Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

Ella Baker Center Staff & Board

Ella Baker Center boasts a staff of more than 20 world-class human rights activists and advocates. It is the quality of the people at Ella Baker Center, who come from all walks of life and from all over the country, that makes what we do possible.

Executive Team

Executives:

Jakada Imani Executive Director

Shemika Skipworth Operations Director

Kris Lev-Twombly Associate Director

Jessica de Jesus Development Director

Kristin Hau'oli Schillinger Communications Director

Books Not Bars Team:

Zachary Norris, esq. Books Not Bars Director

Sumayyah Waheed, esq. Books Not Bars Policy Director

Joyce Cook Books Not Bars Organizer

Lourdes Duarte Books Not Bars Organizer

Jennifer Kim Books Not Bars Associate

Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Team

Ian Kim Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Director

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights runs cutting-edge, solutions-driven campaigns for justice, peace and opportunity in our cities. The nationally-renowned Green-Collar Jobs Campaign works to leverage the explosive growth of the new green economy to create meaningful career opportunities for poor people and people of color. In Oakland, the Campaign anchors a multi-sector coalition called the Oakland Apollo Alliance and spearheads a local demonstration project — the Oakland Green Jobs Corps — to showcase job training that can provide "green pathways out of poverty." Statewide, the Campaign advocates for green-collar policy solutions for California, in partnership with major labor, environmental, business, and education institutions, that can create many thousands of good jobs as well as a strong infrastructure for green workforce development. Nationally, the Campaign played a central role in the passage of the federal Green Jobs Act of 2007, which authorizes 5 million annually for green job training, with million specifically allocated to "pathways out of poverty" programs.

Evelyn Rangel-Medina Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Policy Director

B.A., Women's Studies, Political Scients, and English, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (

Evelyn Marcelina Rangel-Medina was born in Zacatecas, Mexico. She attended the Community College of Southern Nevada and was elected Student Body President. She attained Bachelors’ of Arts in Women’s Studies, Political Science: International Relations and English: Theory, Literature and Composition from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in college, she coordinated a Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Program, was elected Senator for the College of Liberal Arts, and organized as Co-Chair of: MEChA de UNLV, the Alliance of Students of Color (ASOC), and Justice for Mujeres de Juarez. In 2006, she led the largest grassroots political mobilization in Nevada—shutting down the Las Vegas Strip, while coordinating a statewide economic boycott to fight for the human rights of undocumented immigrants. Later, she was elected president of the United Coalition for Immigrant Rights (U.C.I.R.). Prior to coming to the Ella Baker Center, she was the 2008-2009 Sustainable Development Fellow at the Greenlining Institute. As Policy Director of the Green-Colar Jobs Campaign, she focuses on creating integrated ways that structurally transform the reality of marginalized people: access to education, environmental justice, labor protections, and the elimination of citizen, ethnic/racial, class, gender and sexual hierarchies.

Emily Kirsch Bay Area Organizer B.A., Urban Health, Justice and Sustainability, San Francisco State University (2008)

When it comes to creating opportunities in the green economy for people with barriers to employment, Emily exudes a fierce passion. As the Bay Area Organizer for the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, Emily works with businesses, labor unions, environmental groups and community-based organizations to create an inclusive green economy strong enough to life people out of poverty. Studying with Urban Studies professor Raquel Pinderhughes, Emily is a graduate of San Francisco State University with a self-designed major in Urban Health, Justice and Sustainability. Emily also recently directed a film for the National AIDS Fund called Empowering the Yard. The film looks at HIV prevention from the perspective of incarcerated women who are using peer education to empower themselves, their families and their communities. After work, Emily enjoys trowing fast kicks as she trains in the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira. In and out of work, Emily is committed to developing her knowledge and skills for a sustainable and just future for her generation and generations to come.

