SCG 2022 Annual Conference - Narrative Power: Reframe Stories, Redefine Culture

As Senior Vice President, Member Experience and Partnerships, Melanie plays a strategic leadership role at Mission Investors Exchange, helping to set organizational direction. She works with foundations and others to identify and drive additional resources towards innovative impact investing opportunities, facilitates partnerships across the sector, and represents a growing network in an increasingly expanding field.

Melanie began her career as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service and subsequently managed family offices and a private foundation. She has deep experience in the nonprofit sector, having been in leadership roles in four membership associations and nine nonprofit organizations. Melanie is a board member of the Energy Foundation and a founding member of the Impact Investing Committee for the Council of Michigan Foundations and Invest for Better. She is a graduate of Indiana University and is based in Seattle.

Marisol Bello (she/her/ella) has spent a career championing the stories and voices of people struggling to get by, so they can lead in creating the solutions that help every person thrive. First as a career journalist - most recently as a national correspondent and editor at USA TODAY - telling the stories of families working to make ends meet, and then in the nonprofit world, where she led narrative strategies to change hearts and minds about those living on the brink and move people to action. A first generation American from a Caribbean family full of colorful storytellers, Marisol is originally from the Bronx and yes, she is a Yankees fan. She's lives on the East Coast with her family and a pandemic puppy named Chloe.

Originally working at HOLA from 1993 to 1995, Tony became a teacher, Athletics Director and had a career in the sports business before returning and becoming the Executive Director in 2006. Since then, Tony has led the sustainable growth of the organization’s operating budget from $2.3 million to more than $7 million annually, reaching 74% more underserved young people with high quality programs and wraparound supports. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards to include the 2012 LA Business Journal Leadership Award, Bank of America's Local Hero award and he was named to Town & Country's Top 50 Philanthropists list in 2015. In 2017, he was awarded statewide by the James Irvine Foundation for Leadership Innovation.

Tony holds a BA from Loyola Marymount University, an MS from the University of Tennessee, and was a Stanford University Fellow in the Business School's Social Innovation Program for Non-Profit Leaders. Since then, he served on an Advisory Board for Scripps College and was also President of the Dean’s Board of Advisors at the University of Tennessee. For his exemplary service, Tony has been named as a Distinguished Alumni by both Loyola Marymount University and the University of Tennessee. Tony served on the Leadership Council for L.A.'s Promise Zone and is an appointed Commissioner of the California Senate Rules Committee as one of twelve Commissioners working at the state level to provide information and advice to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Secretary for Education, and the State Board of Education regarding state and federal policy and funding issues affecting before and after school programs. Tony is dedicated to promoting legislative and administrative policies, both state and federal, that enhance the quality and accessibility of after-school programs in California as a CA3 Advocacy Steering Committee member and he is also the Advisory Board Chair for LA's very first after school Intermediary, Expand LA.

Isaac Bryan was elected in May 2021 to represent California's 54th Assembly District, which consists of Baldwin Hills, Cheviot Hills, the Crenshaw district, Century City, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Mar Vista, Palms, Rancho Park, Westwood and parts of South Los Angeles and Inglewood.
Prior to his election to the Assembly, Isaac served as the founding Director of the UCLA Black Policy Project – a think tank dedicated to advancing racial equity through rigorous policy analysis – served as the first Director of Public Policy at the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center, as well as Director of Organizing for the nationally recognized Million Dollar Hoods project, a community-based participatory research project.
Isaac also co-chaired the successful Measure J campaign in Los Angeles County, a ballot measure that allocated hundreds of millions of dollars a year to address racial injustice and strengthen communities. Measure J sets aside money for investment in youth development, small business support, job training, alternatives to incarceration, affordable housing, community mental health and substance abuse treatment, and other systems of care.
Isaac is a community organizer, highly regarded policy expert, and a published academic. He authored the first holistic report for the City of Los Angeles on the needs of the formerly incarcerated Angelenos, and exposed a gap in youth justice policy – research that was ultimately used by then Senator Holly J. Mitchell to advance SB439. His academic and organizing work has been at the intersection of environmental, economic, education and housing justice.
These issues aren’t just academic or policy questions – they are deeply personal. Isaac grew up in a family of fifteen, as one of nine adopted children. Several members of his family have struggled with houselessness, faced incarceration, and have struggled with substance abuse and mental health challenges.
Isaac has a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA, and lives in Los Angeles.

