Sara Nelson is the executive director and co-founder of the Romero Institute and former national executive director and co-founder of the Christic Institute.

A former TV reporter and news anchor, Sara was educated at Cornell University and U.C. Berkeley. She served as the National Labor Secretary for the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Washington D.C. in the mid to late 1970s. Responding to the concerns of NOW women, she assembled the Karen Silkwood Fund and launched the national campaign to find out who killed Silkwood, a young union leader working at a plutonium factory in Oklahoma who was run off the road while delivering proof of irregularities and safety violations to a New York Times reporter. The ensuing investigation and jury trial, on behalf of Silkwood’s children, won a record-setting $10.5 million judgment, and prevented the construction of new nuclear plants for more than 30 years.

Encouraged by their victory in the Silkwood case, Sara, lead counsel Daniel Sheehan, and Father William Davis formed the Christic Institute to combine their efforts as champions of social justice. At its height, it became a national organization with 50 staff members in five offices supporting hundreds of action teams. From 1980 to 1992, Christic litigated several landmark cases, including:

• Representing victims of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster
  (PIRC v. Three Mile Island)
• Defending Catholic workers who provided sanctuary to Salvadoran refugees in the American Sanctuary Movement
  (U.S. v. Stacey Lynn Merkt, et al.)
• Seeking damages from the KKK and American Nazi Party members for the murder of civil rights demonstrators in the Greensboro Massacre
  (Waller v. Butkovich)
• Bringing charges against 29 people involved in the civil case associated with the Iran-Contra Affair
  (Avirgan v. Hull, et al)

In 1999, Sara served as the executive director of former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev’s & former United States Secretary of State James Baker III’s State of the World Forum in San Francisco. The annual event brought together 1,000 former world leaders to meet with dignitaries, the world’s most prominent business executives, scientists and Nobel Laureates, activists and national public interest organization chiefs, religious leaders, and agency heads of the United Nations in an effort to collectively discuss global problems and solutions.

Sara formed the Romero Institute in 1980 with Christic Institute co-founder Daniel Sheehan. A law and policy center based in Santa Cruz, CA, the Institute exposes and implements solutions to serious threats to the environment, structural injustice, and human and constitutional rights violations.

Daniel Sheehan is president and co-founder of the Romero Institute and former president and co-founder of the Christic Institute.

Carrying degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Danny has helped lead multiple lawsuits of historic importance, including three Supreme Court cases. Prior to forming the Christic Institute, he litigated a number of high-profile social justice cases.

These included:

• Defending First Amendment rights in the “Pentagon Papers Case”
  (New York Times Co. v. United States)
• Defending reproductive freedom
  (Eisenstadt v. Baird)
• Defending First Amendment rights of press protection
  (In re Pappas: Branzburg v. Hayes)
• The Watergate burglary case
  (United States v. George Gordon Liddy, et al.)
• Defending the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs interpretation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, in hiring and promotion practices
  (Morton v. Mancari)
• Serving as amicus curiae in the eight-month long Wounded Knee Trials against American Indian Movement leaders

As General Counsel to the United States Jesuit Order's National Office of Social Ministry in Washington, D.C., Danny partnered with Father William Davis, met leaders of the country's religious and progressive movements, and developed a reputation as a fierce advocate for the rights of political and peace activists.

In 1977, Danny was contacted by Sara Nelson, the National Organization of Women’s (NOW) National Labor Secretary, and partnering with her and a coalition of activists, won a record-setting $10.5 million judgment on behalf of nuclear worker and whistleblower Karen Silkwood. The case effectively ended construction of all new nuclear power plants in the United States.

Following the success of the Silkwood case, Danny, Sara, and Father Davis formed the Christic Institute. They prevailed in several celebrated cases opposing the structural sources of injustice in the United States and around the world, including:

• Representing victims of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster
  (PIRC v. Three Mile Island)
• Defending Catholic workers who provided sanctuary to Salvadoran refugees in the American Sanctuary Movement
  (U.S. v. Stacey Lynn Merkt, et al.)
• Seeking damages from the KKK and American Nazi Party members for the murder of civil rights demonstrators in the Greensboro Massacre
  (Waller v. Butkovich)
• Bringing charges against 29 people involved in the civil case associated with the Iran-Contra Affair
  (Avirgan v. Hull, et al)

Danny formed the Romero Institute in 1992 with Christic Institute co-founder Sara Nelson. A law and policy center based in Santa Cruz, CA, the Institute exposes and implements solutions to serious threats to the environment, structural injustice, and human and constitutional rights violations.

Daniel oversees all Romero Institute departments and helps decide strategic direction for the organization. He has over 15 years of experience as a deputy director, organizer, researcher, and writer. He holds a BA in Political Theory from Harvard College and an MA in Social Science from the University of Chicago.

Benjamin leads our Greenpower initiative, which implements local climate change solutions to help communities produce renewable power. He is passionate about social justice organized, and co-founded Big Noise Films—with whom he directed the award-winning documentary Zapatista. He has worked as an organizer and contract negotiator with the New York State Nurses Association and was the field director for US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's successful reelection campaign in 2012. He studied political science at Brown University.

Jon leads our research efforts, and verifies the scientific validity of the issues we expose and the solutions we support. He is an environmental scientist and educator with experience in climatology, Earth science, botany, pedology, marine biology, toxicology, and pollution studies. He earned a B.S. in Ecology & Evolution from UC Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. in Environmental Science & Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara.

Chris manages our websites, email database, petitions, Youtube channels, graphic design, and video and audio production. He also runs a small music studio. He holds a BS in astrophysics and a minor in electronic music from the University of California, Santa Cruz

Paddy oversees the Christic Institute Archive and supports all the Romero projects with his experience in security, equipment, shipping, the online store, and maintenance. His work in social justice began in 1988 when he joined the Christic Institute as a computer technician and security officer.

Chuck leads the increasingly important production of our video content. A producer, director, cinematographer, editor, and livestreamer with over 30 years of production experience in the industry, Chuck has done extensive work in Indian Country, beginning with documenting AIM’s Yellow Thunder Camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1981. Since then, he has created a number of films about Native American rights and the environment. His latest “deployment” was to Standing Rock in November of 2016.

Jesse contributes written content and guides our content strategy. An award-winning journalist, PR pro, and business development specialist, he has decades of experience writing, editing, and developing relationships between people and organizations. He loves working with people of heart and intelligence on meaningful projects. Jesse holds a BA in film from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Leslie advances our Greenpower initiative by making connections and partnering with local communities to foster coalescence and support for renewable power. Making a difference in an interconnected world matters most to Leslie. Through a variety publishing industry, marketing, and community roles, including serving as an elected school board trustee, Leslie works to connect with diverse groups to contribute toward the common good. Concurrently, Leslie works as an organizer for political candidates and initiatives and serves on the board of the Northern Monterey County Community Foundation. She studied liberal arts at California State University, Fullerton.

Anna oversees fundraising efforts and donor relations for the Institute. With a background in marketing, sales, and entertainment, she is happy to now funnel her energy toward the protection of our planet and the rights of its people. Anna holds a BA in American Literature & Culture from the University of California, Los Angeles.