The Charter of the City of Oakland vests the Board of Port Commissioners with exclusive control and management of the Port department. The Board consists of seven members nominated by the mayor and appointed by the City Council for four year terms. Members must live in Oakland during their term and at least 30 days prior to their appointment. Members of the Board serve without salary or compensation.
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You may contact the Board of Port Commissioners via email at board@portoakland.com.
 Gilda Gonzales, who recently retired as Chief Executive Officer of the Unity Council, has a long history of public service. For over 20 years, she has been a respected leader in federal, state and local government positions, often bringing her strategic thinking, energy and direct style to drive the development and passage of key initiatives. Ms. Gonzales began her service as a California State Assembly Fellow working in the California State Legislature. In 1991, she began her career in Oakland City Hall serving as Policy Analyst to former Mayor Elihu Harris. During her fourteen year career in Oakland, she gained a vast knowledge of municipal financing and budgeting, public policy, economic development and government relations. She served in several capacities from Budget Analyst, Special Assistant to the Finance Agency Director, Intergovernmental Affairs Director, and Chief of Staff to former City Manager Robert Bobb and Mayor Jerry Brown. In 2004, Ms. Gonzales was named the Chief Executive Officer of the Unity Council. The Unity Council is a non-profit community development corporation committed to enriching the quality of life for families and individuals primarily in the Fruitvale district of Oakland. Ms. Gonzales has recently served on a variety of public/private boards including the State Farm Bank National CRA Advisory Board, Alameda County First 5 Commission, and Bay Area Council Economic Institute Board of Trustees. Originally from the Central Valley (Atwater), she attended and received a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Psychology from St. Mary's College (Moraga, CA), and a Master's of Public Administration from California State University, East Bay. In March 2013, Ms. Gonzales will be inducted in the Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame.
 James Head has served as director of programs for the San Francisco Foundation, a regional community foundation, which provides resources and support to organizations serving five Bay Area communities. He has over 30 years of experience in the fields of philanthropy and grant making; nonprofit management and technical assistance; community and economic development; and public interest law. Prior to joining the foundation in 2004, Mr. Head was president of the National Economic Development and Law Center (NEDLC) for 18 years. Additionally, Mr. Head has served for many years as legal counsel of the California Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) and has been a member of numerous foundation advisory boards, including the Open Society Foundation of New York, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation of Michigan and the Columbian Foundation of San Francisco. Mr. Head received his juris doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law and has bar memberships in Georgia, Florida, and California.
 Commissioner Alan S. Yee has more than 30 years of legal experience. Commissioner Yee serves as partner in the law firm of Siegel & Yee. Mr. Yee has litigated commercial cases involving trade and international commerce, representing businesses in trade with companies in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He received his bachelor's degree in 1974 from Princeton University and his juris doctorate in 1978 from the University of California's Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley. Commissioner Yee also has an extensive history of community involvement and public service. Mr. Yee was elected as a trustee of the Peralta Community Colleges and served as its president in 1994. He was appointed to the City of Oakland's Police Review Commission and served as its chair 1997-2000. Mr. Yee has also served on the boards of the Chinatown/Central District Community Development Council for the City of Oakland, the Oakland Intergovernmental Council and the East Bay Conversion and Reinvestment Commission.
Commissioner Yee has received numerous commendations and awards for his service, including: State Bar of California President's Pro Bono Service Award, 2004; Asian Health Services 35th Anniversary Honoree Award, 2009; East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation Gerald Leo Award, 2008; Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Award for Promoting Community Development, 2003; City of Oakland City Council Proclamation for Exemplary Services to the Community, 2004; and City of Oakland District 4 Local Hero Award, 2007.
 Commissioner Cestra "Ces" Butner is the President, CEO and owner of Horizon Beverage Company, an Oakland-based beverage distributorship that supplies retailers in Northern Alameda County and Western Contra Costa County. Upon graduating from the University of Missouri in 1975 and working in Minneapolis and Chicago for Fortune 500 companies, Mr. Butner settled in Oakland in 1981, working for a local beverage distributorship. By age 33, he became the youngest owner of an Anheuser-Busch wholesale operation in the country. Through acquisitions and expansions over the last 25 years, Mr. Butner has more than tripled the size of Horizon Beverage Company revenues placing it among Black Enterprise's top 100 Black Owned Business nationally. His community service work includes serving on the boards of the East Bay YMCA, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and as president of Sequoyah Country Club. Mr. Butner lives in Oakland with his wife Teresa and two daughters Raquel and Andrea.
Commissioner Earl S. Hamlin has degrees from Oberlin College (AB) and the University of California, Berkeley (JD & MBA). His actual job title of General Whatnot at investment bank Hambrecht & Quist not only described his varied activities there (financial analysis, corporate finance and venture capital) and a diverse range of company clients (anything outside of technology), but is an apt metaphor for his work and vocational experiences – warehouseman, real estate sales, community organizer, political operative (small time), Alameda County Planning Commissioner (State County Planning Commissioner of the Year-2001), and Treasurer, Chabot Space & Science Center. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation, was a founding member of the San Francisco Valuation Roundtable, and has been a Director of several companies.
Commissioner Hamlin's community activities include Alameda County Economic Development Advisory Board, Oakland Blue Ribbon Housing Commission, Alameda County Transportation Commission CAWG, and Elder, Montclair Presbyterian Church. Mr. Hamlin enjoys gardening, is the family genealogist and learned from his grandfather the art of storytelling. He and his wife, Bonnie Hamlin, have been Oakland residents for 41-years.
 Commissioner Bryan Parker serves as the Vice President of Davita, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and leading provider of kidney care in the United States, providing dialysis service and education for patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. Prior to joining Davita, Mr. Parker volunteered for nine months with the Obama Presidential Campaign's finance committee and before that, he was the Chief Operating Officer of a $100 million global digital media company. Mr. Parker's broad expertise also includes investment banking, operations management and law. He received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley in Political Economy of Industrial Societies and JD from the New York University School of Law in 1995 (bar certified in both California and New York). Mr. Parker's community service includes volunteering at his local church, Allen Temple Baptist Church and his hobbies include art collecting and football.
 Victor Uno is the business manager and financial secretary for the International Brotherhood Electrical Workers Local 595. He came to the Bay Area in 1970 to attend U.C. Berkeley and subsequently entered and completed the IBEW/NECA apprenticeship program for construction electricians. Early in his career, he worked at the port installing new rail lines, lights and power along one of the Port of Oakland berths. Mr. Uno became very involved in the IBEW/NECA apprenticeship program as a community college instructor at Chabot College (1987-1999), and was appointed director of the program in 1999. As the program's director, he oversaw dramatic expansion of the program, which involved the instruction of 280 apprentices and 400 journeypersons with a staff of 14 instructors, improving the program's curriculum and bringing more women and people of color into the program. Mr. Uno was elected and served on Local 595's examining board, executive board and as the union's president. Mr. Uno serves on the board of Asian Health Services and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. He also serves as a trustee for two IBEW/NECA apprenticeship programs, as well as for the Maritime and Aviation Project Labor Agreement Social Justice Trust and for IBEW/NECA pension and health and welfare trusts. Mr. Uno is also vice president of the National Electrical Workers Minority Caucus.
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