Chris Chatmon is CEO and Founder of Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO) an award winning nonprofit that supports school districts around the country to improve the educational and life outcomes of Black Boys.

For 10 years Chatmon served as the first Executive Director of the office of African American Male Achievement (“AAMA”) for the Oakland Unified School District (“OUSD”). The office of AAMA was the first of its kind in the country to operate within a public school district. Chatmon also served as the first Deputy Chief of Equity and Sr. Advisor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, CA.

Chatmon is passionate about uplifting the African-American community and has dedicated his career and life work to creating pathways of success for Black Youth within Oakland and beyond.

Chatmon has received numerous local and national awards and accolades for his work and service to Black Youth and the City of Oakland, CA.
In 2020 Chatmon was awarded Oscar Wright Lifetime Achievement Award from OUSD and Oakland,CA Mayor Libby Schaaf honored Chatmon with The City of Oakland Mayor’s Proclamation July 1st “Chris Chatmon Day”.
Education Week Magazine named Chatmon as a “Leader to Learn From” and Campaign for Black Male Achievement selected him as a “Social Innovation Accelerator” because of his commitment to improving life outcomes for all youth and especially African American males.

Prior to KOO and OUSD, Chatmon was the Principal of an alternative high school in San Francisco, and Executive Director of Urban Services at the YMCA in Oakland for over 10 years.
Chatmon started his career in education teaching history and physical education in the San Francisco Unified School District.
Chatmon earned an M.A. in Education and a secondary teaching credential in Social Science from Brown University.
Chris Chatmon is humble, a pioneer, and a visionary. He has audacious love for Black Youth and the Black Community.

Sonya Childress co-directs the Color Congress, a new national collective of majority people of color-led and serving organizations with programming aimed at centering and strengthening nonfiction storytelling by, for and about people of color. She recently served as Senior Fellow with the Perspective Fund where she advanced initiatives to move the documentary field towards equity and transparency. She spent 20 years as an impact producer at Firelight Media and Active Voice. A frequent writer, speaker and trainer in the documentary impact and culture change space, Sonya also serves on the boards of the Center for Cultural Power and The Whitman Institute, is a member of the Documentary Accountability Working Group, and was an inaugural Rockwood JustFilms Fellow.

Ms. Costa joined Berkey Williams LLP as one of the Firm’s 2017-2018 Indian Law Fellows. She is a descendent of the Sherwood Valley Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and Round Valley Indian Tribes.
Ms. Costa earned her B.A. from the University of California, Davis, where she majored in Native American Studies. In 2017, she earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, where she received her specialization in Critical Race Studies with an emphasis on Native American rights.
Ms. Costa previously clerked for the Wishtoyo Foundation and the Yurok Tribe’s Office of the Tribal Attorney. She also participated in the UCLA Tribal Legal Development Clinic working for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. As a third year law student at UCLA School of Law, Ms. Costa worked as a part-time legal extern at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute where she contributed to legal publications and policy letters. Ms. Costa is a member, and previously served as the Board President, of the California Indian Law Association, Inc. (CILA). In 2022, Ms. Costa joined the Advisory Committee of the California Truth and Healing Fund, established to provide California Native American families, communities, tribes, and organizations with resources to engage in opportunities associated with the goals of the landmark California Truth & Healing Council.
As an Associate at Berkey Williams LLP, Ms. Costa uses both her legal education and community-involvement experience to work on behalf of tribal clients in all of the firm’s practice areas, with a focus on of tribal water rights, land conservation transactions, cultural resource protection, and Indian child welfare matters.

