Page Last Updated June 8, 2023.
The following is a list of citizens who serve on the Phoenix
Human Relations Commission. Commissioners are appointed by the mayor following formal approval by the Phoenix City Council. Once approved by the Phoenix City Council, commissioners serve terms of up to three years. Members are expected to attend monthly commission meetings and any subcommittee meetings that they may participate in.
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Sariah Flores
Sariah Flores currently works as the Digital Media and Patient Engagement Coordinator for Mountain Park Health Center. She has lived in the city of Phoenix for most of her life and is deeply committed to the community here.
After returning to Phoenix from Tucson where she went to college, Sariah got her start in nonprofit working for Mountain Park which is a Federally Qualified Community Health Center. Her role at the organization has involved a great deal of community engagement and advocacy. After a few years of working in community health, Sariah decided to pursue a master’s degree in public health where she developed an interest in public policy as it relates to healthcare in our communities.
It is Sariah’s goal to work with policymakers to improve major gaps in our public health system including health inequities that many of our diverse community members face. Sariah brings the commission a background in journalism with excellent written and verbal communication skills. She also has experience engaging with the public through multiple outlets including digital and social media.
Sariah serves on the Phoenix Human Relations Commission to support its mission to eliminate discrimination in the city of Phoenix in all areas including but not limited to the public healthcare system.
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Andrew Gordon
Andy Gordon came to Phoenix in 1973 after graduating from Miami University and Northwestern University School of Law (cum laude). He practiced law for twenty years at one of Arizona’s major law firms and then co-founded another major firm. Over the intervening 49 years his practice has primarily involved representing many of Arizona’s non-profit healthcare providers. In addition to his healthcare practice, he is also one of Arizona’s leading election law experts, having represented a wide array of elected officials and campaigns, including former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, and several initiative and referendum campaigns. He was also a Judge Pro Tem on the Maricopa County Superior Court.
Additionally, Andy has significant governmental service. In 1993-1994 he was chief of staff for Arizona Congressman Sam Coppersmith and in 2009 to and 2010, he was Counsel at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Janet Napolitano. While at DHS, he worked primarily on national security issues. Andy is also an adjunct professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University where he teaches national security law and antitrust law.
Since coming to Arizona, Andy has served as a member and officer on many community and non-profit boards including Community Legal Services, the Volunteer Lawyer Program, the Center for Law and the Public interest, the Arizona Heritage Alliance, the Sonoran Institute and two local synagogues.
Sariah serves on the Phoenix Human Relations Commission to support its mission to eliminate discrimination in the city of Phoenix in all areas including but not limited to the public healthcare system.
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René Herrera
With a love of learning and education, René Herrera has dedicated himself to gaining the skills and experience he believes are needed to apply principles of anthropology to public health practice.
Having earned master’s degrees from the University of South Florida he is now serving his community as an educator at Estrella Mountain Community College and as a data analyst for the University of Arizona Cancer Center.
Throughout his professional career, true to his love of learning, René has pursued additional professional training. He is a graduate from the American Express Leadership Academy at the ASU Lodestar Center where he learned best practice approaches to leadership and nonprofit management. He also graduated from the Valle del Sol Hispanic Leadership Institute where he learned how unique and valuable his cultural experience can be; equipped with strategies to leverage his Latinx identity for community good.
René believes in using his work to make a positive impact in the community. This reflects his character strength in citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty. René sees himself as part of many communities of varying sizes, connected by a web of shared geographic and sociocultural identities. From this perspective René has made a personal commitment to position himself in both professional and service roles that have some perceived positive social benefit.
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Terri Jackson
After 40 years in the Courts and the field of Criminal Justice, Terri Jackson retired from the position of Judicial Services Administrator in the Judicial Branch of the Superior Court of Arizona. She served as the Director Pre-Trial Services, and Administrator of the Office of the Jury Commission. In 2012, her name was placed on the Maricopa County Pillars of Honor.
Terri organized the County’s African American Knowledge Network and was its first chair. She served on the National Association of Pretrial Services Agency and the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice.
Terri is currently a Commissioner on the Phoenix Women’s Commission and the Human Relations Commission. She recently participated on the Community Police Trust Initiative task force. She has served on the boards of the YWCA, the Children's Activity Museum, Maricopa County TASC and the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She is a Read Across America program volunteer. Terri holds a master’s degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a Certification in Storytelling from South Mountain Community College.
Terri’s purpose in life is to assist in the development of Women and Girls into global leadership positions.
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Henry Lam
Henry Lam is the Risk Management Consultant at Silicon Valley Bank. He has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry, including executive positions at US Bank, Bank of America, and American Express. He has a finance bachelor's degree and a master's degree in business administration (MBA).
Mr. Lam is enthusiastic and passionate about volunteerism, serving as a commission member for Phoenix Sister Cities, the executive officer for Boy Scout Troop 41, a HOA board member, and a member of the Madison School District's Blue-Ribbon Committee. He has held different leadership positions in diversity and inclusion groups, committees, and panels throughout his career.
