KOO Labs Community Program Manager
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Managing Director Media & Technology
Brenden Anderson is a mission-driven leader who works towards empowering and and vancing underserved communities by continuously expanding their opportunities for edication, skill development and career success. With a Masters in Ed Tech he is uniquely positioned at the convergence of education, journalism, multimedia production, and workforce development to support students of color in manifesting their life and career success. He strategically aligns and integrates his experiences, skills, and partnerships to close gaps and provide solutions to schools, youth organizations, educators, parents and students.
TFI Teaching Assistant
A graduate of the first cohort of the TFI Oakland program, Brian now works as a TA for the TFI Program to support our 2nd cohort Kings.
Managing Director Marketing & Communications
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Founder, CEO & Board Member
Christopher Chatmon is the Director and CEO of Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO). Chatmon founded KOO and served as the first Executive Director of the African American Male Achievement (“AAMA”) for the Oakland Unified School District (“OUSD”).
Media & Technology Manager
Damari is a stagehand, audiovisual specialist, video editor, and aspiring creative thinker. He considers himself a conduit through which stories are told – stories that present struggle and endearment; a quest for self-understanding & systems relationships. Damari is here to document transformations of the self, community and beyond.
Director Youth Voice and Leadership & Kingmakers Music
Jahi is an international artist, educator and curator based in Oakland, California.
Contractor: Media Productions
James C. Earl-Rockefeller, III is a videographer and production specialist for Kingmakers of Oakland Communications Department. “Rocke” began his career in entertainment as a professional stand-up comic in 1986. Moving to Oakland, CA in 1992 presented him the opportunity to appear on BET's Comic View (1st Season) and work for The Soulbeat Television Network, a 24 hour "black owned" network, broadcasting music videos, entertainment and community programming. Rocke is a sports Public Address Announcer for Stanford University, Laney and Merritt Community Colleges and the Oakland Athletic League.
Contractor: Media Producer
Judd Fleming serves as video and film producer for Kingmakers of Oakland. With over 12 years experience Judd thrives in the film & video production industry working both independently and with partners as an Editor, Graphic Designer, and Producer. He has a curriculum based organization @u2cacademy Up To Code Academy (U2C) that creates engaging learning experiences that provides culturally relevant, video-based content to foster awareness and inspire action in today’s underserved youth.
Director of Black Teacher Recruitment, Training & Retention
Dr. Kenderick O. Wilson (K.O.) manages the development and implementation of the KOO Department of Black Male Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Certification.
K.O. is the founding Program Manager of the Academy for Rising Educators (ARE) program – Seattle Public Schools' "homegrown" teacher talent initiative focused on assisting SPS high school students, Instructional Assistants and community members in entering the field of education as certificated teachers, with an emphasis on Black Males teachers.
Dr. K.O. has earned a Doctoral of Educational Leadership from the University of Washington, Tacoma. K.O. is a first-generation college graduate and master's recipient who graduated from Birmingham Southern College with a B.S. in Economics and Math and earned an M.S. in Educational Policy from University of Washington, Seattle. K.O.'s identity and experiences influence his commitment to behavioral economics and critical race research.
During the past couple years, K.O. has worked in the Seattle community in non-profits, Seattle Public Schools, King County Housing Authority, and an Academic Counselor at University of Washington, Seattle-Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D).
Studio Manager and Head Engineer
Studio Manager and Head Engineer, Kevin oversees the day-to-day operations of two recording studios, ensuring smooth management of client bookings, studio scheduling, and the overall workflow. He has expertise writing, recording, producing and performing music. Experience working with rock, pop, hip-hop, R&B and art/experimental musicians. He is the main recording engineer and vocal producer, as well as mixing engineer, producer and arranger on the Grammy-winning album “The Movement” by Alphabet Rockers. He co-wrote a lot of original music alongside Madame Gandhi for the MSNBC produced documentary "Periodical" that released in 2023.
