations and ran electoral field organizing projects. In 2011 Ben co-founded Evolve California and for the last 9 years, he has led Evolve CA’s campaign to reform Proposition 13. His work has helped change the political narrative around a once untouchable issue that is the root cause of California’s drastically underfunded public education system. In 2020 Ben sat on the Executive Committee of the historic Schools and Communities First Initiative (Prop. 15) that sought to reform Proposition 13 for commercial properties and generate $12 billion a year for California’s schools and communities.
Michael Bornstein, Founder and CFO: Michael has 25 years' experience in Bay Area politics. He started managing political campaigns with the California League of Conservation Voters, before becoming the Executive Director of the San Francisco Democratic Party and most recently the Senior Chapter Director at the Sierra Club Bay Chapter. Throughout his career Michael has led or worked on several dozens of election campaigns, dispatched thousands of volunteers, and made too many phone calls to count.
Gillian Garaci, Campaign Organizer, Intern Manager: Gillian graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Science and minor in Global Studies. Being a product of California’s public school system, she has seen and experienced the lack of resources low-income communities like her hometown of Pittsburg, CA continually face. Interning for Evolve made her realize that she loves working in a field that fights against corporate greed and stands up for our public schools and everyday people. Gillian enjoys reading, watching horror movies, and walking around her neighborhood in San Francisco.
Olivia McHaney, Campaign Organizer: Olivia graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Social Welfare, and minors in Education and Public Policy. Growing up in rural Northern California, Olivia was troubled by the lack of funding for public education in their hometown as well as a lack of local discourse and advocacy surrounding it. Olivia worked extensively with students directly before interning with Evolve, where they fueled their passion for grassroots issue advocacy and community change making. Olivia loves being involved in local politics in a place they’ve made their home. For fun, they like roller skating, picnicking by Dolores Park, and crafting with friends.
Rhys Hedges, Campaign Organizer: Rhys graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in Politics and a minor in Peace & Justice Studies. They attended public school in Thousand Oaks, CA for their K-12 schooling, then attended Santa Barbara City College from 2019-2022. In Santa Barbara County, they worked at a public school as a lacrosse coach due to their passion for both the sport & public education. Rhys experienced the state’s lack of public school funding throughout their life, which inspired their fervor for non-profit work, community organizing, and education. In their free time, Rhys enjoys reading, exploring San Francisco, and spending time with friends.
Jules Pizano, Campaign Organizer: Jules is a senior at UC Berkeley studying Media Studies and Geography. Growing up in the Los Angeles area she has seen how poorly funded the Los Angeles Unified School District is despite being one of the largest school districts in the United States. Jules has also seen that poorly funded schools not only affect students but also workers such as teachers and supervision aids, joining her mom in union strikes for LAUSD workers as well as strikes in opposition of the building of charter schools around the area. Jules is interested in community organizing and advocacy as she believes that people have the power to drive change. In her free time they like to watch movies, go thrifting/antique shopping, and sew.
Evolve Board of Directors
Anna Wagner: Anna is a graduate of the Greencorps Field School for Environmental Organizing. She has led environmental and public interest campaigns across the country. After settling in the Bay Area Anna managed the Sierra Club’s local environmental campaigns, winning campaigns to protect hillsides in Livermore and creating solar energy programs in San Francisco. Anna is currently a Senior Organizer with Greenpeace where she supports environmental campaigns across the globe.
Laura Hahn: Laura launched her career as a State Organizer for NARAL and has been active in public life ever since. Laura has led environmental campaigns as the Organizing Manger for the Bay Chapter Sierra Club, designed statewide electoral and media strategy with MSHC Partners, and worked on many San Francisco political campaigns. She is currently the Executive Director of the California Music and Culture Association and is active in San Francisco politics.
Emil Margolis: Emil began his involvement in social activism as an undergraduate student at the University of California at Santa Barbara and went on to volunteer on numerous anti-war and fair-pay/workers’ rights campaigns. As lead organizer for Evolve's school board and city council resolution campaign, he was instrumental in crafting effective messaging and working with local elected officials to pass over 110 resolutions statewide in support of closing the Corporate Loophole. He currently works on providing free job skills-training opportunities at Jewish Vocational Service based in San Francisco. He is also a composer. More about him and his music may be found at emilmargolis.com.
