Califia Abwoon is a Peer Support Specialist, Certified Anger Management Coach, Domestic Violence Management Facilitator, and Emotional Intelligence Rehabilitation Coach. She advocates for underserved community members who have mental health disorders, are homeless, and lack effective case management services.  She works with We Are Wayfarer, a 1:1 Pilot Program developing relationships with the homeless population on Skid-row and in Long Beach. Califia serves as the Chairman of the Board of Create Realistic Change Inc., a Peer Run Organization that is focused on the underserved community in Los Angeles. She is involved with the Service Area Advisory Committees 6 and 8, the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations, the Alternative to Incarceration pilot Reentry Health Advisory Collaborative, the Community Coalition, and with A New Way of Life Re-entry Project with All of Us or None. Califia experienced homelessness for 20 years and is a survivor of violence, sexual, and mental abuse​.​​​

Esperanza Macias​

Rash​on Lane is a Senior Health Equity Scientist at Sutter Health. Rashon served as a Senior Health Scientist/Behavioral Scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 15 years and led the development of health equity indicators in cardiovascular disease project for the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. She also served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Grady Hospital Heart Failure Program evaluation where she assessed the integration of social determinants of health measures into electronic health records to provide health equity interventions and reduce heart failure readmissions. In 2020, during the CDC's COVID-19 response, was lead for the Minority and Rural Health and Monitoring and Evaluation teams. Most recently, she was PI for behavioral and epidemiological studies on long-COVID and the team lead for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative. Rashon completed her doctorate in medical sociology at the University of California San Francisco, master's in social psychology and evaluation from Claremont Graduate University, and bachelor's from Tuskegee University in psychology.​

Simran Kaur is Director for the Center for Community Health at Valley Children's Healthcare, focused on improving the health and wellness of children in the Central Valley where they live, learn and play. She currently serves on the Fresno County Commission on the Status of Women. Previously, Simran was the Western Region Director for the Sikh Coalition, the nation's largest Sikh civil rights organization. In 2012, she led efforts to pass the California Workplace Religious Freedom Act, now the nation's strongest protection against religious discrimination in the workplace. In the past, Simran served on the Board of Directors for The Women's Building, a women-led community space and served as the Affirmative Action Officer on the Board of Directors for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California. She is an active member of the Sikh American community in California and her work was published in "Her Name is Kaur", an anthology of stories about Sikh American women. ​

​​Angela Ball has been the Director of the Division of Public Health Nursing for the Alameda C​​ounty Public Health Department for 10 years and serves as the COVID-19 Deputy Safety Officer.  She is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing public health nursing programs, including the Older Adults/Healthy Results, In-Home Supportive Services, Adult Protective Services, Foster Care Assessment Center, Community Outreach and Pre-Eligibility Units.  Angela works towards improving access to and quality of care for incarcerated and detained individuals at the city and county holding cells, jails, and juvenile detention facilities through her management of the annual Title 15 jail inspections.  At the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, Angela was responsible for ensuring the provision of high-quality breast and cervical cancer screening services to low-income, underserved women in Alameda County. She ​has strong partnerships with organizations such as, First 5 Alameda County, academic institutions, CBOs, local hospitals, and professional organizations.​

​​Angelina Woodberry is currently a Consumer Advocate Liaison with Cal Voices in Sacramento County and brings 20​​ years of front line nonprofit social services experiences. Angelina has been involved in community based advisory boards for 14 years. She serves as a Peer Action League Member with the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations and is a member on their Cultural, Racial Ethnic Equity Committee. She is also the Chair Sacramento County Children's Coalition. With her roles on these boards, she provides the unique perspective of a woman of color who came from the foster care system. She is both a consumer of mental health services and the parent of a child with a physical disability and mental health challenges. Angelina previously worked as a mental health patients' rights advocate, representing people with lived mental health challenges in administrative hearings to help them fight for voluntary outpatient treatment.​

Chris Miller

D​r. Chris Miller is a religious studies teacher at a Catholic high school in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He also serves as co-chair of the Pastoral Care and Mental Wellness Ministry Network through the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and is a member of the California State Mental Health Policy Workgroup, the NAMI National FaithNet Steering Committee, and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Faith Communities Task Force. He most recently worked for Catholic Charities Santa Clara County supporting the Community Action Poverty Simulation program and served as the youth and young adult coordinator at a 5,000-family parish. Miller graduated from Santa Clara University with a bachelor's degree in history, California Teaching Credential, and master’s degrees in education and pastoral ministries and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco. Most recently, he received a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University. Chris is currently enrolled in a post-master’s Certificate in Spiritual Formation at Boston College.​

Eddie Hu

​​Eddie Hu currently serves as a Program Director at Asian Resources, Inc. Eddie accumulated extensive experience as a health advocate, working with individuals across various age groups and linguistic backgrounds to address health disparities. With over seven years of experience in public health, Eddie leads a network of community-based organizations and clinics that primarily serve Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Eddie advocates for health care and oral health access, culturally and linguistically appropriate care, quality of care, and social determinants of health at the local, state, and national levels. As a first-generation immigrant and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Eddie is passionate about advocating for equitable social change and participates in several coalitions and committees focusing on healthcare access, data equity, oral health access, and cultural and linguistic access. Eddie holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California. Eddie is also a native speaker of Cantonese and Mandarin.​

​Jo-Ann Julien

J o-Ann Julien leads the Office of Health Equity within Public Health Services, Health and Human Services Agency for the County of San Diego. She is also on the Center of Excellence for Health Promotion and Health Equity led by the University of California, San Diego. Jo-Ann's public health career spans 20 years, starting at the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. Jo-Ann worked in the area of cultural diversity and human rights at the federal level helping to create inclusive institutions. Jo-Ann speaks French and holds a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in education, specializing in Counseling. She is trained in mental health first aid, risk communication, facilitation, deliberative dialogue, regulatory affairs, and public policy and is certified with the International Association of Public Participation.

Robin Carter

Robin Carter is the Interim Dean of the College of Health & Human Services at Sacramento State University. Robin has over 25 years of experience as a social work professor and administrator. As a clinical social worker, she worked with the elderly, those with chronic health and disabling conditions, and people at the end of their lives. Her scholarly and community work focuses on mental health assessment and treatment, gerontology, and equity and inclusion. She has been the principal investigator in several large grants and contracts serving students and totaling over $2 million.  She held board membership in multiple professional organizations, including the Sacramento Family Justice Center, Cal Post Doc Advisory Board and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. Robin is one of the founding members of the MLK Center at Sacramento State and was previously tasked with developing the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Sacramento State Interim Executive Director of Diversity.​​

Terra Russell-Slavin

Weiyu Zhang

Weiyu Zhang (she/her) is a Community Advocacy Manager with the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. As a public health practitioner, Weiyu is committed to leveraging the vision, knowledge, and toolkit of public health to solve racial and social inequities. She advocates for policy and decision-making processes that center community self-determination and expertise for Black, Indigenous and other marginalized communities in California. Weiyu has more than seven years of experience working in public health and social justice, including community health education and community crisis response, organizing multicultural coalitions, and analyzing public policy. She also has a strong analytical background from training as a biomedical scientist and working in clinical cancer research and biopharmaceutical production. Weiyu holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Biology and Biotechnology from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Weiyu is a native speaker in Mandarin Chinese.​​​​