Board of Directors
Anthony Lew – Chair
Anthony Lew, JD, MPH, is a government lawyer and legislative advocate who works on public policy issues involving consumer protection, privacy rights, and economic justice. He previously served as counsel for the Assembly Judiciary Committee in the CA State Legislature for nearly 10 years, where he worked to further progressive policy on access to justice, civil and personal rights, and landlord/tenant law issues. He is also an officer on the board of the California Asia Pacific American Bar Association.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Anthony worked in epidemiology. He wrote his master’s thesis at UC Berkeley on the effectiveness of needle exchange programs and learned the ropes as a volunteer for the needle exchange program at the Berkeley Free Clinic. He later worked in the HIV Epidemiology program of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Annie Chou Vice-Chair
Annie Chou is the Chief of Staff in the California State Legislature. A scientist by education, Annie graduated from Denison University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and minors in Geology and Music. She honed her craft in organizing within the progressive labor movement of San Francisco and ran many successful campaigns in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Orange County. Annie is passionate about a wise progressive policy that creates real social change. Annie loves bikes, baking, and her black cat named KitKat.
Dr. Ava Asher, MD
Ava Asher, MD, is a family physician at the Sacramento Native American Health Center with a particular interest in the outpatient treatment of substance use disorder and the integration of treatment of marginalized populations into primary care. She graduated from UC Davis Family and Community Medicine in 2015 and has dedicated herself to working outside of the major medical systems of the region, which also included the clinic formerly known as CARES (the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services), and volunteering throughout her time in Sacramento at UCD Student-Run Clinics. Before pursuing medical training at New York Medical College, she worked as a research assistant at the National Institutes of Health studying HIV/AIDS pathophysiology and vaccine targets. In her free time, she plays ultimate frisbee, reads, and takes pictures of her cats in various positions of repose.
Alicia Agnoli
Alicia Agnoli, MD, MPH, MHS is an assistant professor of Family & Community Medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Eli Mall
Eli Mall, LCSW (he/him), is a clinician in outpatient addiction medicine at Kaiser Permanente, for the past five years, providing individual/group therapy and supporting people from adolescents to older adults, with substance use and related mental health needs. He earned his Master of Social Work from the University of the Pacific and is a new board member of Harm Reduction Services.
Gail Brosnan, Secretary
Gail Brosnan (she/her) has a Master’s specializing in Public Health Education. She spent nineteen years in sexual health promotion, HIV/HCV/STI prevention, before moving on to other topics, including her current work in behavioral health. In her free time, she loves to read and bake.
General Board Email