TFI Oakland Program Manager
An Oakland Native and advocate/activist for the lives and education of youth and people of color. Majoring in Anthropology at Sac State, coordinating Media for Kingmakers of Oakland, and teaching transitional kindergarten are the ways in which my passion aligned with purpose.
Operations and Finance Coordinator
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Chief Program Officer
Matin Abdel-Qawi has been an equity-centered educational leader in Oakland Unified School District for nearly thirty years. As a middle school teacher, he realized the need to bring Oakland’s legacy of social activism to the classroom. He advocated for every scholar to have access to algebra in the eighth grade ending a decades long practice of assigning Black and Brown scholars to general math while creating nearly all white Algebra classes.
In 2004 as the Founding Principal of East Oakland School of the Arts, he created a small autonomous school founded on the belief that any student will perform at high levels when given the love and support needed. After leading the school for seven years, he took his experience of advocating for Black male students and became the Director of OUSD’s African American Male Achievement’s Manhood Development Program and designed and started several programs at schools around the district.
In 2013, Matin became the Principal of Oakland High School where he created systems and programs that are rooted in equity, diversity and access for every student. In 2020 Matin was promoted to OUSD’s High School Network Superintendent. One of the first initiatives Matin led was to engage all of the high school principals in a learning and discovery experience focused on understanding and dismantling anti Blackness practices, policies, and procedures at schools and replacing them with ones that Engage, Empower, and Encourage all Black scholars.
After nearly three decades in the Oakland Unified School District Matin left OUSD to join Kingmakers of Oakland as its Chief Program Officer. In this new role Matin is responsible for making sure that all of our district partners receive best-in-class services. Matin holds a BA from Stockton State University, NJ and an MA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Graphic & Web Designer
Obasi Davis is a 27 year old artist, designer & educator out of Oakland, California. Obasi believes in the power of art to create change as well as the influence dynamic educators can have on developing youth. In 2014 he created the AAMA summer internship and has been the lead facilitator every summer since. Obasi was also the Manhood Development facilitator at Redwood Heights Elementary in 2019 and first the Program Manager for the TFI Program. Obasi is now pursuing his MFA in Design and working as one of KOO's Graphic & Web Designers.
Contractor: Media Producer
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Ramasses Head has produced a successful reality DVD series, Six independent feature films over 40 music videos along with many corporate and educational productions. Over the years he has produced projects in Los Angeles, CA, Atlanta, GA and Miami FL, in addition to the Bay Area. His work has been featured on HULU, VICELAND and BET Networks.
Program Manager Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Sean Foster is an educator, mentor, artist and community worker that was born and raised in Oakland, California. Sean became committed to the work of empowering black boys after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in communications from his Alma Matter, Clark Atlanta University – an HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Sean joined the African American Male Achievement Program (AAMA) whose guiding mission to engage, encourage and empower young black boys aligned with his. Within this work, Sean has taught and mentored throughout the K-12 system in Oakland and is currently teaching an AAMA class at Dewey Academy and mentoring kings at Met West High School. Drawing on his years of teaching, training and service within the AAMA organization, Sean has transitioned into the role of Senior Facilitator for Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO) where he will support other instructors on how to become transformative educators.
Media Consultant
ShakaJamal is a culturally innovative artist and filmmaker from Oakland, California. His experiences as film producer, director, cinematographer, editor, writer, performing artist, and music producer bring a distinctive and invaluable perspective to any venture. ShakaJamal is also the founder of Namaste Ready! a co-op that provides yoga and self care healing practices designed to activate and support the healing powers of the Black Community.
Managing Director of Operations
Shrim Bathey is the Managing Director of Operations and has spent her educational career working towards empowering students from underrepresented groups. She thrives as an architect around organizational processes, systems, and workflow and is always ready to roll up her sleeves to move projects forward. She is a seasoned education professional serving in various roles in higher education and nonprofits. She received her BS in Psychology from Trinity College, CT and MA in Higher Educational Administration from Santa Clara University, CA.
Senior Director of Finance
Simba brings a wealth of accounting and financial management experience to the role, having had extensive experience across a wide variety of businesses, including start-ups, multinationals and international experience working for the big four accounting firms.
