Is What Liberation Looks Like

Amelia Lopez-Helm (she/her) is the Interim Operations Manager for Be The Change Consulting, making sure the coordination of all we do happens in flow! She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Policy (2011) and Master’s Degree in Public Policy (2012) from Mills College, Oakland. Amelia previously worked in local and state government offices and non-profit organizations developing and using her skills in project management, systems development, and communications. Amelia’s speciality is attuning to client needs and synchronizing the Be the Change to meet them. She lives in Oakland on Ohlone land.

In her 20 years working with young people, Aminta has been a Program Coordinator, Youth Leadership Instructor and Program Director. Aminta majored in Community Studies, has studied Recreational Program Design and is a Certified Self Defense Instructor. Her areas of expertise as a capacity builder include Cultural Competency, Health and Safety Awareness and Community Building. Aminta is an enthusiastic cheerleader for her coaching clients, listens attentively, pays attention to details and acts as a compassionate guide through even the most difficult transitions. Aminta has a black belt in Kung Fu, and when not working you can usually find her kicking and punching her way to a more peaceful world.

Lauren Martinez has worn many hats in the field of education and youth development. They have specifically coached basketball for over five years for UCLA recreation department, taught chess in an after-school capacity, and now are currently working for Be the Change Consulting as their Racial Justice Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager both the PM for the antiracist virtual public series and a facilitator for some of the offerings. They hold a BS in Psychology and Biology and are currently pursuing two master’s degrees, a Master of Social Change and Master of Divinity at “the most progressive seminary in the United States,” Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA. Their intentions are to remind people, in particular youth of color, through spiritual embodiment practices that center a social justice healing lens of their internal power and inherent worth whilst expanding communities understanding of ways to counter oppression and live an authentic life.

Sangita Kumar is a results-based organizational development consultant and facilitator dedicated to the empowerment of individuals and our communities. Sangita’s experience over the past 15 years ranges from coaching, professional development, strategic planning, program design, and curriculum development. Sangita holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Development, is a Certified Life Coach, and completed a two-year certification in Somatics and Trauma.

Ebony’s path is grounded in the integrity of Spirit and guided by her Ancestors. Her calling is to be of service to those marginalized by the brutality of oppressive systems. As a Black woman, Ebony prioritizes her advocacy, organizing, teaching, consulting, and healing guidance work to uplift Black people and Black communities. In addition to supporting marginalized people to navigate, resist, and heal from structural violence; Ebony recognizes this work is incomplete without asserting methods of accountability for abusive systems. Her practice has always been accompanied by efforts to partner with those around her to develop and implement protocols of systemic accountability to address issues of bias and discrimination. A hallmark of Ebony’s practice is challenging the status quo and inspiring people to initiate and create healthier ways of existing. Principles from the Black radical tradition like self-determination, intersectionality, collective empowerment, sovereignty, and love inform her perspective and guide her approach.

Ed Center is a positive parenting coach who centers family histories and cultural wisdom to support parents to increase connection and joy with their children. From running a student support center in the basement of Balboa High School, to leading philanthropic initiatives in the education sector, Ed’s career has always focused on helping BIPOC youth and families thrive. Ed is an alumnus of the Annie E Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellowship and excels in partnership development, change management, and supporting multi-faceted groups to focus on equity. He is an expert at coaching organizations to move from planning to action, and is highly skilled at facilitating difficult conversations. In his free time, Ed plays and coaches soccer, is obsessive about watching raptor birds in the wild, and hosts an annual Spam cook-off competition. He lives with his husband and two sons in San Francisco.

Franklin Hysten is committed to creating transformative experiences that strengthen youth and their communities. Drawing on 18 years of experience developing leaders in youth development, philanthropy and government -based organizations, he supports Be the Change Consulting’s organizational consulting portfolio, which includes program design, logic modeling, and strategic planning for organizations state-wide. He also manages the youth development portfolio for high-school aged-youth, with a focus on restorative practices. His strong background in youth development has afforded him the opportunity to train and coach emerging non-profit professionals and share best practices with staff, managers and funders.

John W. Meade, Jr. is an LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS prevention advocate with real-world public health experience including the designing and implementation of HIV prevention programming/community-led demonstration projects, nationwide HIV prevention strategic planning, and understanding the root causes of social determinants of health, which underpin health inequities and disparities. John currently serves as Senior Program Manager-Policy at AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC). John has acquired over 10 years of global public health experience, focusing on socio-contextual determinants of health including addressing health inequities and stigma among LGBTQIA+ communities of color, youth, women and sex workers. In his role as Senior Program Manager, John is responsible for building capacity of community leaders to advocate for policies that benefit their communities. He holds a B.A. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Connecticut College and a Master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Socio-Contextual Determinants of Health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Oscar’s vision as a capacity builder is to listen, understand and help build amazing youth-centered afterschool programs. Over the past 20 years Oscar has been an executive director, curriculum designer, coach and trainer. Oscar holds a BA in History from UC Berkeley. As a coach Oscar’s areas of expertise include project-based learning, disguised learning, literacy, management and supervision, classroom management, and stress reduction. Oscar draws on his experiences as a bi-racial immigrant from Mexico and English language learner to champion social justice values and equitable program design. Oscar has been training in Capoeira for ten years, and wrote a children’s book called Marina’s Capoeira Countdown.

Ricardo Perez Gonzalez (he/him/she/her) is a new coach & trainer inside our “Becoming an Antiracist Organization” series. As an improvisational actor, award-winning playwright, tv writer for Netflix and equity consultant, Ricardo tells untold stories in service of racial healing. He brings humor, play and fierce passion to social justice work and splits his time between his stoop garden in NYC and his window garden in LA. Find him engaged in sparkling cocktail conversation with his cat and partner in Los Angeles on Tongva Land.

Over the past 20 years, Serian has honed her facilitation skills in multiple industries with a focus on equity, social justice and team building. As a Coach, Facilitator and former classroom teacher, her passion lies in creating sustainable culture shifts within community that ultimately lead to connection and overall joy. Guided by love of experiential learning, she has a unique approach for creating courageous and playful learning spaces where challenging conversations can happen.When she is not brainstorming new ways to engage in difficult dialogue, she trains as a Martial Artist, gardens and tries new recipes. She has a Masters in Education UC Berkeley and is a certified life coach. She is also the co-director of the Self Defense program at Hand to Hand Kajukenbo Self Defense Center.