Chris Reyes Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Statewide Organizer B.A., Psychology, San Francisco State University (2005) Masters of Public Administration, San Francisco State University (2009)

Before joining the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, he interned for the United States Department of Health in Washington, D.C. and worked for Goodwill Industries of San Francisco and Glide Memorial Church where he served as a Community Liaison/Job Developer for a youth education and job training program. He's also a union member with Teamsters Union Local 85. Currently, Chris is the Statewide Organizer for the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, where he connects leaders, facilitators and advocates to create an equitable and sustainable future for California.

A third-generation San Francisco native, Chris served four years in the United States Air Force. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a Minor in Criminal Justice and recently earned his Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in Community and Economic Development. In his free time, he loves to coach boys and girls basketball for Mission Dolores Elementary School.

Soul of the City

Nwamaka "Amaka" Agbo Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Policy Director B.A., Sociology and African American Studies, University of California Davis (2006)

As a jock-turned-activist, Nwamaka grew up as a jazz-loving trumpet player who could run really fast. As a first generation Nigerian, Nwamaka did not actively begin pursuing her interest in civil rights and social justice issues until college. When not in the weight room, on the track, in the library, or at work, Nwamaka spent the rest of her time editing the African American magazine or organizing the Pan-African Student Organization on campus. As a double major in Sociology and African American Studies, she realized her passion is working to solve social justice issues and her future career would be a civil rights lawyer. After moving to the Bay Area, Nwamaka began volunteering at the Ella Baker Center because she believed in the mission of the organization and its commitment to peace, justice and opportunity. Nwamaka is passionately committed to the work of the Green Collar Jobs Campaign because she believes that the pressing environmental justice concerns are the civil rights movement of her generation. Nwamaka is also an active member of Ella's Daughters, a new national networking organization focused on connecting women activists and organizers from across the nation around issues affecting our communities in memory of Ella Baker. During the weekend she can also be found steaming creamy lattes, flipping waffles and working on her DJ skills at Guerilla Cafe in North Berkeley.

Heal the Streets

Crystallee Crain Heal the Streets Project Coordinator B.S. Political Science, Northern Michigan University (2005) M.A. Social Sciences, Eastern Michigan University (2006)

Crystallee takes the reins of Ella Baker Center's newest campaign with a wealth of experience. For the past three years, she has been a professor of Sociology at a number of community colleges and universities in Michigan and recently finished a Visiting Instructor position at Lake Superior State University. Besides being an experienced community organizer, campaign manager, grant writer and project developer, she's also been a freelance journalist for the last 10 years and a strong advocate for racial justice, economic opportunity, LGBT rights and equality.

A native of Flint, Michigan, Crystallee holds a B.S. in Political Science from Northern Michigan University and an M.A. in Social Sciences from Eastern Michigan University.

Development Team

Madelein McCormick Development Associate B.A. Gender & Women's Studies and Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley (2008)

As a recent graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Madelein joins the Ella Baker Center as the assistant for the Executive Director and the Development Team. Working behind the scenes of the Ella Baker Center, she provides invaluable support to the executive staff ensuring that their job is as easy as possible. Prior to joining the Ella Baker Center, Madelein has worked with various private law firms and has interned with the ACLU of Northern California and the Legal Aid Society of NYC.

In her free time, Madelein loves reading non-fiction (specifically Foucault and Butler), drinking coffee with friends and exploring the various vegan restaurants in the Bay Area.

Laura Nasca Finance Assistant

Laura Nasca graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2004 with a Social Psychology and Politics degree, focused on the U.S. Prison System. After volunteering for Ella Baker Center in August 2007, we brought her on as the Campaign Coordinator in January 2008. We're happy that she joined Ella Baker Center, and is applying her education, experience and skills toward grassroots organizing and community empowerment. Laura is currently studying Western Herbalism and Traditional Tibetan Medicine. She hopes to one day teach and practice community medicine.

