Meet the Speakers

Paul Mitchell, Head of Redistricting Partners

Paul Mitchell has conducted the redistricting for more than 35 cities, school boards and community college districts, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, and most recently, the Cities of Santa Ana, Davis and Napa. The firm’s work on racially polarized voting analysis and demographics has aided dozens of agencies as they navigate the California and Federal Voting Rights Acts. Mitchell also works with nonprofit organizations, such as the Irvine Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, the Advancement Project, and others in building community engagement and working throughout California on elections and voting issues. Mitchell has been regularly cited in the media as an expert on elections and redistricting, including as the subject of a CNN Presents special on the decennial redistricting process, being interviewed on the PBS News Hour election coverage in 2020, participating in the 538 Podcast series on redistricting reform, and as a regular analyst on California-based network TV election coverage. For the past 8 years, Mitchell has also served as Vice President of the bi-partisan Political Data Inc where he works with both political parties, campaigns, nonprofits and universities, with a specialty in polling and survey data. Mitchell earned his Associates Degree from Orange Coast College, Undergraduate from American University and Masters in Public Policy from USC.

Russell Yee, State Redistricting Commissioner

Dr. Russell Yee graduated from Oakland High School, UC Berkeley (BS), Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM), and the Graduate Theological Union (PhD), where his research focused on sociolinguistic aspects of liturgical and free worship. He has taught mostly for Fuller Theological Seminary and especially enjoys teaching his class on Oakland for St. Mary’s College. He’s the author of Worship on the Way (2012), which explores worship in Asian and South East Asian North American churches. He pastored a church for ten years and is active in his present multicultural church community, which wrestles tangibly with matters of social justice, class & race, cultural contextualization, community redevelopment, crime & safety, recovery, re-entry, and homelessness. He’s a longtime history docent at the Oakland Museum of California, with a special interest in the state’s indigenous peoples. He was the first board secretary for Habitat for Humanity East Bay (now East Bay/Silicon Valley). An avid marathon runner, he volunteers with Running for a Better Oakland, a youth sports and scholarship program. He is registered with the Republican Party.

Kalimah Salahuddin, President, Jefferson Union High School District Board of Education