Speakers

Four Points by Sheraton San Jose Airport
1471 N 4th St, San Jose, CA 95112

Ramona is San Jose Spotlight’s Editor and Co-Founder. She has covered politics and government for a decade, working in San Jose, Merced, Salinas, Eureka and most recently Las Vegas. A San Jose native, Ramona is passionate about investigative and watchdog journalism that searches for truth, exposes wrongdoing and sheds light on injustice. Ramona broke countless stories as The Mercury News’ San Jose City Hall reporter, delving into the South Bay’s housing crisis, state and local elections, the city’s pension woes, technology, homelessness and the city’s recovery from massive flooding. Ramona’s housing stories revealed loopholes in San Jose laws and prompted city leaders to adopt new tenant protections.  As the state government reporter for Nevada’s largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ramona followed President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence as they campaigned in the Silver State, covered the nation’s most exciting U.S. Senate race (Dean Heller), interviewed the legendary Congressman John Lewis and chronicled former President Barack Obama’s stop in Las Vegas to discuss technology. She also wrote a groundbreaking series about the lack of mental health care services in Nevada, which led to proposed changes in state law.

Ramona is a graduate of San Jose State University and has won numerous journalism awards, including the McClatchy President’s Award, George F. Gruner Award, and 1st Place awards for investigative reporting and coverage of local government from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. She’s thrilled to be home — where she can stock up on the orange sauce again — and to provide independent and unbiased political news coverage to her hometown.

Josh is San Jose Spotlight’s Co-Founder and Director of Development. He is excited about building partnerships in the community, fundraising and coordinating events. His professional career has included roles with the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, various state and city lawmakers and Silicon Valley At Home, where he served as Political Manager and led advocacy campaigns for affordable housing policies including a plan to double Mountain View’s affordable housing stock. Most recently, Josh worked for the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas as an Outreach Specialist, establishing community partnerships and providing outreach for vocational training to youth, adults and displaced workers. As a volunteer, Josh has served on the board of numerous community organizations, including the City of San José Human Rights Commission, City of San José Independent Police Auditor Advisory Committee, East Side Union High School District Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, the District 8 Community Roundtable, and as a Fellow with the New Leaders Council- Silicon Valley, Latino Leadership Alliance and the American Leadership Forum.

Josh is a San Jose native who grew up in Evergreen and graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology- Community Change and a Master of Public Administration degree. In his free time, Josh enjoys reading, hiking and spending time at the dog park with his wife, Ramona, and their dog, Lucky.

Prof. Duane Cheers received his Ph.D from Howard University, Washington, D. C., in African Studies and Research. He has  MA, African-American Studies  MS, Journalism and  BA, Journalism from Boston University. He is currently a Professor of Photojournalism at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San Jose State University. 

He was a Fulbright Scholar to Johannesburg, South Africa where he taught documentary photography to township children and freelance photographers. He organized an exhibition of their work that was on display the Durban City Hall Gallery and at the Bensusan Museum in Johannesburg. 

Last year, he was a part of a CSU-Faculty Seminar held at the University of Ghana, in Accra, the capital city. During the week, he met Mary Nyamson, a principal at the Edumfa School. He discovered that the school with 19 teachers and 335 students, had no computers, few school supplies, and few desks. He has been working with the school to provide with supplies, and community meal for the students, who live in a rural, farming town. He is returning in mid-July with more school supplies.