YEO Policy Academies Clean Energy & Environmental Justice Pol. Academy | Page 43

YEO Bios
Sonia Lopez
Board Trustee
South Gate, California
Board Trustee Sonia Lopez was elected to the Compton Community
College District Board of Trustees in November 2013. She is a legislative
staff member for California state Senator Holly Mitchell, where she
focuses on issues pertaining to higher education. Lopez sits on the
advisory board for LAtinas and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation RBI
Advisory Committee. Lopez earned a bachelor’s degree in Chicano studies
and political science from the University of California, Riverside. @tweetsbysonia

Levon C. Manzie
City Councilman
Mobile, Alabama
Levon C. Manzie has served on Mobile City Council for District 2 since
November of 2014, where he is chairman of the Administrative Services
Committee, member of the Entitlement and Public Safety Committees,
and represents the council on the Mobile Planning Commission. From
2008 to November 2013, Manzie was District 4 commissioner/president
on the Mobile County Board of School Commissioners and the youngest
elected official in Mobile County. Currently, he is assistant pastor/administrator at St. Joseph
Baptist Church. Manzie graduated from Troy University with a B.A. in political science.

Mayor
Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Josh Maxwell was sworn in as Downingtown’s youngest mayor in
2010 at the age of 26. Since being re-elected with 68% of the vote,
Maxwell has focused on urban redevelopment, enhancing public
education opportunities, and personalizing the role of mayor during
his first two terms. In 2011, Maxwell re-started the Downingtown
Main Street Association, which has worked on over $250 million of
economic development projects in Downingtown. In 2012, Maxwell joined the board of the
Education Foundation, which has successfully supported innovation projects in the Downingtown
School District. Downingtown has been recognized as a leader in urban redevelopment and as
a community on the rise. Downingtown was named a “Top Ten Place to Live” by Philadelphia
Magazine, while Maxwell was named “Best Young Politician in Philadelphia” by the