Meet the Team

Branden Butler, Director

Branden Butler is the Director of the County of San Diego Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement (OLSE). During his leadership at OLSE, Branden developed the innovative Workplace Justice Fund to help workers collect unpaid wage theft judgments, created the Good Faith Restaurant Owners Program requiring the suspension of food permits for unpaid wage theft judgments, and led the development of the San Diego wage theft dashboard that identifies employers with wage theft judgments. Additionally, Branden led the creation of a new policy to protect county contracted janitors from wage theft. 

Prior to joining the County, Branden was the first Assistant Deputy Director of Outreach and Education for the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). During his state service at the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), Branden was involved in developing education, outreach, and enforcement programs regarding discrimination in the workplace. Branden co-created the Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for CRD which has been taken by millions of employees and supervisors in California.

Branden also led the state campaign to educate employers, community organizations, and law enforcement about the rights of the formerly incarcerated under the Fair Chance Act, a pioneering state law that seeks to reduce barriers to employment for justice involved individuals. Branden worked with community-based reentry organizations and employers to develop the Fair Chance Act Toolkit to assist both employees and employers follow the law. Additionally, Branden worked with the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to develop an informational video on the Fair Chance Act that airs in all state prisons on Inmate TV. Branden’s Fair Chance Act work included leading an enforcement initiative using pioneering technology to conduct mass searches of online job advertisements for violations of the Act.

Prior to joining CRD, Branden was the Senior Attorney of the Fair Housing Center of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc. (LASSD), where for nine years he was instrumental in creating the first fair housing services program at LASSD that provides education, outreach, testing, and enforcement/ litigation. Branden graduated cum laude from Thomas Jefferson School of Law and received the Charles T. Bumer Civil Libertarian Award. Branden earned his B.A. graduating magna cum laude from California State University, Chico. Branden recently received the 2023 County of San Diego Excellence in Leadership Award. Branden also published an article in the California Bar Real Property Journal entitled, “40 Acres and a Mule. Broken Promises, Black Wealth Inequality, Persistence of Housing Segregation and Exclusion, and How to Right (Some of) These Wrongs.”

Rachael Ikeler, Deputy Director

Rachael Ikeler is the first Deputy Director for the County’s Office of Ethics, Compliance and Labor Standards. Rachael began her career with the County of San Diego in 2019 where she served as a Chief Administrative Office (CAO) Staff Officer for the Public Safety Group (PSG) Executive office in which she handled numerous board letters, PSG related projects, and worked in partnership with the Board Staff. She joined OLSE in 200X as the Community Engagement Group Program Manager.

Prior to joining the County, Rachael worked for the Washington State Patrol Office of Professional Standards in which she handled litigation, administrative investigations, settlement agreements, and community engagement in conjunction with the Governor’s Office. She spearheaded and facilitated townhall discussions across the state of Washington surrounding controversial topics such as Use of Force, Biased Based Policing, and bridged the gap between Troopers and the public. In addition, Rachael acted as the accreditation manager for the State Patrol and made sure they were in compliance with standards from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and maintained that accreditation. She had the opportunity to travel across the nation to numerous other Police agencies and training others in the Office of Professional Standards policies and procedures, arbitration processes, and help enforcement standards for their accreditation.

Rachael holds her Master’s Degree in Administrative Management and Global Leadership as well as her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and Teaching English as a Second Language from Central Washington University. Rachael also holds a California Credentialed County Senior Executive Certification from the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) Institute for Excellence in County Government.

In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband, their two kids, and German Shepherd. She also enjoys going to the beach, celebrating her hawaiian and italian cultures, and going to sporting events to cheer on her favorite teams.

Cynthia Centeno, Investigative Manager

In 2022, Cynthia Centeno joined OLSE as its Group Program Manager for Investigations. In this role, Cynthia conducts labor standards investigations and works with various state and local labor offices to develop and implement labor standards practices.

Cynthia has 14 years in nonprofit frontline direct service, compliance, and workforce development. Since 2018 her focus has been on continuing working in the arena of job quality initiatives at a local and national level. Throughout her career, she has gained experience ranging from developing and implementing workforce development programs, procuring and managing grants, developing & implementing policies, providing training to partners and staff, and launching projects that involve multiple stakeholders at a local, state, and national level.

Cynthia enjoys exploring the San Diego County food scene, she’ll pick a community & set up meet-ups with friends to check out any new food spots that have opened. 

Stephanie Hernandez, Community Engagement Manager

Stephanie Hernandez is an energetic leader dedicated to advancing and uplifting diverse communities as the Community Engagement Manager for OLSE. In her role, she excels at building strong connections with historically marginalized populations and collaborating with community-based organizations to educate workers about their rights in the workplace.

Stephanie's deep-rooted passion for social justice stems from her experiences growing up in Southeast San Diego. The challenges faced by her working-class immigrant family instilled in her a strong commitment to advocating for equity and justice. Stephanie started her career in 2017 as a community advocate, addressing issues related to public safety, transportation, and housing. Stephanie is also a community leader, serving on the City of San Diego Mobility Board, 23-24 President of the City Heights Rotaract Club, a graduate of the San Diego Regional Chambers of Commerce LEAD Impact program and MANA de San Diego Latina Success Leadership program. In 2023, Stephanie received the County's prestigious Heart of Service award, recognizing her outstanding support of asylum seekers during the US-Mexico border humanitarian crisis. Stephanie was also highlighted in 2024 by San Diego State University as an alumna empowering change through advocacy and service.

Francis Rogers, Senior Deputy County Counsel

Francis received her Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University School of Law and has over 17 years of experience in employment and labor relations law. She has provided services to public agencies, public educational institutions, private/independent schools, and nonprofit organizations. Francis has worked for the County of San Diego for four years. Francis supports the OLSE team as part of our wage theft enforcement program.

Mikey Knab, Business Outreach Manager

Mikey Knab is the Business OUtreach Manager for OLSE and supports employers and businesses to understand employment and labor regulations. Mikey started working in restaurants as a dishwasher when he was 15. He has worked in every position in restaurants over 25+ years in the industry, eventually owning restaurants of his own, and helping his best friends grow their family's business from one restaurant to three in two different states. Over his time running restaurants, he also remained steadfast in his commitment to the justice movement, volunteering as an advocate for healthcare and immigration reform, environmental justice, and solutions for homelessness in San Diego where he lives. In 2017, Mikey co-founded Business For Good San Diego, an association of local business owners who believe that investing in their employees and their communities is critical to true success in business.

Juliet Weeks, Administrative Secretary III

Juliet is currently an Administrative Secretary III and supports the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement, in her role she assists with a variety of administrative tasks and enjoys her administration role for the department she serves.

A little bit about Juliet: she is invested in her administration role and loves to be a team player and is always up for a challenge, Juliet loves to have fun while getting her job done.

Juliet is a San Diego Native and was raised in Golden Hill and Chula Vista, she loves being a part of a team that serves the neighborhood and communities she grew up in.

Juliet’s strengths are Includer, Woo, Empathy, Strategic and Positivity.