Shawn Ginwright, PhD is one of the nation’s leading innovators, provocateurs, and thought leaders on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. He is Professor of Education in the Africana Studies Department and a Senior Research Associate at San Francisco State University. His research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and justice in their schools and communities.

Dr. Ginwright is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flourish Agenda, Inc., a national nonprofit consulting firm, whose mission is to design strategies that unlock the power of healing and engage youth of color and adult allies in transforming their schools and communities.

In 2011, he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Senior Specialist award from the State Department for his outstanding research and work with urban youth. Dr. Ginwright is the author of “The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves,” “Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Activists and Teachers are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart”, “Black in School- Afrocentric Reform, Black Youth and the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture” and co-editor of” Beyond Resistance!: Youth Resistance and Community Change: New Democratic Possibilities for Practice and Policy for America's Youth” and in 2010 he published “Black Youth Rising, Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America”.

Dr. Ginwright served as Chairman of the Board for The California Endowment (TCE) from 2018 to 2021, with oversight of a $3 billion endowment to improve the health of California’s underserved communities. He continues to serve on TCE’s Board of Directors, and also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning at the Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tuffs University. Dr. Ginwright lives in Oakland, California with his lovely wife and is currently an empty-nester—both children are in college.

Paulina Cuevas Vega was born and has lived most of her life in Chile. She has a lifelong passion for learning and advocating for a world where everyone belongs. She is a Fulbright scholar at the University of Minnesota, where she received her MA Educational Psychology and K-12 School counselor license.
For more than 20 years, she has been supporting families, students, and educators, in public and international K-12 schools, in Chile, China, and the United States.
She is also a Positive Discipline Lead Trainer, a Yoga, mindfulness and SEL facilitator (200 RYT). She is passionate about designing and implementing adult learning experiences from a social justice framework.
During the last 15 years, she has facilitated more than fifty 15-hour certification workshops and has certified almost 1000 educators around the globe. In addition, she has facilitated adult learning in multiple countries on topics related to:
- Parenting and educating from a trauma informed and social justice framework.
- Providing education around gender diversity, and support for LGBTQI+ young people and their families, in school settings.
- Using neuroscience, embodiment, and somatic practices to nurture self-care and wellbeing, as a social justice act.

Andrew is the County’s Director of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice. His office works to identify and eradicate systemic bias and racism while co-creating, with the community, a culture of equity and belonging within the County of San Diego. Prior to this role, he was the Chief of Staff to the Chief Administrative Officer of the County of San Diego. He’s held several leadership positions in County government including in Human Resources, the Finance & General Government Group Executive Office as a CAO Staff Officer; and Chief of Departmental Operations for the Department of Planning & Development Services. Mr. Strong also served in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman before joining the County of San Diego in 2007.

Rachelle Archer, expressive arts practitioner, CEO & founder of Artful Leadership Coaching & Consulting, helps leaders with big missions impact communities sustainably by putting their own well-being first, so that they can lead with a full tank and create a culture of care where all stakeholders thrive. She has over 30 years experience in child & youth development, working at the intersection of the arts, education, mental health, and social services, with a focus on marginalized, unhoused & systems-affected youth–and the adults who serve them. As an organizational coach & consultant, she takes a stand for healthy workplace cultures and helps foster the individual, interpersonal and organizational well-being that empowers teams to achieve their mission and vision with vitality and longevity. Her belief in the transformative power of the arts imbues her work with creative expression and play. That passion inspired her to launch the The Artful Leader podcast in 2022, featuring inspiring leaders in the arts, education, mental health, and social justice. Rachelle believes that everyone can be a leader, humans thrive in community, and the well-being of that community starts with us doing our inner work first.

Catherine Bronnert DeSchepper is a Certified Integral Coach and Adlerian facilitator dedicated to creating and supporting equitable learning communities and families that center belonging and healing. She believes that ending racism, adultism, and other forms of oppression begins with our own unlearning and transformation. She has over 25 years of facilitation, coaching and teaching experience at the early childhood through graduate school levels. Catherine has a Masters in Early Childhood Education, a Montessori Administrator Credential and is a Certified Realization Process Meditation, Embodiment and Healing Ground Teacher. She is an Adult Third Culture Kid of European and Persian heritage who was raised in Southeast Asia and on the East Coast. Catherine loves to dance, sing, and spend time in the redwoods with her family and friends at home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Patty Ramirez, DSW, MSW is a transnational social worker, healing-centered facilitator, and advocate who earned her Master’s and Doctorate of Social Work from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Patty is Xicana Indigena and Salvadoran and is passionate about embracing her ancestral medicine and practices in her work. Dr. Patty believes that reimagining how we heal and lead will increase sustainability of social justice leaders, organizations, and social justice movements. For over a decade, Dr. Patty has dedicated her work to serving immigrant victims of crimes, unaccompanied children, asylum-seeking individuals and families, and justice-impacted people.

