Commissioners

Kristine Custodio Suero, Chair

As Chair of this vital Commission, I am honored to work alongside dedicated leaders, advocates, and community members committed to advancing equity, opportunity, and empowerment for women and girls across San Diego County. Our Commission is dedicated to addressing the challenges women and girls face while celebrating their achievements and potential.

Through collaboration, education, and advocacy, we strive to create a community where all women and girls thrive. Whether you are here to learn about our initiatives, explore resources, or join us in driving meaningful change, your engagement is essential to our mission.

Thank you for visiting, and I encourage you to connect with us, participate in our programs, and help us make a lasting impact. Together, we can build a brighter and more equitable future for everyone.

Kelly Jenkins-Pultz, Vice Chair

Kelly Jenkins-Pultz has been an advocate for working women for over 30 years, working within nonprofit and government agencies and leading educational programs that help women train for high wage jobs in STEM, construction, transportation and manufacturing trades; advocating for pay equity and workplaces free from gender-based violence, harassment and discrimination; and encouraging public and private sector employers to expand paid leave and workplace flexibility for all.

For 27 years Kelly worked at the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau in a variety of distinct roles. Most recently she served as the Western Regional Administrator and oversaw a team that delivered programming in nine states and three territories. Kelly was the lead writer for a number of the Women’s Bureau’s publications on equal pay issues, including Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act: Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future, which was released by the National Task Force on Equal Pay, and Equal Pay: A Thirty-Five Year Perspective, released by the Department of Labor.

Before joining the Women’s Bureau, Kelly worked at the National Committee on Pay Equity in Washington, DC, and was part of the team that developed the first “National Equal Pay Day” commemorations, which have since grown into a global acknowledgement of the gender pay gap and strategies to improve women’s pay. She has also held positions at Women Work!, the National Center for Municipal Development, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and the Maryland General Assembly.

Kelly completed her Bachelor of Arts in English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and her Master of Arts in Public Policy and Women’s Studies at George Washington University. At GWU, her independent study focused on women’s alternatives to generating income, including microenterprise and cooperative businesses models.

She currently serves on the Board of WINTER, a nonprofit pre-apprenticeship program for women and volunteers for a variety of causes supporting working families. She lives in North Central San Diego County with her husband and two big dogs and is the mother of two grown sons.

Vernita Gutierrez, Vice Chair

Vernita is a long-time community activist with over 30 years of experience advocating for social justice and the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights in San Diego, California. As Vice President of External Affairs at Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, she directs strategy for the organization’s external-facing work in the counties of Imperial, San Diego, and Riverside, including communications, supporter and community engagement, education, marketing, and public affairs. Vernita serves on several advisory groups and nonprofit boards. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego.

Mary Davis

Mary Davis is a retiree who blossomed into a later-in-life government-watchdog activist. A member of the Alpine Community Planning Group, she passionately advocates for the rights of everyday people at the local level. She now aspires to use her voice on the Commission to promote equality for women and girls in all spaces and places – from the classroom, to the boardroom, to the tops of podiums. Her special areas of focus will be teens and seniors – two underrepresented demographics which far too frequently only serve as bookends for the larger expanse of Women's Equality and Rights.

Kimberly Keen

Kimberly Keen is an attorney, women’s advocate, and wife. Kim represents a wide range of high-profile clients in her practice, including professional athletes, entertainers, and corporate investors in a variety of family law matters. She also volunteers her time to work pro bono on cases involving domestic violence and immigration.

Prior to being appointed as Commissioner, Kim volunteered and conducted research for the eventual implementation of CEDAW in San Diego County. She is active in the local legal community with memberships in Lawyer’s Club of San Diego and San Diego Family Law Bar Association. Kim also serves as a member of the Advocacy and Reproductive Justice Committee for Lawyer’s Club of San Diego.

She has written and contributed to articles for Elle.com, Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights, Medium, and local legal publications, primarily focused on the intersection between women’s issues and the law.

Kim is a graduate of UCLA and University of San Diego School of Law. She also studied international human rights at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. As an undergraduate student, Kim presented an aid initiative for Syria to a panel of United Nations representatives in the GenUN Case Competition, earning second place. In law school, Kim served on the board of the Women’s Law Caucus.

Kim lives in District 3 with her husband, Armin, and their dog, George, and cat, Olive. You can reach her at kkeen.cswg@gmail.com.

Rohida Khan

Ms. Rohida Khan is a Victim Assistance Specialist at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and covers County of San Diego and all airports including SD International Airport. Ms. Khan served as Human Relations Commissioner from 2014-2020 (estimated) for the city of long Beach.

Ms. Khan assist HSI agents on scene when victims are likely to be encountered to provide mandated services, referrals, crisis mitigation, and information to crime victims, serve as a primary liaison with other field offices, DOJ components, and federal, state, local officials, and non-governmental agencies regarding victim assistance issues.

Ms. Khan works with human trafficking Task Force in San Diego and is one of the founding members of Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) Task Force of Greater Los Angeles.

Ms. Khan trained thousands of individuals both domestically and internationally on victim assistance, human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, trauma informed and culturally appropriate services for the victims and other related subjects. Ms. Khan also co-authored a manual on Human Trafficking, which was used to train the Salvation Army employees both nationally and internationally.

Ms. Khan has Masters’ Degrees (MAs) in International Relations, Psychology, and Political Science. She also has a Law Degree (LLB) and a Bachelor of Art Degree (BA) and can speak 5 languages. Ms. Khan has received numerous awards for her work in anti-trafficking and victim assistance field.

