Staff Biographies

Josefina Alvarado Mena was awarded an Echoing Green Fellowship in 1996 after finishing her J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Josefina used her Echoing Green Fellowship to create the Educational Empowerment Program to provide free legal education and services to low income students in Oakland, California. In 1999, Josefina was recruited by an incoming Superintendent of Oakland Unified School District to head the Department of Student, Family, and Community Services. She was the youngest member of the Executive Cabinet in the history of the organization. During her tenure she helped expand after-school programs, violence prevention programs, parent engagement and mental health programs throughout the school district. As director of the department, she also led the effort to develop the Safe Passage Middle School Strategy that has resulted in a 72% decrease in suspensions for violence at target high need middle schools in Oakland. Josefina was then recruited to lead Safe Passages, a city-wide initiative designed to reduce violence among the children and youth of Oakland. Josefina was one of only 5 employees when she arrived at Safe Passages. Currently the organization has a staff of 125. As the Chief Executive Officer for Safe Passages, Josefina has grown the organization from a foundation funded initiative to a leading independent 501(c)(3) Multi-service Nonprofit Organization that implements a continuum of programs that serve children and youth, from birth through college and career. A native of Oakland, Josefina grew up in one of the neighborhoods served by Safe Passages. She received her B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley in 1993, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in May 1996. She is also a recipient of the following honors and awards: Echoing Green Global Fellowship 1996-1998, Education Advocacy Award 2003, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County; Outstanding Education Advocate 1999, People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO); Advocacy Award, California Latino Civil Rights Network 1998, and James Irvine Foundation California Leadership Award 2009.

Jonathan Brumfield oversees the implementation of the Get Active Program, the Safe Passages Urban Arts program. Through art, this program is designed to promote social justice and cultural awareness with a strong emphasis on leadership development and community engagement among youth. Mr. Brumfield has worked as an Urban Arts Instructor and case manager in Oakland schools and has over a decade of experience in addressing the needs of high need youth, with an emphasis on young males of color. Mr. Brumfield has a B.A. in Criminal Justice from San Francisco State University. He is also an Artist in Residence at the African American Complex in San Francisco.

Chief Operating Officer, Alicia Perez, comes to Safe Passages with an array of experience in the areas of community outreach, social service program implementation, and public policy. Alicia oversees advocacy and communications efforts for the organization as well as serving as liaison with government officials. Additionally, Alicia oversees the implementation of the Safe Passages Early Childhood Initiative. Prior to Safe Passages, Alicia Perez worked in the Office of the Superintendent for Oakland Unified District. She oversaw the district’s outreach efforts for opening of schools and student registration, the district’s state and federal advocacy efforts, and the implementation of several social service programs for students. In the legislative realm, Ms. Perez has been a policy advisor for former Assembly Member Delaine Eastin and to Oakland Councilmember Nancy J. Nadel. She has worked in the creation and implementation of social programs for children and families in Oakland and Chicago, and internationally in El Salvador, Colombia and Spain. Alicia E. Perez holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. She earned her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Social Welfare and Comparative Literature.

Kimi Tahara supports the management of the agency’s core functions in finance, administration, communications, and capacity development. One of the main goals is to expand the public health workforce and integrate into health care operations for diverse, historically forgotten about communities. Kimi supports the agency by co-developing and implementing culturally affirming business strategies and programs to drive national and local systems transformation particularly between the education, public health, physical health, and mental health sectors.

Prior to joining the Safe Passages team, Kimi supported county-wide capacity development and Managed Care transformation efforts within Alameda County Health Care Services Agency for the Medi-Cal 1115 Demonstration of the Whole Person Care initiative. Kimi has extensive experience both as a frontline provider and as a health care administrator having also worked at Highland Hospital by co-developing and managing a volunteer-powered community linkage help desk that supports consumers across the lifespan.

She has been a key driver in pioneering the way for bridging the gap between the academic, technological, social, medical, and legal sectors. Through her experience of both direct service practice and healthcare administration, Kimi has created a pipeline for educational and career trajectories for our future workforce of medical, social, and legal providers through human capital investment. She is the recipient of the 2016 California Hospital Association’s Ritz E. Heerman Memorial Award and is featured in the American Hospital Association’s 2016 publication “Engaging Health Care Volunteers to Pursue the Triple Aim” as a key contributor to the Triple Aim framework. Kimi received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Diego Bravo serves as Safe Passages’ Resource Development & Policy Manager. Diego supports the organization in all development and funding efforts. He works closely with the Development Team and Executive Staff to write and secure grant applications for foundation and government grants, assists with grant reporting requirements, local and state policy initiatives, and manages all individual donor relations. Diego was raised in Richmond, California, and is now a proud Oakland resident. He graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2017 with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology, is a social justice-oriented thinker, and is interested and impassioned by all things community.

Katie Brym oversees the Super Stars Literacy program at Safe Passages. In her role, she engages AmeriCorps members who provide literacy intervention services to K – 2nd grade students. Katie began her work with Super Stars Literacy in 2013 and joined the Safe Passages team to help implement the program within Safe Passages. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Design from the University of New Hampshire and is an alumnus of the AmeriCorps VISTA program.

Laura Cabral currently serves as the Early Childhood and Family Resource Network Director. Ms. Cabral is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the 0-8 programs at Elementary School sites; these programs include: Early Learning Baby Learning Communities Collaborative and the School Linked Services After School Programs for which Safe Passages is the lead agency. Ms. Cabral has led the Baby Learning Program for the past year. Her work in this capacity is programmatic assistance to partners and work with other Safe Passages staff assigned to the three communities to ensure seamless integration and coordination of program activities. Ms. Cabral will receive her Masters in Mexican American Studies with an emphasis in Policy from San Jose State University this year and holds a B.A. from the University of California at Davis.

Lauren Chambers is an Oakland native. She is a graduate of Berkeley High School. With a bachelor’s degree in Business from Florida A&M, she decided to return to Oakland to follow her passion for working in education. Through her matriculation at Safe Passages beginning in 2009, Lauren has worked in multiple capacities. Starting her career in 2009, as the after-school coordinator in her hometown of East Oakland with Roots Middle School, continuing on to be a life coach and mentor for high school students. She presently serves as the lead life coach for the Oakland Unite grant and is enthusiastic about supporting her community for years to come.

Dedication, Empowering and an all-around helper are words that describe Krystal Jenkins. Krystal was born in the Bay Area and lived in Oakland much of her life. She attended Oakland schools and graduated from Life Academy of Health and Bioscience; she was in the first graduating class of FACES for the Future. She began her career in education soon after, first becoming an Academic/Enrichment Instructor in elementary schools, then a Site Coordinator, and now Full-Service Community Schools Director. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Psychology from California State University, East Bay. Krystal has been with the organization, running in the marathon, since 2015. She aspires to continue serving her community for many years to come.