Christine Essel joined SCG as President and CEO on February 1, 2013. As president, she sets the strategic direction and priorities for the organization, overseeing programming, communications, member services and public policy. Prior to joining SCG, Essel held leadership roles in the government, corporate, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, where she has shaped legislation and public and corporate policy. She brings a wealth of experience to SCG including a deep knowledge of the region and a passion for forging creative solutions to complex community challenges, along with extensive relationships and expertise in corporate philanthropy, finance, real estate development, government and community relations. For over three decades, she worked at Paramount Pictures, serving as Senior Vice President, Government and Community Affairs, a department she built from the ground up. In that role, she was responsible for the studio’s philanthropic efforts and for shaping Paramount’s civic presence while managing all political and legislative activity, corporate social responsibility and fundraising activities. During her tenure she was also responsible for overseeing in excess of $500 million in real estate development projects on the studio lot.

Most recently, she served as CEO for the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), with an annual budget exceeding $600 million, a staff of 260 employees and 32 project areas throughout the City of Los Angeles. In response to a statewide call by the legislature, Essel's leadership helped lay a critical foundation for the dissolution of the agency, leading to a successful redistribution of resources for schools and local governments, while ensuring the completion of many crucial affordable housing projects and other developments vitally important to the economic growth of the region.

She has been named to numerous Boards and Commissions over the years, serving as chair of the California Film Commission, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, the Hollywood Community Advisory Council, Alternative Living for the Aging and Central City Association. She also served as Vice‐Chair of the California Workforce Investment Board and FilmLA and was a member of the powerful Los Angeles World Airports Commission, Grand Avenue Project Joint Powers Authority and Los Angeles Development Fund. Essel has been honored by esteemed organizations such as City of Hope, National Women’s Political Committee, Alternative Living for the Aging, Weingart Center Partners, Central City Association and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In 2016, she received the Leader of the Year Award from the Southern California Leadership Network. She has been named to the Non‐Profit Times “Power and Influence Top 50” for the past two years (2016 and 2017).

Dr. Cheryl Tawede Grills is a Clinical Psychologist with a current emphasis in Community Psychology. On the faculty of Loyola Marymount University (LMU) for the past 35 years, she is a Professor of Psychology, Director of their Psychology Applied Research Center, and President’s Professor in the College of Liberal Arts. She is the Founder and Executive Director of a non-profit organization, Imoyase Community Support Services, dedicated to program evaluation, action research, and technical assistance with community-based organizations focused on social justice, community organizing, and community-defined interventions.

Dr. Grills is a national Past President of The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) and serves as one of the lead trainers in the Community Healing Network/ABPsi partnership on the Emotional Emancipation initiative. She currently serves on the CA Reparations Taskforce, appointed by the Governor of CA and on the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC). Dr. Grills also serves as a Commissioner and Chair of Los Angeles County’s Sybil Brand Commission for Institutional Inspections, which focuses on conditions and practices within county jails and correctional facilities. Most recently, Dr. Grills was appointed to the Governing Council of the Global Pan African Movement and is member of the International Planning Committee of the 8th Pan African Congress to be held in Uganda in early 2024.Dr. Grills is a research principal investigator on several multi-site projects addressing mental health disparities, social determinants of health, positive youth development, and COVID’s impact on communities of color nationally. An important part of her work is in the area of racial stress focusing on research and training associated with racism, racial stress, implicit bias, and the development of community-based self-help models to address the negative effects of racism on people of African ancestry in the US and globally.

Felicia Jones is the Managing Director of Programs & Operations with Social Good Solutions and is responsible
for leading program strategy, development, and implementation across the firm’s portfolio of services; and
ensuring operational effectiveness in the firm’s business practices.
She has extensive experience as a non-profit leader, she has spearheaded and facilitated multiple collective impact efforts bringing communities and institutions together to advance racial equity through creation of new institutional policies, practices, and investments in racial equity. In her former role as Deputy Director with Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), she co-lead a community effort leading the county of San Bernardino to declare racism a public health crisis and to initiate a series of internal reforms to address racial equity.