Monica Martinez

Monica Martinez is the Director of Development at Emilio Nares Foundation, where she leads fundraising initiatives to support children and families navigating a child’s cancer journey. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and an Associate degree in Business Administration, and she has earned a Nonprofit Management Certificate from the University of San Diego's Nonprofit Institute. Monica has a diverse professional background, including leadership roles such as Managing Director of North County Philanthropy Council and Director of Operations at Chicano Federation, where she played a key role in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts for underserved communities.

Monica is also actively involved in community service, serving as a Board Member for MANA de North County, where she advocates for the empowerment of Latinas through education and leadership development. She is a proud member of the Community Centric Fundraising Group in San Diego, committed to promoting equity and social justice in philanthropy.

Her achievements include facilitating successful fundraising campaigns and advancing strategic partnerships in the nonprofit sector. Monica's work is guided by her commitment to collaboration, empathy, and creating meaningful connections to uplift underserved communities.

Dr. Amy Nantkes

As a leader in the nonprofit sector for 20 years, Dr. Amy Nantkes is responsible for training and leading hundreds of volunteers that desire to positively change their communities through direct action. With professional experience in coordinating large-scale community events and developing curriculum for international NGOs, she understands the power of vision-infused education in organizing groups of people around a common purpose.

Dr. Nantkes has taken that experience into the higher education classroom as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Point Loma Nazarene University, also serving as Director of the B.A. in Public Administration program. She holds a BA in Cross Cultural Studies from North Central University, an MA in Social Entrepreneurship and Change from Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Nantkes is also a member of the leadership honor society Sigma Alpha Pi and was awarded the CGU Department of Politics and Economics Outstanding Student Award in 2017 as well as the CGU Dissertation Fellowship Award in 2020. In 2023, Dr. Nantkes was recognized by San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas with a District 1 SHEro Award for Education.

Dr. Nantkes' research interests include social welfare policy, inequality, and immigration policy, with an emphasis in efficacy-developing policies and sustainable reduction of poverty in the United States. Trained in quantitative and qualitative methods, Amy's recent work includes a Native American voting rights study included in the Sanchez v. Cegavske (2016) case as well as an analysis she co-authored on pervasive Anti-Asian Rhetoric during the COVID era and its consequences on society and policy. Her dissertation, entitled "Elite Rhetoric, Target Group Positioning, and Policymaking: Immigrant Women and Project 100% in San Diego County," applied Blumer’s (1958) Group Position Theory to investigate underlying racial bias existing in SD County at the intersection of anti-immigrant elite language that co-evolved with restrictive welfare reforms in the 1990s.

Dr. Nantkes is proud to call North San Diego County home. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring National Parks, stand-up paddleboarding, drinking iced coffee, running on the coast, and cheering for the San Diego Padres at baseball games with her family.

Idara Ogunsaju

Idara Ogunsaju is the founder of the Antorge Group, LLC a Change Management consulting and executive coaching practice with a focus on building confidence in women in the workplace.

Prior to launching The Antorge Group, Ms. Ogunsaju served in various roles in a career in healthcare that spanned more than 20 years. She led the Kaiser Permanente San Diego Region’s Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Neurology, and Rheumatology departments. She previously served as a consultant for the deployment of the Kaiser Permanente electronic medical record system. Her experience also includes academic research, private medical practice administration, and labor relations.

Ms. Ogunsaju is the author of The Confidence Talk: I SAID SOAR, a book about strategies for rebuilding professional and personal confidence.

Ms. Ogunsaju has a BSc in Physiological Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and Certifications in Change Management and Business Management from Cornell University and University of California San Diego (UCSD) respectively.

Ms. Ogunsaju is the immediate past chair of the board of directors for the San Diego Council on Literacy (SDCOL), current board member and past chair for LEAD San Diego, and is currently serving on the Policy Committee of The Commission on the Status of Women and Girls for San Diego County. In addition to supporting literacy and leadership development, Ms. Ogunsaju is an advocate for Maternal and Child Health, and women in leadership.

Lauren Welty

Lauren Welty is a Land Use Developer, with almost 10 years of experience deciphering local code, environmental regulation, and entitlement processing. Prior to delving into the acquisition and entitlement realm, Lauren attended California State University San Marcos with a focus in Special Education and Early Childhood Development. Despite embracing a career geared towards the construction industry, her love for empowering young minds has not wavered.

As a mom of six, involvement within their lives is of the utmost priority. Serving on the Ramona Unified School District Elementary School Site Council, and as a Ramona Unified School District Area Committee representative, providing opportunities for youth within her community by way of LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) budget allocations, local family engagement policy, and ELOP (Extended Learning Opportunities Program) is an effort that lends room for local families to thrive within their own backyard for years to come.

Additionally, Lauren’s love for youth sports has led her to coach youth baseball and youth soccer for the past five years, actively representing the Ramona Parks and Recreation Association for three years, and currently serving as Ramona Soccer League President.

When not on a soccer field or camping in the desert, Lauren serves her community as the Vice-Chair of the Ramona Community Planning Group – a local advisory board that helps pave the way for residents of Ramona to develop according to the towns General Plan and adopted Form Based Code.

Bridging the gap between planning for the success of the future generations while allowing room for currently under-represented community members to bloom is a passion of Lauren’s that is vital to the fruition of legislative achievement.

As a part of the San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, ensuring avenues are paved for girls and women alike throughout San Diego County, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status is not only attainable, but a necessity.

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” -RBG