Dr. Patty’s experience includes direct service provision, reproductive justice, violence prevention, criminal justice policy advocacy, program and curriculum development, strategic planning, and organizational development. Dr. Patty is the Lead Trainer for Xinachtli Youth Rites of Passage curriculum and provides capacity building consulting to organizations, schools, and systems for the implementation and evaluation of the Xinachtli curriculum. Dr. Patty is committed to the vision of collective healing and breaking down barriers that discredit the voices and thought leadership of Black and Indigenous people and people of color.

Esther Yerin Lee is a queer Korean-American New York-based Licensed Masters Social Worker and clinician at Yellow Chair Collective. She received her Bachelors in Social Work at New York University, Masters in Social Work at Columbia University, and worked as a public defense social worker in Harlem before transitioning into clinical work. Through trauma-informed radical acceptance and increasing the mind-body-spirit connection, she seeks to collaboratively create safety and liberation from the mindsets, institutions, and systems that prevent people from thriving. Esther believes that healing is cultural, political, spiritual, and intergenerational, and that we must decolonize mental health by humanizing both/all individuals in the room. Healing begins when we recognize that each individual carries with them their own stories, joys, and pains that will influence how they walk in the world and function in their intimate relationships and greater communities. Esther is a devoted dog mom to her rescue Jindo mix and can be found hiking and adventuring in nature with her pup whenever she gets the chance.

Michelle Ly is the owner at Collaborative Collaborations providing psychotherapy, training, and consultations. She has provided multiple trainings to the community at large, education institutions, faith-based communities and service providers focusing on providing culturally responsive services and increasing awareness of mental health symptoms for youth from a cultural lens. As a child of a refugee family and growing up in diverse low-income communities, Michelle is acutely aware of how culture and intersectional identities plays a significant role in a person’s mental health. It is with a strong stance that she believes trauma and culturally responsive care is woven into all work and not just as an addition to supportive care.

Kadesha Adelakun is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), in the states of Georgia and New Jersey, and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor (RPT-S). She also has her Perinatal Mental Health-Certification (PMH-C). She is the founder and owner of The Journey Counseling Services in Kennesaw, GA. She specializes in working with children ages 3-18, adults, and families, as well as perinatal moms. She is very active in her community for racial and social justice.

She has had the unique opportunity to practice in a wide variety of settings and cultures. She has worked as a school social worker, with adults with mental health illnesses, children and adolescents involved with the Department of Juvenile Justice, families involved with the Department of Family and Children Services, provided in-home therapy, and has spent some time studying in Ghana, West Africa.

In addition to providing therapy, she also provides clinical and play therapy supervision. She is also a Cultural and Racial Diversity Play Therapy Consultant, and an International Speaker and Trainer. Learn more at: http://www.journeycounselingllc.com.

Annie Rios, Esq. (she/her/ella) is an experienced litigator, activist, and human rights attorney. Ms. Rios is the founder and executive director of Uprise Theatre, a nonprofit that uses art and activist lawyering to disrupt systems of oppression and reclaim power with the people. Ms. Rios is a product of and a staunch advocate for Southeast San Diego. Her work to defend the rights of the most marginalized communities in San Diego has been featured in VICE News, The Guardian, and NBC News. Her expertise has also been requested at conferences such as the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and Yale Rebellious Lawyering. Ms. Rios is a queer, Chicana femme who owes nothing to a system meant to terrorize communities she loves.

Annie completed her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley and attended law school at California Western School of Law. Special recognition includes: Center for Community Solutions’ Freedom Award, 2014 Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention Innovation Award nominee, Adrianne Baker Fellowship post graduate award from California Western School of Law, and receiving The State Bar of California Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services.