While serving as a co-chair, she helped to establish the Black Equity Fund, a pooled fund effort and partnership between the Inland Empire Community Foundation and the Inland Empire Black Equity Initiative to strengthen and scale Black-led and empowering organizations’ sustainability and capacity to lead regional systems change work. She also served on the design and implementation committees and now the interim governance board of a new entity, the Innovation-Center (i-Center). The i-Center is a effort to build infrastructure through a network of Centers to deepen the capacity, impact, and sustainability of California’s grassroots movements for racial and social transformation

She was born and raised in South Los Angeles and is a graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles, California. She resides in San Bernardino county.

Chag is of Yurok, Maidu, and Achumawi Indigenous ancestry from northern California. He is the author of the World War One graphic novel Soldiers Unknown and recently directed a short film on the Wiyot artist Rick Bartow. Chag managed the Native Cultures Fund, a program of the Humboldt Area Foundation, for ten years and raised several million dollars in support of the Fund's mission. He works for UC San Diego and just presented at the SD Comic-Con about Indigenous art, history, and comic books. He is a member of the CA Truth and Healing funding committee.

Shanelle Matthews collaborates with social justice activists, organizations, and campaigns to inspire action and build narrative power for social justice and liberation. She is the communications director for the Movement for Black Lives, founder of Radical Communicators Network (RadComms), and faculty of Resistance Narratives at The New School. She is co-editor of a forthcoming anthology that details world-building narrative campaigns and strategies led by social movement communications workers in the 21st century.

Luna has taught at various studios including in Los Angeles, Ghana & Mexico. She also teaches online & owns her own yoga studio, Women of La Luna Studio. She offers kundalini yoga classes, meditation gatherings, healing circles and sound bath alchemy. Luna focuses on providing a space that helps students connect their breath, their spirit, their ancestors and their inner wisdom through traditional Kundalini Yoga & Meditation.

Frankie Myers is the Chairman of the Yurok Tribe the largest Federally recognized tribe in California, cultural practioner and traditional fishermen. He is the youngest Vice Chairperson ever elected and the only Vice Chairman ever elected to consecutive terms. The Tribe has seen the largest growth period in it history under his administration. Mr. Myers has been a lifelong advocate for his culture and has helped lead the effort to undertake the nations largest salmon restoration project to Undam the Klamath River. He has been a leader in the tribe to restore the balance back to their traditional landscape including the return of Cultural Burning, reintroduction of the California Condor and acquisition of 50,000 acres of traditional ancestral territory. Under their current administration the Tribe has also seen an amazing growth in their economic development including the creation of three additional corporations that have help provide living wage jobs, discretionary revenue back to the tribe and support food sovereignty on the reservation. Frankie Myers is also a Councilmember for the California Truth and Healing Council that looks to rewrite the history of California to tell the true and accurate story from the indigenous perspective. Pushing for policy and funding to continue the path to healing and addressing the Murdered and Missing Indigenous People epidemic has been at the forefront of his work on the Tribal Council.

Annie Neimand, Ph.D., works with social change organizations, scientists, storytellers and activists to apply the science of how people think and act to storytelling and communication strategy. She translates insights from behavioral, cognitive and social science for social impact campaigns. She works with organizations to experiment with and innovate campaign strategy.

Annie designs, manages and leads research projects for organizations all over the world. Insights from these studies inform strategies, campaigns and interventions for social change. Annie also coaches narrative change practioners in designing research projects and frameworks with an intersectional, science-driven approach to help guide their strategy and thought leadership.

Organizations include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Participant, National Geographic Society, Define American, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The White House Office of Technology and Science Policy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Radical Communicators Network, Spitfire, Burness, CADCA, and Animal Outlook. Annie's work is regularly featured in Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Currently, Annie is exploring the science of narrative change, measurement and evaluation for learning, how to build movement networks and methods to integrate systems thinking and human-centered design for behavior change strategy.

Annie has her PhD in Sociology, with expertise in social movements, social psychology, strategic communications, storytelling and intersectionality. She is a trained qualitative researcher with experience in designing and leading qualitative and mixed methods projects for organizations all over the world.

