About

Yashar –  Founder and Writer
Yashar Ali is a Los Angeles-based columnist, commentator, and political veteran whose writing is showcased on The Current Conscience.

Yashar appears frequently as a commentator on state and national politics, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post, Jezebel, The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and he has appeared regularly on the Patt Morrison show on Southern California Public Radio and NBC News.

In 2009, he joined the gubernatorial campaign of former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as traveling chief of staff; he then served as Newsom’s deputy chief of staff in his mayoral office. He served as campaign manager of Newsom’s successful campaign for lieutenant governor of California — a race in which Newsom bested his opponent by an 11-point margin.

In 2007, at the age of 26, Yashar joined the Hillary Clinton for President campaign as a national co-chair. He was the youngest co-chair in the campaign.

In 2006, Yashar served as finance chair to then California State Controller Steve Westly’s campaign for Governor. He also served as National LGBT chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) under Senator Chuck Schumer.

He has served on the boards of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), the leading national organization dedicated to preventing bullying in schools; the Liberty Hill Foundation; and Southern California Public Radio. 

Ying – Editor
Ying Zhu is the editor of The Current Conscience. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California, Riverside. Within the span of her life, she has inhabited multiple roles, many of which have nothing to do with the other.

She has served as a Research Fellow in the Department of Innovation and Organization at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (Germany), where she has worked with BMW and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences in a cooperative scenario project examining the potential sociological impacts for the future of China’s automotive landscape. Her tenure in Berlin, Germany exacerbated a deep love for research, writing, and professional dance work. Her scholarly/research interest rests at the intersection of architecture, space, bodies, and memory.

While a graduate student in the Department of Dance, at University of California, Ying served as graduate student instructor, teaching and assisting in the teaching of dance practice and dance history and theory.

At present, along with her editing responsibilities at The Current Conscience, she works as a professional modern dancer in the Denver/Boulder area and serves as producer (and dancer) for Denver/Philadelphia-based dance company, Fresh Blood Collective. Ying harbors an incessant travel bug resting in the pit of her soul and can often be founding wandering the universe. 

Zoe – Designer/Photographer/Photo Editor
A native NY’er, Zoe Hiigli’s career began in graphic design for advertising, transitioning to publishing several years later. She was art director for several publications, including Stress Magazine and Latingirl Magazine. Her mother introduced photography to her at a young age, but it was at Latingirl where Zoe discovered her love of the process involved in photographing an object. In 2009, she took the leap from art direction to photography, and began testing with full teams to create editorial fashion and beauty-oriented shoots.

She works out of her studio in the North Bronx, where she makes short films, music videos, paints, draws, and photographs everything that catches her eye.