Hi! My name is Dennis Le, I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist residing in San Diego. I have two daughters aged 3 and 6 and they keep me real busy when I'm not working. Since I graduated high school, my career has been devoted to fostering youth and being an advocate for them. I currently manage my own practice serving those little people, adolescents and occasionally adults. I am a big kid at heart, I love playing video games, watching marvel and anime shows as well as playing sports. With all of these hobbies, I am able to relate to kids/adolescents well and that's my favorite part of being a therapist. The kids get to tell stories and I get to come along on their adventures of navigating life. I specialize in working with kids and anxiety, trauma, depression, family challenges and cultural challenges. For the past four years I have been the regional case manager for neurodivergent children/adults at Kaiser psychiatry and have some knowledge about the barriers they face but also the many strengths and resiliencies that they have.

Laura Salas, has twenty years of experience in non-profit organization, providing support to families of young children and Early Childcare Educators (ECE). Her educational experience includes a BA in psychology and an advanced certification in Socio-Emotional regulation with an emphasis in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) from San Diego State University. She also holds two certifications in Inclusion Consultation giving her the opportunity to work indirectly with caregivers of children with developmental disabilities or neurodiversity as well as a Transdisciplinary Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Practitioner endorsement. Laura currently works as the Mental and Behavioral Health Program Manager at the YMCA, supporting the Behavior Consultation team, Triple PPP and warmline in Quality Assurance. Her experience includes providing families support in navigating services when there are developmental and behavioral concerns and accessing systems of care. Having grown up in a Mexican family, Laura pays special attention toward providing tools, resources and psychoeducation to Latino families and ECE’s who are gaining interest in unlearning and learning parenting and teaching practices that have a positive impact in their children’s mental health.

Marina Bassili, PsyD is a licensed psychologist at F.I.R.E. Igniting Lives as well as adjunct faculty at Pepperdine University's Online MAP/MACLP Programs. She earned her doctorate degree at Loma Linda University, with an emphasis in child clinical psychology. Currently, Dr. Bassili provides services to clients involved in criminal, family, and civil cases involving a broad range of forensic issues. In addition, she provides trauma-informed therapy and professional training on various topics, including but not limited to trauma-informed practice, issues related to childhood and adolescence, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, Dr. Bassili worked with medically-compromised children and youth at Loma Linda Children's Hospital, Miller Women and Children's Hospital, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and LeBonheur Children's Hospital, where she provided therapy, assessment, and consultation-liaison services. She has specialized training in several trauma-informed evidence-based practices, including Trauma-Focused Behavioral Therapy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, and Child-Centered Play Therapy. As a second-generation Egyptian American, Dr. Bassili is sensitive to multicultural and diversity issues and has specific experience working with Arabic-speaking clients.

Cinnamon Harper has been a part of the KidSTART team at Rady Children’s Hospital for 10 years. She spent the first 8 years of that time as a Care Coordinator with KidSTART Center helping to meet the developmental needs of children 0 to 5 with complex needs. She earned her LCSW and transitioned to the position of Early Childhood Trauma Therapist with KidSTART’s mental health clinic in January of 2021 serving the same population. In addition, Ms. Harper has over 10 years of experience in a variety of settings, primarily working with children and families.

Dr. Joshua Feder is Editor in Chief at the Carlat Child Psychiatry Report, where he has restructured the publication to actively address racial and cultural inequities. Dr. Feder also serves as Executive Medical Director at Positive Development, providing culturally sensitive and affordable evidence-based care for autistic children and families nationwide. Since 2009 Dr Feder has worked on legislation and policy at local, national, and international levels to address inequity in access to evidence-based care and increase choice of care for families. As an Executive member of the International Network on Peace Building with Young Children, Dr. Feder conducts program development and research in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, areas impacted by longstanding conflict. Dr Feder served on the inaugural Equity Committee of the California Association for Infant Mental Health, the Resource Group for Youth at the Border and Trauma & Disaster Committees of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and he is a committee member for the annual Birth of Brilliance mental health equity conference.

a.t. furuya (they, them, theirs) is a queer, trans, nonbinary, neurodivergent, Japanese American caregiver living on the traditional and unceded land of the Kumeyaay also known as Tipai-Ipai people in San Diego, CA. They are an organizer, educator, and advocate with over 20 years experience working in youth advocacy and education, disability, gender, racial, and economic justice movements. They have extensive work in grassroots organizing, non profits, solidarity and collaboration movement building with a decentralized hierarchical approach with a transformative justice lens. They are currently working on their Master’s in Educational Leadership at High Tech High Graduate School of Education. They founded Transform Together consulting which centers advancing equity to transform communities together.

After graduating from Stanford University with a Master of Arts in Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Cristina Sanchez-Kerr, served her community through front-line, management, and director level positions in nonprofit organizations addressing a range of issues from violence prevention to youth development. Cristina has continued to serve the nonprofit community as a practitioner and consultant at Arboreta Group, LLC, a female owned consulting firm she co-founded in 2015.

