Founders of Informed Policy Advocates

Informed Policy Advocates was founded by a dedicated team of passionate leaders committed to protecting individual freedoms and empowering communities. Their vision and experience continues to guide their work, advocating for public policies that uphold constitutional rights and support families, children, and communities.

Meet the Team

  • Jessica Cabrera

    President & Chief Executive Director 

    Jessica Cabrera is the President and Chief Executive Director of Informed Policy Advocates. A proud San Fernando Valley native, she is committed to empowering her community through civic engagement. She is a California Certified Massage Therapist and Health Educator, having studied at the National Holistic Institute. When she saw an egregious bill taking away education rights moving through legislation in 2019, she took action to engage with her state representatives and began her journey in advocacy and empowering others to participate in civic engagement. Jessica has been advocating for education rights for over 5 years, co-founded PERK and previously held the position of Executive Director. When she's not advocating for informed policy, Jessica dedicates her time to coaching her daughters in youth sports.

  • Darrlene Alquiza

    VP & Executive Director of Government Affairs 

    Darrlene Alquiza is the Vice President and Executive Director of Government Affairs at Informed Policy Advocates. She holds a Science Degree in Child and Adolescent Development with a special interest in research methodology and a Master’s Degree in Human Development, specializing in early childhood education with a special interest in brain development. Darrlene’s academic background and professional experience as a classroom teacher, education director, education and parenting consultant, and professor makes her a subject matter expert for educational, parental, and children’s rights. She has been advocating for education rights since 2003 and co-founded PERK in 2019, serving as the Education and Advocacy Director. With over 20 years of experience as an educator and advocate, she is committed to protecting children and families.

  • Kris Dukes

    VP & Executive Director of Outreach 

    Kris Dukes is a passionate policy advocate, co-founder of Informed Policy Advocates. As Vice President and Executive Director of Outreach, she leads efforts to drive impactful change. A California native and mother of two, Kris holds a degree in Sports Medicine and Kinesiology from California State University, Northridge. After transitioning from a career in the television and film industry, Kris became a dedicated advocate for children’s health and educational rights following her child's disability. In 2019, she shifted focus to championing parental rights and empowering communities by co-founding PERK to influence public policy for a more inclusive future, utilizing her professional experience to effectively network, disseminate information and activate participation in civic engagement via action campaigns and social media. She is excited to continue working towards legislative goals through IPA.


Founders' History
& Advocacy Journey

A Legacy of Advocacy and Impact 

Our team’s history in advocacy is defined by our dedication to defending civil liberties, protecting parental rights, and empowering communities.

History

In 2019, the founders first met fighting a bill that would breed discrimination and deny children access to school. They with a few others created a 501(c)(3), Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids (PERK), which successfully fought against restrictive medical mandates and protected the rights of parents, children, educators, and essential workers. The founders achieved significant victories by halting detrimental bills in the legislature, while building relationships with state representatives and key leaders in Sacramento.

After five years of successful advocacy wins, Darrlene, Jessica, and Kris recognized that California’s constantly evolving policy landscape required a more focused and targeted approach. This insight led to moving on from PERK and the creation of Informed Policy Advocates (IPA), a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to reforming California’s medical mandate policies and advocating for stronger consumer protections and civil rights. IPA’s mission is to drive long-term, sustainable change within California’s legislative framework, ensuring the health and safety of its residents while protecting civil and consumer rights.

Key Advocacy Milestones: A Legacy of Advocacy and Impact

The Founders previous legislative experience has an exceptional track record and successful advocacy resume:

Lobbying Experience

  • Legislative Successes: Helped secure significant victories such as killing dozens of bad bills over the years. We effectively helped stop a bill (AB 866) that would have allowed minors 12 years and up to get vaccinated without parent knowledge or consent, amended a bill (AB 659) to change an HPV vaccine mandate to a recommendation, and successfully vetoed a bill AB 957 (2023) in order to protect parental rights in child custody. They have led hundreds of high-level meetings with legislators, senators, federal and state representatives, school boards, city councils, and mayors to influence policy decisions.

  • Secured Grandfather Clause: Successfully convinced the Governor’s office to grandfather the then current vaccine medical exemptions for school children after a bill SB 276 (2019 Medical Exemptions) passed that invalidated all of them. 

  • Veto Success: Had multiple occasions of communicating with the Governor’s office and getting detrimental bills vetoed.

Empowering the People

  • Civic Engagement: Kris successfully mobilized thousands of Californians to engage directly with state legislation, shaping decisions through strategic outreach and advocacy campaigns. She had a proven track record of driving millions of legislative actions in a single session, encouraging constituents to voice their positions on key bills, and influencing critical votes. She also distilled policy issues into clear, actionable information—researching and designing impactful infographics that highlighted essential bill details and drove informed public participation.

  • Educational Empowerment: Darrlene and Jessica created vital educational resources that were distributed to legislators and guided the people of California to effectively communicate with their state representatives. With a wealth of experience in community outreach, they’ve engaged individuals through town halls, workshops, legislative training, special events, social media, newsletters, and websites—empowering communities to take action and drive meaningful change.

IPA is committed to advocacy and empowerment. Your support helps continue their vital work, ensuring lasting, positive impact in California and beyond.

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