Speakers + Artists

SPEAKERS + ARTISTS

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ABOUT

Adria Moss - Associate Director, Pacific Community Ventures Loan Fund
As the Associate Director of Pacific Community Ventures’ loan fund, Adria uses her financial background to help create economic justice for underserved communities. She provides access to capital for small business owners who have been barred access from traditional financing institutions. She actively works to promote diverse small business owners including people of color, women, veterans, and members of the LGBTQ community.

Prior to joining PCV, Adria worked in the financial services office at Ernst and Young where she performed financial statement audits of hedge funds, private equity firms, and venture capital firms. She then worked as a valuation analyst and associate with Teknos Associates where she served emerging-growth companies in the technology, life sciences, and energy industries.

Amani Will
Singing Poet BeatMan; Meditator, Educator, Ritualist; Shit talking Irreverent Reverend, Liberation Fractalist — they got Beats, verses, production, scoring, live Performing — they got consulting, curriculum writing, program designing, facilitating — and now most recently, the Co-midwifing of the Qtpoc, social/eco-justice, permacultured, oracular remix of the Tarot; the CLNnow Deck — AKA the Arc-Ana Towards Justice! Amani has shared stages with Dead Prez, E-40, KRS-One, Brett Dennen, Hieroglyphics and made songs with Dilated Peoples, Living Legends and Los Rakas to name a few. They have started Rites of Passage programs at continuation schools, Youth Leadership/Mentorship Projects at Social/Eco Justice outdoor Schools, AfterCare programs for Youth Re-Entry orgs and founded humble Artist Collectives for Creative Liberation.
https://www.iammany.us

BLK MGK - Performing Artist Collective
BLK MGK consists of: Robert Williams III (26), Savaugn Holcomb (23), Destiny Iwuoma (23) Alana Banks (22), Myles Santifer (22), Kelechi Emeziem (22), AJ Moultrie (21), & Carlitos Willis (21). BLK MGK is a collective of artists formulating an ideology of a youth centered art community. Their collective envisions a world where artists can shine, thrive, and heal free of socio-economic barriers. They provide opportunities for individuals to de-stress and express utilizing an eclectic array of art forms to expand the network, the minds and reach of all artists. As young Black artists they come from low-income backgrounds in Southern California and the Bay Area. Young People are often deprived safe spaces for entertainment expression. They are eager to fill the void in our community’s need for arts education and entertainment. They seek to curate inclusive, safe, and intellectual spaces in Bay Area communities. And they are passionate about creating solutions because the arts community can be used as a tool to unify the youth of the Bay Area. Listen to our interview on 96.9FM, view Episode 8 here: http://www.kgpc969.org/black-voice

Buffy Wicks - California State Assemblymember
Before being elected to the California State Assembly in 2018, Buffy worked as a community organizer, an advocate for kids, and a grassroots activist with experience at the local, state and federal level. She was born in a small town in rural California and grew up in a trailer, raised by working class parents who pushed her to work hard and think big. Buffy’s passion is fighting for equity, equal opportunity, and economic security – with a particular focus on policies affecting women and children. She served at the Center for American Progress as a Senior Fellow, where she launched a national policy initiative, with Planned Parenthood and SEIU, fighting for economic security for women and families.

Since arriving in Sacramento, Buffy has been a tireless advocate for working families across California, using her experience as an organizer and leader on policy to fight for and pass bills defending the rights and strengthen the livelihood of all her constituents.

Christopher Walker - Program Director of Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing, Grid Alternatives
Christopher Walker is GRID Alternatives’ Director for the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program. Prior to coming to GRID, Chris was a Senior Program Manager at The Solar Foundation where he directed a federal solar workforce development effort and empowered cities to remove soft cost barriers to solar deployment through designation and technical assistance. Chris has also worked in residential sales at SolarCity, and at the Climate Institute, a DC-based think tank. Passionate about working at the intersection of climate action and environmental and economic justice, has volunteered extensively with the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Florida in Political Science, with concentrations in global political economy and sustainable development.

David Jackson - Interim CEO, Impact Hub Oakland
David Jackson is an Oakland native who walks in his passion and commitment for his home-city. His work is situated at the intersection of entrepreneurship and social justice, with a commitment to overcoming challenges and supporting the most marginalized folks in Oakland.

With over twenty years of experience in entrepreneurship, business development, fundraising, management, and nonprofits, his eclectic experiences have allowed him to bring together elements of faith, integrity, empowerment and service throughout his career and across
industries. David began his career in the nonprofit space after working for faith-based nonprofits as a consultant. David transitioned into management roles leading him to serve as the Director of City Team, a long- standing Oakland nonprofit. focused on helping the local community facing homelessness, food insecurity, and drug and alcohol addiction. Continuing his commitment to improving lives, most recently, David has served as the Interim CEO of Impact Hub Oakland, continuing the advancement of an entrepreneurial community and co-working space that creates solutions that work for all.

