He has over twenty-five years of experience in Violence Prevention, Workforce and Leadership Development, Transformative Mentoring, and Juvenile Justice and provides technical assistance and training to community-based organizations and foundations focused on improving equitable outcomes for underserved communities.

Overcoming hardship as a young person in Oakland, Mike has firsthand experience with the barriers many young people face as they seek employment in fields with upward mobility.

Mr. Gibson is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and received a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Management and Policy Analysis from the California State University, East Bay. He also received a Professional Coaching for Life and Work certificate from University of California, Davis, and a Professional Coaching Credential from the International Coach Federation.

In his twelve years with the agency, he oversaw a budget of over a billion dollars that included one of the nation’s highest volume 911 systems, multiple general acute care hospitals, public health services, and more than $200 million in child and adolescent mental health services and contracts.

Before joining Alameda County, Alex was the director of the Chappell Hayes Health Center at McClymonds High School in West Oakland, a satellite outpatient center of Children’s Hospital and Research Center.  His work there has helped define the nexus of public health and public education.

He has designed and administered mental health and physical health programs and services in child serving systems, including home visiting programs, programs for medically fragile children, and clinical and development programs in child welfare, juvenile justice, and early childhood settings.

Alex has served on the Alameda County First Five Commission, The Alameda Alliance, and The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and The Uninsured, along with other public and private boards and commissions.

He is a mental health practitioner specializing in adolescent services and youth development. He has advised or collaborated with a number of local and national foundations including The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The California Endowment, and most recently with Tipping Point Community.  He has specialized in Medicaid policy and administration, emergency medical services, youth voice and crisis counseling, and safety net design and administration.

From Sing Sing prison to The White House, Kaia’s work is grounded in reimagining justice. She has taught extensively on liberation theology, ethics, punishment, race, eye contact, and transformative justice, and is the author of Voices from American Prisons: Faith, Education, and Healing (Routledge, 2014). Kaia serves as a consultant to educational communities across the nation. She received her master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School and her PhD from Emory University. She is ordained as an interfaith minister and has been learning/teaching in and about U.S. jails and prisons for 30 years.

Kaia is supporting PWA in developing materials to facilitate capacity building training for organizations working with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and forging partnerships with CBOs, employment partners and youth-serving public systems that continue to advance transformative shifts in agency and power toward young people and their communities.

A native of Mexico, David came to the US in 1983 and began volunteering in the Maryland fire-rescue system just outside Washington DC. He has worked clinically in Boston, Fort Worth, Denver and Minneapolis/Saint Paul, serving now continuously as a field EMS provider for over 39 years, instructing for 34 of these. David holds a Master’s degree in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University focusing his academic research on development of student competency during field, clinical and simulation experiences, and inequities of prehospital care and education based on race, ethnicity and gender.

As an EMS instructor and program director, David’s first opportunity to operationalize his passion for diversifying the EMS workforce started in 1992 when he created and instructed the grant funded Frontline Women EMT program in Washington County, Minnesota. After working for decades to diversity the EMS workforce in Minnesota, he was recognized in 2012 as one of the “EMS 10 Innovators” for his role in creating and instructing the Saint Paul Fire Department’s EMS academy and Freedom House BLS unit, a project focused on helping low-income inner-city youth succeed.

Dave is well known as an award-winning national and international educator, speaker and author. His work includes authorship in EMT and Paramedic textbooks, peer-reviewed research publications, online learning video instruction, predictive competency assessments, and flipped classroom EMS curriculum. He is a regular speaker at National EMS conferences, having delivered more than 500 presentations in the past 30 years. David was awarded the “Power of One” award (2008) the National Association of EMS Educators “Legends that walk among us” award (2009), the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities "Educator of the Year" award (2011), the National Association of EMTs president’s award (2017), and the prestigious Pinnacle National Leadership Award (2016).

In addition to his work in the United States, David serves as the current and founding chair of the International Paramedic Registry assessment and credentialing board. Current projects include work in 21 countries including Morocco, Australia, Philippines, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica and others. He was awarded the 2019 Scott B. Frame Service Award for his work teaching prehospital care in developing nations.

Previously, she worked at the University of California, Berkeley and the UC Davis MIND Institute where she developed professional experience in implementation science, community-partnered research, and data management/analysis.

At UC Berkeley, she managed an intervention-focused study that aimed to improve cognitive behavioral therapy for people with depression and, at the UC Davis MIND Institute, she managed a multi-site study that partnered with school districts and mental health agencies throughout California to train providers in evidence-based practices for children with autism. Overall, Cynthia is passionate about advocating for mental health care access and partnering with communities to develop community-informed interventions. Cynthia holds a B.S. in Human Development as well as in Statistics from the University of California, Davis.

She partners with community-based and non-profit organizations, public health departments, and academic centers to understand and address forms of social inequality that contribute to poor and inequitable health outcomes.

She's a Senior Advisor on Equity and Justice for The California Children’s Trust, an initiative to advance mental health access for children and youth across California.