Sam Kippen: Samuel is an organizer with eight years of experience in nonprofit advocacy and campaigns. As one of Evolve's first staff and now a longtime member of its Board, Sam is committed to close the Corporate Tax Loophole in order to save California's struggling schools. Sam has worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council, 50+1 Strategies, and an array of progressive candidates and ballot initiatives. He currently serves as Community and Government Relations Specialist at Kamehameha, an $11 billion charitable trust with a mission to uplift Native Hawaiians through education. In his free time, Sam enjoys reading history books and making his son Santiago laugh.
Phil Layzer: Phil is a former organizer with the California League of Conservation Voters, with grassroots campaign experience in local, state, and national candidate races and initiatives. In 2014, he built a coalition that successfully lobbied the Alameda Board of Education to pass Evolve’s resolution to close the Corporate Tax Loophole. In 2019 he helped build a coalition that successfully lobbied the Alameda Board of Education to restore funding to district music programs. He is also the parent of a middle schooler in the Alameda School District.
Current Interns
Morsal Azimi, Campaign Intern: Morsal is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Political Science with double minors in Public Policy and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. Living in Southern California, she volunteered at various K-12 after-school programs through the YMCA, where she gained a deep understanding of how schools within the same county can face significant disparities in funding, equipment, and infrastructure. These experiences inspired Morsal to learn more about the public school system through Public Policy classes at UC Berkeley. She is passionate about advocating for increased funding for public schools and educating communities to support putting Proposition 13 reform measures back on the ballot. Morsal’s goal is to help improve equitable opportunities and learning resources for all California public schools. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels, spending time with her cat, and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.
X Vazquez, Campaign Intern: X [eh-keys] is a senior at UC Berkeley studying Ethnic Studies with an additional interest in LGBTQ Studies. Attending Oakland School for the Arts for middle school and high school, they got involved in a students of color-driven Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion campaign that exposed them to the intricate challenges of running a public arts charter school. Branching out from student activism, X partook in several grassroots campaigns lobbying for health equity, harm reduction, and LGBTQ rights, and was a 2024 Equality California Comcast Fellow interning in the California Legislative Native American Caucus. They are passionate about education equity and the cost of living crisis plaguing California. In their free time, X enjoys being outside, making new friends, and creating art.
Intern Testimonials
Hear from some of our past interns what the Campaign Internship gave to them!
“The advice I would give is to come ready and willing to learn. It’s okay if you don’t know everything. That’s why you're here, and you're in good hands.”
— Jennifer
I’ve said it a million times before, but I ALWAYS BRAG about the Evolve team. For my first time in a non-profit organization I got to learn the skills and strengths to be a leader and stronger writer, as well as plan and coordinate how to mobilize the community.” — Neftaly
“I truly value the trust and agency that I was granted as an intern. I felt like I was very much trusted to follow through with my ideas and to take on projects independently. This level of trust was not only empowering but also gave me a sense of responsibility and accountability.”
— Tran
“I learned to be more confident in myself, my public speaking and my passion for education equity; I was also able to engage and learn about local bay area issues.”
— Tania S.
“The thing that I value the most specifically about Evolve is the sheer, unparalleled dedication to serving the needs of our youth and schools. It’s quite rare to find an organization that actually has such a laser focus on education and doesn’t just list education to look ‘good’.”
— Davina
“The people are awesome and care about your success, so allow yourself to make mistakes and ask questions. It is the best place to fail and try again.”
— Arin
“Do not fear the unknown. As cliche as this sounds, often, I find myself not giving something a try because I do not know what to expect, I do not have experience, or I am nervous about not getting it right the first time around. However, interning at Evolve CA has made me realize it is the opposite.”
— Ciara
“As for skills, I overcame my fear of public speaking and self-advocacy, things that I think are really important for people that come from the same background as me.”
— Tania N.
“I also love how I actually felt like a part of the team. From socials to check-ins, Ben, Maddie, and Emily were always so welcoming. I didn’t feel like an intern who just does coffee runs or gets talked down to as in some of my other internships.”
— Hafsah
“I value the optimism of Evolve most of all. The organization has kept fighting and keeps putting out messaging even though the next election is a while away. You all have taught me that politics is a long game and loss can be encouraging so long as we learn from it!”
— Reva
“This internship challenged me. I gained a stronger understanding of my state and that our lack of resources for public schools is not normal.”
— Nathan
“I loved and valued our socials and lunch as a group. I loved that they were all interested in what our lives look like and showed interest in growing our professional development. ”
— Dani
“My time at Evolve allowed me to learn the ins and outs of working for a grassroots organization and the tactics that are crucial to building a movement”
— Annelisse