Communications Team

Hayes Morehouse Director of Information Technology B.A., Psychology, Stanford University (1997)

Hayes has been providing invaluable technological support to progressive non-profits in the San Francisco Bay Area for almost ten years. He started soon after earning his undergraduate degree, working at a childcare center in West Oakland. Not only did he provide the center with ongoing technical support (like maintaining workstations, servers, and printers), he also developed a state-of-the-art database system to help the center manage complex reporting and attendance requirements. Seeing that non-profits needed help making better use of technology, Hayes joined Techsperience, a small Oakland-based consultancy, in 2000. That was where he first encountered Ella Baker Center, one of the many non-profits he has helped to improve their use and management of technology resources. After helping repair and upgrade the PoliceWatch database, Hayes spent the next five years providing Ella Baker Center with emergency technical support. In 2005, Ella Baker Center decided that Hayes had become too valuable to remain a consultant and brought him on staff as Director of Information Technology. Since then, he has transformed the agency's entire technology framework. Hayes resides in East Oakland with his brother, his dog, two goats, three chickens, and four cars (one biodiesel, another with no engine).

Abel Habtegeorgis Media Relations Manager B.A. Public Relations, San Jose State University (2007) 510.428.3939 x232 read bio hide bio | send e-mail

Abel Habtegeorgis has been working around issues of social justice for more than 10 years. He has advocated for better recruitment and retention for people of color on college campuses, immigrant’s rights, and a greater investment in education for our disenfranchised youth. He has used his knowledge of public relations to highlight issues around discrimination and social justice while working in the areas of media communication and outreach strategy development for the Mosaic Cross Cultural Center and the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center. Abel has also spoken at the Tommie Smith and John Carlos “Fists of Freedom” ceremony, Young Leaders Summit, and The Conference of Indigenous Peoples. He is also a graduate of the NCCJ Leadership Today program, the Center for Third World Organizing, and has been inducted into the Associated Students “A.S. 55 Club” for his work in student activism. Abel has also participated in a PBS Documentary Series in the summer of 2006 entitled "“Roadtrip Nation".”

Administrative Team

Melinda Morris Bookkeeeping

Kalani Gage Administrative Coodinator

Kalani is very passionate about making change in the world. A native of San Francisco, she moved to Oakland when she was 8. She was introduced to Ella Baker Center by her uncle and learned more about it through her high school friends who participate in Ella Baker Center's Silence the Violence campaign. She knew then that she'd like to get involved and started as a volunteer answering the phones. Kalani hopes to one day run an organization helping young mothers. When she's not holding Ella Baker Center together, she enjoys participating in plays and fashion shows and spending time with her children, Morin and Leialoha.

Board of Directors

Belvie Rooks Vice President of Special Projects, Carrie Productions

Belvie is a writer, educator and executive producer of Watts Up! Demaria's Journey from Watts to the Frontiers of Consciousness, featuring Edgar Mitchell, Lynn Twist, Archbisop Desmond Tutu and other global visionaries. She was writer and producer for Courage, a series hosted by Danny Glover that was selected in 2000 by TV Guide as one of the "Top Ten" inspirational shows on television. She is currently Vice President of Special Projects at Carrie Productions.

Diana Frappier, esq. Co-Founder, Ella Baker Center

Glenn Backes Public Policy Researcher and Consultant

Glenn Backes is an independent researcher and public policy consultant, specializing in public health and criminal justice policies. In addition to extensive work in the California State Capitol, Glenn has worked on initiative campaigns to Fix 3 Strikes, and in opposition to the Runner Initiative, which would have spent billions more on prison building, and would have made more young people vulnerable to prosecution as adults Glenn was senior staff at the Drug Policy Alliance for eight years, leading their policy reform efforts in the California from 2000 until 2005. In his previous position as the Director of the Soros Foundation’s International Harm Reduction Development Program, Glenn helped establish drug treatment and HIV prevention projects throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He previously worked for five years as a counselor and outreach worker at the Streetwork Project in New York City, where he helped homeless youth develop plans to rebuild their lives. Glenn has consulted for the World Bank, Unicef and the United Nations Programme on AIDS. Mr. Backes holds Masters Degrees in Social Work and Public Health from the University of North Carolina, and lives in Sacramento with his wife and two daughters.