She co-leads Public Works' Alliance Perinatal Equity work, with a focus on honoring and elevating the ancestral wisdom and healing practices of doulas of color in California.

She graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Africana Studies and Health from the University of Notre Dame.

She earned a M.D. at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed my pediatric residency at University of California, San Francisco.

In 2017, she graduated from the Commonwealth Fund Mongan Minority Health Policy Fellowship at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, earning an M.P.H.

Most recently, Macheo developed a credible messenger program to reduce violence in Oakland schools. Dr. Payne has led the Oakland Freedom Schools over the span of 20 years, operating in schools and juvenile hall.

As an expert on school discipline, Macheo has worked with schools and school districts across the country.

Connection, commitment & consistency is key in her approach to help her understand the many complexities clients experience which include but are not limited to race, culture, socioeconomic status, access, as well as sameness and differences that aid in the development of a person.

Shani is a Bay Area native and had the privilege of experiencing a full circle moment when she returned to her high school alma mater to serve as a classroom therapist working with underserved and underrepresented students and families of color.  She also leads initiatives with Bay Area organizations such as Alameda EMS Corps as their Mental Health / Life Coach for the women’s division, and facilitated seminars for Centerforce. These trainings raise mental health awareness, provide resources, tools and language to leverage while working in high stress and traumatic environments.  Her guidance in these spaces have proven to be beneficial when engaging in hard conversations that result in clients displaying astute situational awareness where lives are at stake.  Additionally, she partnered with the University of California at Berkeley to establish introductory mental health courses to first generation college students of color to prepare them for their educational journey.

Shani is the founder of Healthy Mentals Consulting & Coaching where she continues to work with clients who struggle to build and achieve their life and relationship goals.

Committed to her life’s work (healing and relationship building), she graduated from Holy Names University nestled in the hills of Oakland California receiving her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Master’s in Counseling Psychology while obtaining a certificate in traumatology.  In the spirit of being a life-long learner she consistently attends numerous continuing education classes, courses, trainings and seminars to remain current in the ever-evolving field of mental health.   At Public Works Alliance, Shani oversees the wrap around support model for EMS Corps.

From Salvador Bahia, Brazil to the United Nations, Azmera’s work is committed to healing and transformation. She has published articles on Capoeira as creative resistance, Call and Response in spiritual care, gender in Hip Hop, and unlearning religious fundamentalism.

She served as Community Partnership Lead at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, where she led the design and implementation of Storytelling & Justice programs for currently and formerly incarcerated youth and adults.

She also taught youth educators her signature framework The Capoethic Method™ at the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services Racial Trauma & Healing Conference and hosted vital conversations on family-systems change with the Transforming Justice Initiative.

Azmera received her masters degree from Harvard Divinity School, a dual bachelors degree in Visual & Performing Arts and Social Sciences Psychology from the University of Southern California, and a Fulbright Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship.

Azmera is supporting PWA in developing the Justice Serving Network, prioritizing healing-centered engagement and collaborating with community based organizations to shift power and agency toward youth directly impacted by criminal legal systems.

When injury ended his professional soccer career, he earned a Masters degree in Social Entrepreneurship & Change from Pepperdine University to complement his Bachelors degree in Sociology degree from UCSB.

Eager to give back, he went on to create a foundation dedicated to providing opportunities for orphaned children in Ghana.  He also authored a book entitled, The Hope You Can Have, with the goal of empowering the youth and currently coaches youth soccer.

Before joining Public Works Alliance, Fifi worked as a project manager and analyst at a US tech company.   His goal in life is to inspire, educate and fight for a more equitable and just society for all. 

She believes that community-centered, people-centered approaches are key to addressing health inequities. She has facilitated efforts to create national health equity legislation to build capacity to address racial health inequities experienced by communities of color. Andrea has a passion for community health, culture & arts, and uses design thinking as a tool for community and organizational capacity building.  Andrea has a Doctorate of Public Health degree at UC Berkeley. She has a Masters of Public Health from The University of Memphis and Bachelors of Science in Exercise Physiology from the University of Miami.

Highlights of Palak’s recent projects include project managing a cross-agency pilot supporting students in shelters in New York City, building capacity around youth behavioral health strategies and Medicaid in Georgia,establishing the governance structure for a collective impact organization in Oakland, and aiding Berkeley Public Schools in crafting a back-to-school pandemic response plan.

In the philanthropic and private sectors, she has provided strategic counsel to startups, spearheaded Salesforce implementations, and supported foundations with grantmaking analysis. Palak holds a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Solomon served as the Deputy Director of the Newark Community Street Team, where he spearheaded strategies and community-wide collaboration that decreased homicides by 40% in Newark, bridging high-level policy with grassroots action

He serves on the New Jersey Opioid Remediation Advisory Council and as board chair of The Village Revival Project, an arts-based transformative justice initiative that seeks to humanize the relationship between those who have caused violent harm and their surrounding communities.