Dianna Tremblay - Director of Acceleration, ICA Fund Good Jobs
Dianna Tremblay is the Director of Acceleration at ICA Fund Good Jobs. Dianna is responsible for scaling the impact of the Good Jobs Accelerator and cultivating the support and capital ecosystem necessary for entrepreneurs to scale their businesses. Leading the Good Jobs Accelerator since its inception, Dianna created its overall infrastructure and her continued involvement ensures that the program continues to be relevant for entrepreneurs in a rapidly changing region. Under Dianna’s leadership, the companies of the Good Jobs Accelerator have combined revenues of $40M, have unlocked $10M in growth capital, created and retained 395 Bay Area jobs. Dianna has cultivated relationships with 15 strategic partners spanning the gamut of capital access experts, workforce development agencies, and other professional service professionals, together creating a tailored, dynamic support ecosystem for Accelerator companies.

Prior to joining ICA Fund Good Jobs, Dianna's professional experience included sales, corporate relationship management, and business development roles in e-commerce and textbook publishing. Dianna received a MBA from the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy at Mills College and a Bachelor’s in English from California State University, East Bay.

Eric Maundu - Kijani Grows
Growing up in a semi arid part of Kenya, I watched people struggle to raise families in places with marginal rainfall and sandy soil. Education offered me an escape, I studied engineering and built a career in the high tech industry. After numerous years in high tech, I quit to work on Kijani Grows whose mission is to use technologies such as smart aquaponics to solve basic human and environmental problems such as hunger.

Jahan Khalighi
Jahan is a Bay Area-based poet, educator and youth mentor whose original spoken word poetry has been featured at TEDx. He is a former member of the Eugene Poetry Slam team and an alumni of June Jordan's Poetry for the People. As a Poet-Teacher for California Poets In The Schools, he has facilitated creative writing workshops in schools, youth detentions centers, and arts festivals across the nation. His poetry has been published in the local Bay Area anthology Stay Amazed and online at Whoa Nelly press. He is currently the community engagement manager at Chapter 510, a made-in-Oakland youth creative writing and publishing center.
http://www.chapter510.org

James Amutabi Haines
Amutabi is a poet, emcee, artist, experienced group facilitator, workshop leader, community organizer, and peer counselor. He teaches emotional intelligence as a means of healing conflict, breaking cycles of violence, manifesting powerful mindsets and building effective partnerships across diverse cultures and communities. He is one of the founders of creative liberation now and a co-creator of the CLNnow Deck - AKA the Arc-Ana Towards Justice.
https://www.alt7.us

Jessica Tovar - Local Clean Energy Alliance
Jessica has worked for 17 years as an environmental justice, climate and health organizer in a variety of urban, rural, and indigenous communities throughout California and Arizona. She has battled and won campaigns against the PG&E Hunterspoint Power Plant in San Francisco, Chevron Refinery dirty crude expansion in Richmond and various other polluting facilities! She currently organizes for “Clean Power to the People,” as the coordinator for the East Bay Clean Power Alliance who are winning a local green new deal--clean energy solutions through Alameda County's Community Choice energy program--East Bay Community Energy.

Judith Blackwell - Executive Director, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee
Judith Blackwell is the Executive Director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. She previously served as the CFO of the Port of Oakland; the CFO of the City of Atlanta; and as the Purchaser and Director of Contract Administration for the City and County of San Francisco. Ms. Blackwell was also previously the executive director of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce; treasurer of the Northern California Supplier Development Council, and a member of the Oakland Workforce Development Board. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago as an economics major and earned her Juris Doctor degree at Columbia University School of Law. She also earned an advanced law degree (LLM) in oil and gas law from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen Scotland, where she focused on laws surrounding water protection and the hydro-fracking industry in the United States.

Kate Gordon - Director of Governor Gavin Newsom's Office of Planning and Research
Kate Gordon was appointed Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, bringing extensive, multi-sectoral experience. Kate Gordon is a nationally recognized expert on the intersection of climate change, energy, and economic development. Gordon was appointed Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 7, 2019. Prior to being appointed Director, Gordon was a Senior Advisor at the Paulson Institute, where she oversaw the “Risky Business Project,” focused on quantifying the economic impacts of climate change to the U.S. economy, and also provided strategic support to the Institute’s U.S.- China CEO Council for Sustainable Urbanization. She was also a nonresident Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and an advisor to Duke University’s Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment.

Kieron Slaughter - Community Development Project Coordinator, City of Berkeley
Kieron Slaughter is a city planner and urbanist currently employed as a Community Development Project Coordinator in the Office of Economic Development for the City of Berkeley. Kieron manages the City’s Revolving Loan Fund program and is the staff secretary to the Loan Administration Board. Prior to joining the city, Kieron was named as 1 of 10 Urban Fellows with the National Park Service tasked with implementing the ambitious NPS Urban Agenda. Kieron’s signature project, the Richmond Wellness Trail Vision Plan was unanimously adopted by the City of Richmond and recently received over $3mm in grant funding from the State of California. As a City Planner, Kieron managed numerous projects including Richmond’s first Parks Master Plan, Bicycle Master Plan, Pedestrian Plan as well as a 60 unit waterfront development named Waterline. Kieron completed internships at Urban Habitat studying urban creek restoration and at TransForm studying transit-oriented development. He’s currently a board member for the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, an Advisory Board Member for Groundwork Richmond, and he served on the board of the Hayward Area Planning Association (HAPA).