Simba has experience working for SEC registered public companies as well as Not for Profit organisations. Simba’s most recent experience was working as the CFO/Controller of New Forests Inc., a forestry investment company. Before that he was the CFO at the Sierra Club Foundation, a foundation that promotes conservation and climate solutions.
Simba has a Bachelor of Accounting Science – Honours, from the University of South Africa and in his spare time he volunteers as the CFO and Board member for the One Bread Foundation which aims to rehabilitate victims of child slavery.
Founder, CEO & Board Member
Christopher Chatmon is the Director and CEO of Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO). Chatmon founded KOO and served as the first Executive Director of the African American Male Achievement (“AAMA”) for the Oakland Unified School District (“OUSD”).
Board Member
Dr. David J. Johns is the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Johns was appointed the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans by President Barack Obama and served from 2013-2017. Dr. Johns was a senior education policy advisor to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions under the leadership of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and has served under the leadership of the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Dr. Johns was a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow in the office of Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY).
Dr. Johns received his Ph.D. in sociology and education policy at Columbia University. Dr. Johns obtained a master’s degree in sociology and education policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, graduating summa cum laude. He graduated with honors from Columbia College, Columbia University in 2004 with a triple major in English, creative writing, and African American studies.
Dr. Johns was named to the Out100 list in 2021, the Root100 in both 2013 and 2014, Ebony’s Power 100 in 2015, and received an early career award from Columbia University, Teachers College in 2016.
Board Member
Dr. Gisele C. Shorter is the third President and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, which funds community-rooted educational transformation that challenges racial inequities and advances excellent, student-centered public education for all New England youth. Foundational to Gisele’s career is the deep belief that an equitable society starts with an equitable education system. Over the last 15 years, she has led large-scale community-based programs, research and policy initiatives to advance justice and equity, close health disparities and ensure access and opportunities for Black and Brown youth and communities to flourish. Dr. Shorter most recently served as the Director of the National Education Strategy at the Raikes Foundation, where she was responsible for impact and strategy coherence across the K-12, post-secondary, education field building, and policy portfolios. She is a Distinguished Senior Fellow in the Office of Leadership and Innovation at NYU Steinhardt Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology. In that capacity she advises doctoral students on a wide range of complex problems of practice–from the role of philanthropy in China’s evolving socio-political context to the role of district superintendents as agents for change. Dr. Shorter both facilitates and is a strategic designer of Leadership Summits across NYU’s international campuses.
Dr. Shorter earned her Doctorate in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a master’s degree from Long Island University and a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College. She is a Pahara Aspen Fellow and active member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Board Member
Vajra M. Watson is a scholar-activist, faculty director, and professor of educational leadership and racial justice in the College of Education at Sacramento State University, Sacramento. Watson has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, community organizer and researcher. She is the founder of Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS), an award-winning program that pairs community-based poet-mentor educators and teachers together to develop grassroots pedagogies that reclaim and reimagine schooling. She is the solo-author of two books, Learning to Liberate: Community-Based Solutions to the Crisis in Urban Education (2012) and Transformative Schooling: Towards Racial Equity in Education (2018), and has published dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.
Watson serves on a number of Board of Directors, including United Playaz in San Francisco (Board President), the National Urban Education Teacher Policy Project, the National Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, Kingmakers of Oakland, and Fathers and Families of San Joaquin in Stockton, CA.
Dr. Watson is recipient of the UC Davis Early Career Award, Sacramento’s 40 Under 40 Leadership Award, the Chancellor’s Soaring to New Heights Individual Achievement Award for Diversity, the California Educational Research Association’s Annual Award, the Congressional Woman of the Year Award, the NBA Sacramento King’s Woman of the Year Award, and the American Educational Research Association’s Social Impact Award as well as AERA’s Social Justice Leadership Award.
Watson is originally from Berkeley, CA and was deeply impacted by the courses she took in the Black and Xicanx Studies Departments at Berkeley High School in the mid-1990s. In 10th grade her final exam question was: “What are you doing to stop and/or curtail the spread of white supremacy in yourself, community, and this world?” This question still shapes her path and purpose.