With more than two decades of experience with the nonprofit sector in both San Diego and the Bay Area, Cristina has continued to build on her experience and skills to promote change and equity in the nonprofit sector as a researcher and doctoral student at the University of San Diego, SOLES. Through her research and consulting, Cristina uses her ability to make unique macro and micro level connections, analytical skills, outcomes and equity focus, and compassion to identify and promote strategies for advancing equity, improving impact, and supporting sustainability for the nonprofit sector.

Cristina’s personal time is spent juggling her family of six, enjoying the geographic and social diversity of San Diego, and cultivating a culture of rest and connection within herself and among her social circle.

Barbara Stroud, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with over three decades worth of culturally informed clinical practice in early childhood development and mental health. She is a founding organizer and the inaugural president (2017-2019) of the California Association for Infant Mental Health, a ZERO TO THREE Fellow, and holds prestigious endorsements as an Infant and Family Mental Health Specialist/Reflective Practice Facilitator Mentor. In 2018 Dr. Stroud was honored with the Bruce D. Perry Spirit of the Child Award. Embedded in all of her trainings and consultations are the activities of reflective practice, demonstrating cultural attunement, and holding a social justice lens in the work. Dr. Stroud’s book “How to Measure a Relationship” [published 2012] is improving infant mental health practices around the globe and is now available in Spanish. Her second book, an Amazon best seller, “Intentional Living: finding the inner peace to create successful relationships” walks the reader through a deeper understanding of how their brain influences relationships. Both volumes are currently available on Amazon. Additionally, Dr. Stroud is a contributing author to the text “Infant and early childhood mental health: Core concepts and clinical practice” edited by Kristie Brandt, Bruce Perry, Steve Seligman, & Ed Tronick.

Dr. Stroud received her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, and she has worked largely with children in urban communities with severe emotional disturbance. Dr. Stroud’s professional career path has allowed her to work across service delivery silos supporting professionals in mental health, early intervention (part c), child welfare, early care and education, family court staff, primary care, and other arenas. She is highly regarded and has been a key player in the inception and implementation of cutting-edge service delivery to children Prenatal to five and their families; her innovative approaches have won national awards. More specifically, Dr. Stroud is a former preschool director, a non-public school administrator, director of infant mental health services and agency training coordinator. She has held an adjunct faculty position at California State Long Beach and maintained a faculty position in the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship for 12 years. Currently, Dr. Stroud’s primary focus is professional training and private consultation from an anti-racist lens, with a focus on social justice, in the field of infant mental health. Dr. Stroud remains steadfast in her mission to ‘changing the world – one relationship at a time’.

To learn more visit: http://www.DrBarbaraStroud.com.

Linda Banks, Consultant
Linda Banks works as a Generational Healing Coach and Facilitator committed to supporting individuals, families and in institutions with confronting familial and societal systemic trauma. With an African centered social justice framework she has worked as a Youth Advocate, Mental Health Specialist, Educator, Activist and Advocate serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Linda is a Positive Discipline Certified Parenting and Classroom Educator, Encouragement Consultant, and Emotional Freedom Practitioner with over 20 years of experience creating culturally responsive youth development, social justice and family advocacy curriculum & training. Working passionately serving marginalized communities of color impacted by the foster care system, the juvenile justice system, the formally incarcerated, LGBTQIA youth and families and other underserved communities and in support of many marginalized groups. While working in diverse school settings, community-based organizations, residential facilities, and spiritual centers, she has created a unique framework that is trauma-informed, inclusive and strengths-based for radical transformation and healing. She is a dynamic motivational speaker, mentor, and coach that is dedicated to sharing strategies to liberate and empower through laughter and love that identifies as pansexual committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice.

Xiomara Romero is owner of Moving Forward Counseling and Integrative services providing psychotherapy, training and consultations. She has specialized in providing culturally rooted and affirming practices utilizing collaborative, holistic, anti-oppressive, trauma-informed approaches in education, private and public settings. She utilizes an intersectional and decolonizing lens through an integrative approach of traditional therapy and combines wellness practices in combination with EMDR modalities. Xiomara is an immigrant from Colombia and grew up across different part of the U.S. She is the founder of UNIDAS a consultation group for BIPOC clinicians navigating private practice. She enjoys magnifying the voices of nuestra gente at Café Con Emocion Podcast.

