Meet The Board Members
Laura P. Brewer, of Nevada City, has been a court reporter since 1981, working as a freelance deposition reporter, a conference reporter, and a Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioner (since 1992). Ms. Brewer has worked as a realtime reporter since 1992. Ms. Brewer is a member of the National Court Reporters Association, the Deposition Reporters Association of California, and Intersteno. She has been recognized as a Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters (NCRA) and holds the highest levels of certification available. She has served on committees and in other volunteer roles for all three organizations, and has successfully competed in steno competitions sponsored by each association.
Mike Dodge-Nam of Los Angeles was appointed in 2023 to the Court reporters Board by the Speaker of the Assembly. Mr. Dodge-Nam currently serves as the Chief Business Officer of Roar Social. With over two decades of success, he has a track record of building and growing companies at the intersection of media and technology. Prior to Roar Social, he was Chief Operating Officer of Care Solace, where he focused on improving mental healthcare for school systems and their families. He has served in C-level roles at a wide variety of media and technology ventures and online publishing giants and has also held executive and management positions at Fortune 500 companies. He holds a BA in political science from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Arteen Mnayan of Los Angeles was appointed to the Court Reporters Board in 2022 by President pro tempore of the California State Senate Toni G. Atkins. Arteen is an attorney in the Land Use and Public Policy, Regulatory & Political Law practice of Mayer Brown LLP’s Los Angeles office. He primarily represents investors and developers in all aspects of the real estate entitlement and development process, focusing on land use entitlement matters, helping developers navigate state and local regulations and authorities, government outreach, and California Environmental Quality Act compliance.
As an active member of the policy and land use community, Arteen serves on the Los Angeles Business Council’s Legislative Affairs Committee and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association’s Land Use Committee and serves on the boards and committees of several non-profit organizations.
During law school, Arteen externed for the Central District of California Bankruptcy Court for the Honorable Victoria S. Kaufman. Arteen earned his law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.
Robin Sunkees of Carlsbad has been appointed to the Court Reporters Board of California. Sunkees has been an official court reporter for the San Diego County Superior Court since 1991. She was an official court reporter for the Maricopa County Superior Court from 1986 to 1991 and a court reporter for M.L. Spicer Reporting from 1985 to 1986. Sunkees is a member of the San Diego Superior Court Reporters Association, California Court Reporters Association, and the National Court Reporters Association. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Sunkees is a Democrat.
Denise A. Tugade is a Government Relations Advocate for SEIU United Health Workers (UHW) West. She previously served as staff in the California State Assembly from 2017 to 2020, most recently as Legislative Director for California State Assemblymember Christy Smith (D-Santa Clarita). She was the Assembly Democrats Volunteer and Mail Tree Program Coordinator for the Christy Smith for State Assembly Campaign in 2018. Tugade was a Legislative Aide for Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) and was Communications Director and a Legislative Assistant for then-California State Assemblymember Monique Limón. She was a Senior Associate, AGILE and Human Centered Designed Lead, and Social Media Manager at Cambria Solutions, Inc. from 2015 to 2017. Tugade was a District Coordinator for the Tubeho Neza (Live Well) program at DelAgua Health Ltd. Rwanda in 2014. Denise is a graduate of the California Asian Pacific Islander Staff Academy. She is the immediate past president of the Feminist Democrats (Fem Dems) of Sacramento, and serves on the executive boards of the Young Asian American Pacific Islander Sacramento Democrats, New Leaders Council Sacramento, and Barkada Sacramento.