Moira O’Neil serves as Senior Vice President of Research Interpretation at the FrameWorks Institute. In this role, she leads FrameWorks’ efforts to interpret and share communications science with the nonprofit sector so it can more effectively drive social change. Moira manages a team of communications professionals and social scientists who help fields of practice frame social issues in ways that have the proven power to deepen understanding and inspire action. A sociologist with expertise in how frames impede or advance social movements, Moira has helped hundreds of organizations strengthen their communications capacity. Moira joined FrameWorks more than a decade ago. Since then, she has conducted framing research around dozens of social issues and has led major projects to reframe the public discourse around immigration, race, and criminal justice. She also brings deep expertise in issues related to sexual violence, equity, and equality. Prior to joining FrameWorks, Moira worked as a research associate for the Vera Institute of Justice on projects related to immigration policy and at the Institute for Scientific Analysis on issues related to substance misuse and drug policy.

Claudia Peña is an artist and serves as the Executive Director of For Freedoms which is an artist collective that centers art and creativity as a catalyst for transformative connection and collective liberation. By wielding the power of art, For Freedoms aims to deepen and expand our capacity to interrogate what is, and imagine what could be. She is on faculty at UCLA School of Law and in the Gender Studies department. She is the founding co-director of the Center for Justice at UCLA which works to dismantle the prison industrial complex and racialized mass incarceration by expanding higher education, facilitating creative spaces, transformative practices, and movement building on university campuses, in system-impacted communities and correctional facilities. Claudia is the Co-Founder of Repair, a Los Angeles-based organization focused on the health and the disabling effects of inequity, violence, exploitation. Prior to that, Claudia was the Statewide Director of the California Civil Rights Coalition (CCRC) for over five years. While there, she focused on racial justice, gender equity, voting rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, equal opportunity, progressive taxation, policies, housing rights and coordinating ballot initiative efforts. She was previously Equal Justice Society’s Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellow where she researched and presented on issues of implicit bias and equal protection.

Emil Pinnock is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor from Harlem, New York, whom has been active in the film industry over 20 years. Having acted since a youth his on screen credits started with a recurring role on the PBS national program Reading Rainbow and extended to acting roles in major motion pictures Sixth Man and Beloved. Other credits include Gridiron Gang Starring The Rock and NBC' s series E-Ring. As a writer -director Pinnock has led over 10 projects including his breakout project, Up North (an original series), having premiered at SeriesFest and breaking records winning best actor, director, drama and the most coveted audience award. He along with his production company, Unleashing Giants Studios, now have production deals at Blumhouse Productions, and Entertainment Studios, with projects in development at Radar Pictures, Atmosphere Entertainment, and Abigal Disney’s Level Forward. He has recently have been tapped to write the original stories for The Negro Baseball League, FUBU founder Daymond John, and the origin story of legendary lyricist Biggie Smalls, which are all currently in development.

Olivia M. Rebanal is an interim co-Executive Director and Chief Impact Officer of Ecotrust, a Portland-based nonprofit that works from Alaska through Northern California. Olivia leads work across Ecotrust’s key program areas—food and agriculture, fisheries and coastal communities, forestry and ecosystem services, social finance, and green workforce development — and implements systems-scale solutions that advance economic opportunity, environmental stewardship, and racial equity.

Previously, Olivia was Director of Inclusive Food Systems at Capital Impact Partners (CIP), a CDFI that has deployed over $2.7 billion to serve 5 million people in our communities’ critical sectors: health care, education, elder communities, healthy food, cooperatives and affordable housing. Olivia managed the strategy, initiatives and partnerships related to CIP’s work in building equitable food systems through innovative programs like the $30 million Michigan Good Food Fund, an ecosystem of support designed to increase access to affordable healthy food and create opportunities within the food economy, especially for those who are historically excluded. Olivia also oversaw the development and implementation of the organization-wide social justice strategy at Capital Impact Partners, a multi-year effort to strategically embed equity and justice into all facets of the organization’s work.

Olivia has also served as Director at National Development Council, launching and managing regional small business loan programs for the Grow America Fund, whose strategy is to cultivate community wealth through business ownership and entrepreneurship, particularly in communities of color.

Olivia has over 20 years of leadership in community development & social finance, including over a decade of underwriting experience, with emphasis on entrepreneurs of color. Olivia holds an AB in Bio-Medical Ethics from Brown University and MPA in Public Finance from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service.