Gimel Rogers, Psy.D., ABPP is a licensed psychologist and is Board Certified in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is the owner of F.I.R.E. Igniting Lives and Faculty and the Associate Director of the Online MAP/ MACLP Programs at Pepperdine University. She is an expert witness and assists clients who are involved in criminal, family, and civil cases involving a broad range of forensic issues. She provides professional trainings on the topics of antiracism, bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as trauma informed practices. Therapeutically, Dr. Rogers presently works with survivors who are recovering from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse as well as persons coping with life’s stressors. She has published in the areas of culture, coping, spirituality, and trauma. Her inaugural book is the “21-Day Relationship Healing Devotional and Journal” a poetry-based devotional that promotes restoration through reflection, and her new book EVOLVE is intended to enable one to step our of your insecurity and into your destiny by releasing your b.a.g.s. She is the content developer of the Power and Control Wheel of Historical Trauma Rogers’ Trauma-Informed Culturally Relevant Brief Interview Protocol.

Kristen Sylvester is a Mental Health Therapist at KidSTART Clinic, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego. She works with both children/families and with adult individual clients. She is a field supervisor for MSW interns attending the SDSU Social Work and Clinical Counseling graduate programs. Kristen has been with KidSTART for 8 years and previously worked with children and families in the foster care system in Massachusetts.

Zach has spent most of his career as a Supervisor/Therapist/Wraparound Facilitator at the San Diego Center for Children. He regularly conducts workshops for clinical staff as well as parents on topics such as 'Talking About Sexual Health', 'Engaging Fathers in Treatment', 'High Risk Assessment', 'Ways to Get Unstuck in Therapy', and other topics. He's also spent many years teaching improvisational comedy and currently host a comedy/adventure podcast called "Knight's of the Rolled Table".

Melanie Morones, MFT/ATR/ECMHS, (she/they) is humbled to be in such amazing company as one of the tri-chairs of the Birth of Brilliance Conference. Melanie began her career in early childhood mental health in south central Los Angeles providing intensive mental health services to youth and their families, as well as participating as a facilitator in the Early Intervention Training Institute. There she was selected to be in the first cohort to complete and join the rosters of the CPP (Child Parent Psychotherapy) family. Melanie enjoys facilitating trainings and conversations in effort to support reflective practice, program development and ensure youth and families receive appropriate trauma-informed care. She holds an adjunct faculty position at Loyola Marymount University, providing group and individual Clinical Art Therapy supervision to emerging providers within the graduate program. Melanie is the Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Director at the YMCA San Diego. Hailing from the smallest of rural towns in the White Mountains of Arizona, she is well versed in seeing the impact of racial (and other) inequities on youth and families. Her roots, combined with intentionally sought diverse professional experiences have cultivated a frame of compassionate curiosity & cultural reverence that is the foundation of both her clinical work and approach to life.

Bianca Ruiz has been a part of the KidSTART team at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego for over 7 years as a Case Aide and Parent Care Coordinator. More than 5 of those years has been as a Parent Care Coordinator utilizing her life experience to build trust and instill hope with the caregivers she supports. She also has over 10 years working with children in schools and after school programs.

Precious has spent 15 years in education as a K-12 educator and administrator where she is working to advocate for students who require additional supports and services. Precious is a member of the local chapter of the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa Inc., a sorority of educators and counselors who provide mentoring and professional and professional development.

Leticia is a Social Worker at KidSTART Center, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego where she provides support to families with children ages 0-5 with complex medical, developmental, and behavioral needs. Leticia has 8+ years’ experience working with early intervention programs and providing counseling, referral, and coordination of community resources.

Aisha Pope, LCSW, is ecstatic to be one of the tri-chairs of the Birth Of Brilliance Conference. She has worked in San Diego County's Children's Behavioral Health System of Care for the last 20 years.  Aisha has provided therapeutic services and clinical supervision in a variety of settings including outpatient, inpatient, residential, community/home based, private practice, and now telehealth. She currently works for San Diego Center for Children as a Program Director in the Foster Family Agency Stabilization & Treatment (FFAST) Program, and has a private practice, Roots & Wings Consulting, where she specializes in supporting BIPOC, youth 0-5, couples, and those needing support with parenting. She also currently co-chairs the county's CYFSOC Early Childhood Mental Health Subcommittee.  Aisha is proud to be a Registered Provider in Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer. She is passionate about helping families to grow their connections to each other and community, reach their goals, and improve their resilience.