Dr. Watson obtained her B.A. from UC Berkeley and holds two Master’s Degrees from Harvard University in International Education and Teaching and Learning. She received her Doctorate in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.
Co-Board Secretary
Eliza co leads New Profit and oversees the work external affairs team (comprised of Development, Communications and America Forward as well as managing our emergent strategies – Inclusive Impact, Systemic Solutions, ECSO and LTE). She also works closely with several of New Profit’s portfolio organizations and currently serves on the Board of FoodCorps.
Eliza has always known that her career would be in service of closing the opportunity gap. Both because she was raised to believe that it’s a broken world and she must contribute to fixing it and because she sees that where she is today is a direct result of the accumulated advantage she’s been handed. Eliza came to New Profit after working in both the non-profit and government sectors in variety of direct service and leadership roles and seeing first hand the intergenerational and institutional barriers to social mobility in our country. Eliza believed that philanthropy could have a catalytic role in disrupting the status quo, inspiring R & D and spreading best practices. What drew her to New Profit is what keeps her at New Profit – shared values about putting equity at the center, a shared belief that transformative change requires upending systems and deep relationships and an unparalleled community of people.
Co-Board Chair
Gary Beasley is the former Director of Children and Family Services for the County of San Mateo after serving there for over 25 years.
Board Member
Noguera is a former social worker, K-12 teacher, school leader, and director of an international youth leadership institute dedicated to serving Black and Latinx youth in New York City. He has also worked as a consultant and coach to school districts, educators, and other learning organizations throughout the country for more than a decade. Noguera has a Ph.D. in social science and comparative education with a specialization in race, ethnic, and cultural studies from UCLA's Graduate School of Education. His research is situated at the intersections of race, culture, power, education, and social justice and engages three broad areas: the limits and possibilities of education and schooling, particularly for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities and in low-income urban contexts; systems change that advances racial equity in organizational contexts; and critical analysis of society and culture and the impact of social and cultural patterns on the development and experiences of individuals and communities. In addition, Noguera's research, teaching, and scholarship amplify anti/decolonizing, critical race, Indigenous, Black radical, and Ethnic Studies perspectives and draws from the knowledges produced by these traditions when responding to and remedying our individual and collective challenges. Noguera's work centers well-being and holistic engagement, while prioritizing relational awareness and accountability to forward social justice education for transformation and healing. He is a father of three, the brother of many, husband to one, a son, a musician, an artist, an athlete who enjoys basketball, soccer, rugby, wrestling, martial arts, surfing, travel, hiking, camping, gardening, studying ancient and cultural history, African cultural syncretism, religious history and spiritual traditions, holistic wellbeing, freedom dreaming, and making good memories through spending quality time with family and friends.
Finance Committee Chair
Experienced Project Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. Skilled in Operations Management, Agile Methodologies, Project Management, Scrum, and Agile Project Management. Strong professional with a Master of Business Administration - MBA focused in Finance, General from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Co-Board Chair
Romero Wesson grew up in Oakland,California. He graduated from Castlemont High School as Student Body President Class of 2019. He is the Vice-President of Castlemont’s Alumni Association and currently attending Los Medanos Community College majoring in Kinesiology. Romero serves as a Spiritual Advisor to many families, organizations, and community leaders across the bay area. Romero is also a product of the African American Male Achievement Program(AAMA). Romero was apart of AAMA Student Leadership Council from 2014-2019 where he travelled and spoke at many different national and local convenings. He is also the founder of the Chosen Generation Community Foundation which he officially launched in June of 2018, where their bible based curriculum is building youth of today to be the leaders of tomorrow. Wesson is also a Humanitarian, working with churches across the globe to promote human welfare. Romero has done projects in Mexico, Costa Rica, Haiti, and the Philippines. Romero’s goal to reach and inspire youth that it doesn’t matter where you come from, all that matters is where you end up.
Work for a mission driven organization who centers Black boys.