Rashad Robinson is President of Color Of Change, a racial justice organization with more than 7 million members who demonstrate the power of Black communities every single day. Under
Rashad’s leadership, Color Of Change led the $7 billion advertiser boycott of Facebook, changed how crime, policing and race are represented on TV, won net neutrality as a civil rights issue, and devised innovative strategies to hold decision-makers accountable to Black communities — from local prosecutors to multinational corporations. Rashad’s analysis,
advocacy and activism are featured frequently in a wide range of major media and community media, and he also regularly serves as a keynote speaker at events across the country. He testified to Congress about regulating Big Tech, and about ensuring racial equity in banking,
housing and education, and was Co-Chair of the Aspen Commission on Information Disorder.

Shaady Salehi is a strategist, facilitator, and network builder who has been working in the nonprofit sector for nearly two decades. She currently serves as the executive director of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, a learning and advocacy initiative to advance more equitable and power-conscious practices in philanthropy. Her career in the nonprofit sector has spanned many roles -- from department head, to executive director, to board member, to consultant -- and her main body of work has centered on using film, media, and strategic communications to advance social change.

Jesus Sanchez. He/him/his from Pomona, CA. Executive Director and co-founder of Gente Organizada.

Nayantara Sen is a Bengali immigrant, a trilingual storyteller and fiction writer, a narrative and cultural strategist, and a social justice educator. She is the Director of Field and Funder Learning at the Pop Culture Collaborative, the Lead Designer and Narrative Strategist for the Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy, and the previous Director of Narrative and Cultural Strategies at Race Forward. At the Collaborative, she supports learning immersions for field members and funders, advises on narrative programs, and incubates two emerging projects – Culture Change U (a training and learning institute) and Project Azaadi (a national network of narrative and cultural strategists and practitioners).
For the last 15 years, Nayantara has worked at the intersections of arts and culture, narrative and story-based strategy, racial and gender justice, immigration, movement strategies and equity-building for arts institutions. Nayantara is a recovering arts administrator who has previously held staff, curatorial and consulting roles in museums, film festivals, theatre and community-based arts organizations. Her artistic background is in oral history, creative fiction writing and Theatre of Oppressed.
She was the Lead Designer of the NYC Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab, which equipped 60 NYC arts-producing organizations and museums with strategies for racial and cultural justice. She is the author of Creating Cultures and Practices for Racial Equity: A Toolbox for Arts and Cultural Organizations, the widely taught Cultural Strategy Primer, and the Storyline Partners’ Stories for Change toolkit. At the Pop Culture Collaborative, Nayantara works closely with arts and social justice philanthropy to advance learning and action on narrative strategies. She also partners with a wide range of arts organizations such as the Constellations Fund at the Center for Cultural Power, Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts-NY, and the San Jose Museum of Art.

Erika Seth Davies is the Founder of The Racial Equity Asset Lab (The REAL), a venture that centers racial equity in impact investing and works to shift capital to address the persistent racial wealth gap. Erika is the CEO of Rhia Ventures, which aims to transform the U.S. market for sexual, reproductive, and maternal health into a vibrant and equitable one through its impact investing, ecosystem building, corporate engagement, and narrative change work. She is a seasoned leader with more than 20 years of experience in development and fundraising, program design, collaboration and partnership management, and racial equity advocacy. She previously served as Vice President of External Affairs at ABFE (Association of Black Foundation Executives) where she designed the SMART Investing Initiative, a field-wide effort to encourage foundations to incorporate a racial equity lens in endowment management practices through increased access for racially diverse- and women-owned investment management firms.

Erika is a Social Entrepreneur in Residence with Common Future and a former Fellow, Equitable Access to Capital Markets in the Fair Finance portfolio of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University. She was a member of the inaugural class of the ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellowship program, a recipient of the NYU Wagner School of Public Service IGNITE Fellowship for Women of Color in the Social Sector, and a member of the class of 2017 for Executive Leadership Institute of CFLeads.

