BLACK LIVES AND OUR COLLECTIVE FUTURE

With nearly 15 years of experience as a leader in both the public and nonprofit sector, Rahwa shines demonstrating experience in the areas of organization management, engagement, youth development and quantitative and qualitative research. She served as the Former Chair of the “School-to-Prison- Pipeline” Working Group of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission Equity Advisory Committee and is guiding Healthy Black Families Inc’s expansion into Birth Equity and Fatherhood Engagement.

James King is the State Campaigner for the Ella Baker Center. Prior to joining the organization, James worked to build recognition of the value of people who are being held in carceral spaces. James is a writer and organizer, having written numerous op-eds, and a weekly blog that gave a first person perspective of the true impact of mass criminalization and living within the prison industrial complex. As an organizer, he founded a think tank of incarcerated people who were passionate about criminal justice policy and built relationships with multiple California criminal justice reform organizations.

Axel Fuentes is the Executive Director of RCWA organizing in the rural midwest to protect rthe rights of the most vulnerable demographic grous in the area beginning in Milan, Missouri. RCWA joined a nationwide coalition to file a civil rights complaint with the USDA alleging that two major meat processing corporations have engaged in racial discrimination through their workplace policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, they made headlines when they sued a local Smithfield Foods pork plant for protections for workers against coronavirus.

Keller is Associate Professor of Health Politics and Policy exploring the nature and use of scientific and technical expertise in public decision making. She studies the politics of science and expertise in public policy, focusing on environmental, health, and technological innovation. Publications focus on how politics shape the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She is currently studying public sector responses to CRISPR/Cas-9 and automated vehicle innovations. She is also researching the effects of hyperpolarization on executive branch agency capacity and studies the management challenges involved in responding to infectious disease outbreaks.

Dr. Hector P. Rodriguez is Professor of Health Policy and Management at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. He directs the California Initiative for Health Equity & Action (Cal-IHEA), a statewide research translation center that disseminates UC and CSU faculty evidence to advance health equity through policy and institutional change. Dr. Rodriguez is an expert in organizational analysis and performance management in health care organizations and public health systems.