Mr. Lam and his wife Christa have four adult children. He likes to travel, hike, and road bike, and he also teaches spin classes at the local gym.
Henry is an advocate for those who do not have a voice. Some of the biases he had experienced with immigrant parents were familiar to him. Everyone, he believes, has something to contribute to the community. He believes that the Human Relations Commission is a continuation of his worldviews for a better community, as he has led past corporate diversity projects.
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Michael Mazzocco, Chair
Michael Mazzocco is the owner of Michael Mazzocco Events, a bespoke events company started in 2017. He specializes in high-end event coordination and fundraising for many non-profits and arts organizations around the valley.
Michael is the Board Chair for the Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce who serves the LGBTQ business enterprise. Their mission of working towards an equitable business community thru values like equality, leadership, diversity, respect, and gratitude resonate with him. He loves to find ways to help spread these values thru collaboration with other organizations around the valley.
He also serves on the board of the Phoenix Gay Men’s Chorus that strives to unite, inspire, educate, and entertain its diverse audiences, members, allies, and supporting partners. When not serving on one of these boards or any number of committees around the valley, Michael works with Arizona State University in their Prepped program which helps female and minority food entrepreneurs build their businesses. Previously Michael served on the board of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) Phoenix and has been involved with that organization for 19 years as well as Convergence Ballet, and ILEA (International Live Event Association) as board-member and president for four years. In 2021 He completed the training for a diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace certificate thru University of Southern Florida. Michael is a Valley Leadership participant and has an obvious passion for being a change maker here in the Valley of the Sun. When Michael is not working on our community, he lives in it in Central Phoenix with his partner, Isaac. Being a proud gay indigenous (Delaware Nation) small business owner, a passion for positive change and past experiences are what drove him to join the Human Relations Commission for Phoenix.
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Nate Rhoton
Nate Rhoton serves as the Executive Director for one-n-ten, an LGBTQ non-profit delivering youth services in Arizona. Joining the team in fall of 2015, he served as the Director of Development followed by Director of Finance & Operations, before assuming his current role in January of 2018.
Following a career of fifteen years in corporate management and finance, Rhoton decided to serve the community with his nonprofit fundraising and development expertise. Serving for twelve years as the operations director and then CFO of a local construction company, he worked to expand corporate community involvement and non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ employees. Managing significant growth for the company, he saw early on the need for continued staff development and instituted training to increase retention and help new employees to assume higher paying roles within the company.
Born and raised in Arizona, Nate graduated from Flagstaff High School and then pursued a bachelor’s of science degree in economics from Arizona State University’s WP Carey School of Business graduating magna cum laude in 2000. Over the last decade, he has committed himself to nonprofit service, serving on the Arizona steering committee of the Human Rights Campaign for four years, the board of the Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, The Melonhead Foundation, and as co-chair of the board of directors for Equality Arizona from 2012-2015.
In his free time, he loves spending time with his Scottie-Golden, Sir William.
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Janice Varnado
Janice Varnado is passionate about advocating for others. Serving as a Commissioner on the City of Phoenix Human Relations Commission, Janice is able to advocate for the community by promoting equal and fair treatment for all residents as well as support social and economic justice. It goes without saying that her mission is to support the elimination of discrimination.
She also serves on the Birth-to-Five Policy Council, and advocates for parents as a Parent Advocate. Janice works as an Academic Counselor at the University of Phoenix where her role allows her to further her advocacy efforts by providing support, motivation, encouragement and empowerment to her students.
Janice is engaged and involved in numerous community outreach organizations and events. Janice is a former Legislative District Chair, State Committee Representative, Precinct Committee Representative, Affirmative Action Committee member and treasurer, and Mentor to at-risk and pregnant teens.
She enjoys mentoring, encouraging and empowering others to achieve their desired goals.
Two favorite quotes that Janice lives by are: “Service is the rent we pay to live on this earth” –Shirley Chisholm and “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” –Nelson Mandela.
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Miriam Weisman, Vice Chair
Miriam Weisman has been an activist and advocate for most of her life. She understood from a very young age to accept, respect, and appreciate our unique differences. She also has a very strong sense of justice and little tolerance for injustice. After a long time spent in education, she began her association with human rights organizations. Miriam was on the local and national board of ADL for close to twenty years. During her time with ADL, she was the local board chair for 5 1/2 years, facilitated anti-bias workshops for teachers and teens and was the National Chair of Education.
She has also been a strong advocate and voice for the LGBTQ+ community, sitting on the multicultural board of One Community, participating on the committee for Why Marriage Matters, facilitating for GLSEN and as a member of HRC. She was a part of two panels for the We the People conferences, concentrating on how to build communities and spoke at the Women’s March 2019. She also had the opportunity to facilitate workshops for Valle del Sol’s Hispanic Leadership Institute. Miriam presently works indirectly with the IRC through her association with a facility that helps Asylum Seekers.
"It is an honor for her to be appointed by Mayor Gallego to the Human Relations Commission. Serving on the Human Relations Commission is the next step for me to help fight against discrimination and to bring communities together by understanding that we all have much more in common than we have differences."
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