Haney Hong, President & CEO

A husband, father, Captain in the Navy Reserve, business owner, and student of citizenship, Haney Hong is President & CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, President and Trustee of the San Diego Taxpayers Educational Foundation, and the Principal Officer for the SDCTA Political Action Committee. He is focused on robust citizenship engagement and firmly believes that such engagement is the first line of defense against internal and external threats to a healthy democratic society. Haney is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Universities and sits on several nonprofit and government boards on the East and West Coasts. He teaches public policy and public administration to professionals at UC San Diego Extended Studies and graduate students at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy.

Yavuz Basaran, Policy & Research Manager

Sarah Schroeder, Policy & Research Manager

Sarah Schroeder is a Master of Public Policy student at UCSD's school of Global Policy and Strategy and has a B.S. in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara. Over the past few years Sarah has worked in non-profit project management and community organizing, and is passionate about education policy. In her free time she enjoys cooking, hiking, and travelling.

Isabella Almazan, Policy Analyst Intern

Isabella Almazan is a December 2023 graduate from UC San Diego with a B.A. in Economics. She has worked previously as a tutor and looks forward to making a deeper impact on the community with the SDCTA. In her free time, Isabella enjoys reading as well as playing the guitar.

Pauline Ramos, Policy Analyst Intern

Pauline Ramos is a 3rd year majoring in Political Science/Data Analytics and minoring in Computational Social Science at UC San Diego. She is interested in how public opinion and data analys affects the policy making process and hopes to make an impact on local politics. In her free time, she lil singing karaoke and trying out new dessert places.

Izzy Hall, Public Affairs Intern

Izzy Hall is a third year Political Science major and History minor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. She has experience working with prospective students and families through her time as an admissions assistant and is looking forward to collaborating with local officials and voters to enhance San Diego’s policy making. In her free time she enjoys playing collegiate lacrosse, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Ryan Penkala, Data scientist

Ryan Penkala is a recent San Diego State University graduate with a BS in Quantitative Economics.  While at Taxpayers, Ryan has led research analyzing local government expenditures in homelessness services and public labor unions' political contributions.  His personal research is in baseball analytics, with an interest in pitcher arm health and longevity.

khali burrell, Data Science Intern

Khalil Burrell graduated from UCSD in 2024 with a B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics. He has experience in data processing, algorithms, data optimization, Python, and data visualization. He has a passion for utilizing mathematics to find practical solutions. He loves to get outside, play basketball, and listen to music.

Brian liu, Data Science Intern

Brian Liu is a UCSD alumni. In his free time he enjoys drawing and playing games. He loves coffee and tea and likes exploring random cafes in San Diego on the weekends.

Kaitlyn chou, Data Science Intern

Kaitlyn is a third-year undergrad at UC San Diego double majoring in Cognitive Science (specialization in Machine Learning) and Linguistics. She is looking forward to expanding her data science and coding skills to make a difference in San Diego policies. Outside of school she enjoys going to coffee shops, bookstores, and farmers' markets around the city.

Brandon Miner, Data Science Intern

Brandon Miner is attending SDSU pursuing a degree in Statistics with Emphasis in Data Science and a Minor in Mathematics. He wants to explore different data fields of interest, with a particular interest in climate change. Outside of the workplace, he likes to spend his free time going out with friends, as well as going to the gym.