Kieron has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Contra Costa College where he taught Physical Geography. Kieron earned his master’s degree in Geography with an emphasis in Urban Planning at California State University East Bay and his Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Humboldt State University where he was a collegiate athlete.

Nancy Pfund - Founder and Managing Partner, Double Bottom Line (DBL) Investors
Nancy Pfund is Founder and Managing Partner of DBLPartners, a venture capital firm whose goal is to combine top-tier financial returns with meaningful social, environmental and economic returns in the regions and sectors in which it invests. Nancy is also the Founder of DBLInvestors. As a leading player in the growing field of impact investing, DBL has helped to reveal the power of venture capital to promote social change and environmental improvement, and Ms. Pfund writes and speaks frequently of impact investing.
Photo courtesy of Climate One.

Rani Langer-Croager - Founder, Uptima Business Bootcamp
Rani Langer-Croager is passionate about entrepreneurship as a means for creating intergenerational wealth and resilient communities. Rani founded Uptima Business Bootcamp to address the challenges of traditional entrepreneurship programs and business accelerators in providing accessible education and mentorship to a diverse group of entrepreneurs. Rani has drawn on more than 15 years of experience advising organizations on strategic and financial planning, capital raising, and mergers and acquisitions to develop the model for Uptima.

Rani serves as a Board member of the California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO) and on the advisory boards of the Alliance for Community Development’s Bay Area Entrepreneurship Alliance, Fab City Oakland, and Project Equity. Rani received her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Mathematics and Economics from Duke University, was a recipient of the university’s prestigious William J. Griffith university service award and was selected as a semifinalist for Young Trustee on the university’s Board of Trustees.

Rodney Foxworth - Executive Director, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)
A nonprofit leader and social entrepreneur, Rodney Foxworth is Executive Director of BALLE, a network of entrepreneurial leaders working to advance equitable economic opportunities through entrepreneurship and local business ownership in marginalized communities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Previously, he was CEO and Founder of Invested Impact, a consulting firm focused on economic development, philanthropy, and social innovation, and co-founder and Strategy Advisor of Impact Hub Baltimore. Prior to founding Invested Impact, Rodney was community manager at BMe, a national network of black male leaders and entrepreneurs. Rodney has also served as program manager at Job Opportunities Task Force, and he has been a consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Calvert Impact Capital, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, among others. Rodney currently serves on the board of Justice Funders and SOCAP.

Yavette Holts - Bay Area Organization of Black Owned Businesses (BAOBOB)
YaVette wears many hats. She is the mother of two teenage sons, she is a massage practitioner and the founder of BAOBOB. She started the organization in direct response to the 2015 verdict in Michael Brown’s murder trail. Everywhere there was a real need to create change that would be felt longer and deeper than a few nights of protests. That need is what prompted the birth of BAOBOB.

YaVette received her degree in creative writing and English literature from UC Santa Cruz and quickly put it to work connecting musicians with audiences via her talent agency, Presence Productions. After a decade representing new and established musicians in cross country tours, she deepened her local community development work as Outreach Coordinator for the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative (TIHDI) before leaving for real life living in Mexico. That life and the locals there naturally gifted her with a lens to see the U.S. from another perspective, which motivated her work with alternative and collective economics. She is a graduate of the highly lauded Women’s Initiative for Self Employment (WISE) and Uptima Business Bootcamp. This year, she started the Young Entrepreneur’s Academy together with Youth Speaks, Inc. and Bay Area Community Resources. She is a collaborator with the city of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development and a board member of Oakland’s Black Arts Movement and Business District and is an anchor member of the Y Combinator’s solar initiative People’s Power Cooperative.

Additional Speakers:
Amoy Brock - Docusign
Carolyn Johnson - Black Culture Zone
Elliot Hoffman - REV
Eric Medrano - Project Equity
Esperanza Pallana - Community Vision
Ivellise Morales - Bombilla Creative
James Nixon - Sustainable Systems
Jenny Sant'Anna - REV
Juno Thomas - City of Oakland
Katlyn Marchini - Re-plate
Ken Homer - Collaborative Conversations
Khadija Khansia - Local Carbon Network, BioChar
Maria Rogers Pascual - Propspera
Mario Trigueros - Pachamama Alliance
Melvin Cowan - Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, Oakland Community Land Trust
Sanford Livingston - Nor-Cal FDC
Soli Alpert - Berkeley City Council Offices
Trevor Parham - Oakstop
Vic Hogg - Coro

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Conference: Friday, September 27th from 9am - 3:30pm
20th Anniversary Reception: 3:30 - 5:30pm
Location: David Brower Center | Berkeley, California

Interested in sponsorship? Contact Naima McQueen: [email protected]
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