Erika most recently was the Associate Director of Philanthropy at McDonogh School and previously served as the Chief of Staff of the Baltimore Community Foundation. She enjoys volunteering and serves as a member of the boards of Impact Hub Baltimore, Baltimore Algebra Project, and the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund. Her most significant role is that of mother to Ethan and Evelyn.

Christina Snider serves as Tribal Affairs Secretary to Governor Gavin Newsom and leads the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs established within the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom on July 1, 2022. Snider was appointed February 19, 2019 by Governor Newsom to continue her service in the Governor’s Office following her appointment on February 6, 2018 by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. On July 1, 2020, Snider has also previously served as Executive Secretary of the California Native American Heritage Commission, appointed by Governors Newsom and Brown. She is an enrolled member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians.

As a member of the Cabinet, Secretary Snider serves as the Governor’s Tribal Advisor and oversees effective government-to-government consultation between the Governor’s Administration and California tribes; informs, develops and implements policy directives related to tribal governments and Native American communities; leads the California Truth & Healing Council and California Indian Heritage Center Task Force and oversees the Tribal Nation Grant Fund Program.

In addition to her duties leading the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs, Secretary Snider serves as a member of the California Broadband Council, the Judicial Council Tribal Court-State Court Forum and an ex officio member of the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names.

Christina received her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2013 and is licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia. She has extensive experience in tribal law and policy, having worked with the United States Department of Justice Office of Tribal Justice, the National Congress of American Indians, the California Native American Heritage Commission, and several tribal governments and organizations across the nation. Christina received her Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ishita Srivastava is a cultural strategist and producer who believes in the power of storytelling and pop culture to move hearts and minds and transform social norms to create lasting social change. With a decade of experience working at the intersection of social change movements, media, and pop culture, Ishita came to lead the narrative and culture change strategy work at Caring Across Generations in 2017. She previously worked at Breakthrough, a global human rights organization where she produced digital campaigns and projects spotlighting immigrant rights, racial justice, and gender justice, most notably THE G WORD, an interactive storytelling platform about people’s personal stories about gender norms and gender-based violence. In producing innovative projects that inspire and move people, she has brokered and managed partnerships with multiple organizations, in the U.S. and internationally, as well as artists, storytellers, and strategists from the worlds of advertising and entertainment.

Born and raised in New Delhi, she holds a BA in English literature from St. Stephens College (Delhi), a BA in media and communications from Goldsmiths College (London), and an MA in cinema studies and culture and media from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her thesis documentary film, Desigirls, examined the intersection of gender, sexuality and immigrant culture as it follows two women as they negotiate their varied and often fraught experiences as queer Indian women in New York City. Ishita, famously, does not like sweets.

Sacha Taylor is a yoga teacher, podcast host and business consultant. She has taught yoga and meditation since 2013 and has worked with students from ages 3 to 90+. She is passionate about helping folks incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines to decrease stress and increase joy.

Veronica Terriquez directs the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and holds faculty appointments in the Urban Planning and Chicana/o and Central American Studies Departments. She received her doctorate in sociology from UCLA, a master’s in education from UC Berkeley, and her bachelor’s in sociology from Harvard University. Often taking an intersectional approach, her research focuses on social inequality, immigrant incorporation, and transitions to adulthood. She is interested in understanding how institutional policies and practices can be responsive to the needs of low-income immigrant, Black, and Indigenous communities. She has published widely in journals and disseminated research in collaboration with schools, unions, community organizers and local governments. Terriquez’s research is geared toward policy relevance

Yalda T. Uhls, a former senior exec at MGM and Sony, left the movie world to study child development, earning a Ph.D. in Psychology at UCLA. Uhls recently
founded the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, an organization dedicated to bridging the work of child development researchers and youth content creators. Uhls is also an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA where she does research on how media affect the social behavior of tweens and teens and teaches a class on Digital Media and Human Development; she is an advisor for Common Sense Media, YouTube Kids and Family, Barbie, and the Jacobs Foundations Learning and Science Exchange; and is the author of the parenting book Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact not Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age. Research conducted by Dr. Uhls has been featured in Time Magazine, The NY Times, USA Today, NPR and many others, and published in academic journals such as Developmental Psychology and Computers in Human Behavior.

Ashley Uyeda, she/they, is a 4th generation mixed race Japanese American, queer womxn of color. She brings over 15 years of experience in grassroots youth organizing for racial, economic, and gender justice. Her foundation in BIPOC youth organizing comes from her work with SoCal for Youth, a multi-racial network of youth organizations in Los Angeles that built the capacity and power of youth organizing regionally across communities and issues, and Khmer Girls in Action where she started as a youth organizer and eventually served as their Organizing Director. At KGA, she led base-building & leadership development efforts, developed the strategic vision and direction of local and regional campaigns, led GOTV efforts, and focused campaign work on School Based Wellness Center, Anti-Deportation efforts, educational justice, young women’s health access and reproductive justice. Currenthly, as the Capacity Building Director at YO! Cali, she launched and facilitates the Emerging Organizers Fellowship to strengthen the pathway for youth organizers in the field, and provides strategic direction for their capacity building efforts to support BIPOC youth and organizations across California to build power, transform & heal communities. In her spare time, Ashley loves being a plant & fur parents, enjoys hanging out with her niece, baking, collecting & making earrings, and being near or in bodies of water.

Through her work on media and movement building for the last 17 years, Tracy has worked with a cross-sector of content producers, social justice organizers and philanthropic leaders to help
them develop the profound storytelling and audiences experiences that can catalyze mass audiences for social change.

Working with Executive Director Bridgit Antoinette Evans on the Collaborative’s leadership team, Tracy co-anchors the organizational strategy development and implementation. In addition, she leads in specific program areas including grantmaking (including artist-led pipelines, narrative infrastructure and power building, pop culture for social change field building) and communications, learning and evaluation (including learning and community building for philanthropic peers).

Previously, she was the director of the Culture Lab, which through rapid prototyping methodology, built programs and products to help social justice leaders quickly adopt and advance their ability to use pop culture strategies and storytelling to create a just and equitable world.

As a fellow at the Opportunity Agenda, she authored the groundbreaking 2014 report “Spoiler Alert: How Progressives Will Break Through With Pop Culture.” Before founding the Culture Lab, she was the co-director of the New Bottom Line, a national alignment of economic justice grassroots organizations; was director of The Media Consortium, a network of the leading independent media outlets in the country working to increase their collective impact; and publisher of In These Times, a national award winning political magazine. She is the co-author of the book Beyond The Echo Chamber (New Press, 2010) and her writing has appeared in Huffington Post, Politico, Medium and more. She has been on the boards of National People’s Action and served as president for Free Speech TV and Women, Action and the Media.

Prophet Walker, Co-Founder and CEO of Treehouse, grew up in South LA, where amidst poverty, violence, and homelessness in his neighborhood, community was always at its core.

Prophet is deeply involved with both criminal justice and education reform and serves on multiple non-profit and civic boards. In 2014, Prophet ran for the California State Assembly, coming in second. This passion for reform was triggered by his personal experience of being incarcerated at 16 and sentenced to spend 6 years within an adult prison. While incarcerated, he started a state-wide program that allowed inmates to earn a two-year college degree, and today thousands of inmates participate in the program. Prophet was one of the program’s first graduates to come home and attended Loyola Marymount University where he received a degree in Civil Engineering. In 2015 President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama invited Prophet to attend the State of the Union to honor his efforts to reform our criminal justice system and for his commitment to our children.

Prophet’s experiences surrounding community strength and human connectedness inspired him to create Treehouse, recognizing the power of community in proximity and shared humanity. Prophet leads the company day to day, with a focus on acquisitions research, property selection and investor relations. Prophet enjoys spending his free time with his daughter and friends.

Michelle Woo is a cultural producer and artist based in Los Angeles. She is a Co-Founder of For Freedoms, an artist-run organization that models creative civic engagement for which she received a 2017 ICP Infinity Award. Her diverse role includes creative strategy and oversight of national campaigns, public art, exhibitions and programming. She also advises individual artists on studio operations and business management. In addition, she has produced photo shoots for NBC Universal, TIME, GQ and New York Times Magazine.