STAFF | BOARD OF DIRECTORS | ADVISORY COUNCIL
STAFF
Darlene Weide, MPH, MSW, Executive Director
dweide@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x105
Darlene has worked in the nonprofit sector- primarily in HIV prevention, women’s health and youth community-based programs– for nearly twenty years. Her current work focuses on enhancing the effectiveness and impact of organizations. At Community Boards, she collaborates with the Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers to build on Community Boards’ tremendous track record. Darlene is the author of Safe Schools for Everyone: Responding to Anti-LGBTQ Bias in the Classroom & on the Playground, as well as Conflict Resolution Skills for the Jossey-Bass textbook Foundations for Community Health Workers. She is an experienced mediator, trainer and teacher. She is also a faculty member at City College of San Francisco in the Health Education and Community Health Studies Department where she teaches public health courses and Conflict Resolution in the Workplace.
Jim Garrison, Communications
jgarrison@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x104
Jim has been associated with Community Boards in various capacities since 1988. His primary responsibilities are maintaining the website, managing our Listserv and e-communications, and the in-house design and production of outreach, public education, and marketing collateral pieces. He supports the Community Engagement Coordinator to maximize their outreach work. As a technical writer, he drafts, edits, and finalizes our training materials and grants. He is proud and pleased to see Community Boards continue serving the many diverse communities in San Francisco for over four decades.
Liz Gewirtz, Neighborhood Courts Coordinator
& Restorative Justice Facilitator
lgewirtz@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x107
Liz is committed to a vision of justice that is led by the community it serves. At Community Boards, Liz’s core responsibilities include coordinating the San Francisco District Attorney’s Neighborhood Courts Program and leading Restorative Justice Circles. She’s also researched case law, written for the National Law Guild Newsletter, and attended multiple parole summits at Otisville Prison.
Arnold “Mac” McGilbray, Case Development Manager
Mac_McGilbray@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x103
Mac, our Case Development Manager, joined our staff in 2005. He comes to us with a background in law, marketing, contracting, negotiation and EEO compliance. As Case Development Manager, Mac is responsible for all contact and coordination with the disputing parties following the initial intake. Mac also manages key components of our low-cost Professional Mediation services, working with a wide range of workplace and property disputes.
Tatiana Mercier, Community Engagement Coordinator
tmercier@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x102
Tatiana was born and raised in the Bay Area and has always had a passion for working in her community. She is a recent graduate from San Francisco State University, where she earned a Bachelor’s in Art History. Tatiana also has Associate Degrees in Art History, Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences. For many years she was a member of the Youth Leadership team for Positive Images, a queer youth support group in Sonoma County. Tatiana also worked in outreach for the Transfer Peer Mentor program at San Francisco State, earning the university the title of 2021 Equity Champions of Higher Education. As the Community Engagement Coordinator, she oversees Community Boards’ social media accounts, as well as in-person outreach activities.
Sarah Moss, Mediation & Training Coordinator
smoss@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x100
Sarah is responsible for overall day-to-day office administration, curating trainings and workshops, and overseeing the neighborhood mediation program. Born in San Francisco, she is a decades-long member of the performing arts community. Sarah has volunteered at Larkin Street Youth Center and has worked with Shanti Project; providing alternative care to grantees with breast cancer. She earned a BA in Communication Studies and a professional certificate in Conflict Resolution from San Francisco State University. Since then, she has been invited to SFSU and UC Berkeley as a guest lecturer on Mediation. Sarah has also served as a mediation role play coach for students at Georgetown University. She was introduced to Community Boards in 2017 as an intern and then trained as volunteer mediator and role-play coach, as well as Community Outreach Coordinator. Sarah hopes to further her expertise in ADR while extending her mission as an effective social advocate.
Jordan Payseno, Housing & Restorative Justice Coordinator
jpayseno@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x101 | Cell: (707) 559-8140
Jordan works as the Housing and Restorative Justice Coordinator, supporting youth and providers in the Rising Up collaborative. He also provides administrative support to the new JAMS Foundation funded Oakland civilian/police mediation program. He specializes in education, youth and young adult development, conflict resolution, program development, and facilitation. Originally from Seattle, Jordan has worked for a variety of play and experiential-based youth development and education programs in San Francisco, New York City, Portland, and Berlin. Since 2004, Jordan has worked at Camp Winnarainbow, a circus and performing arts summer camp where he mentors young staff members in team building, understanding young people and their group dynamics, and also provides conflict resolution to staff and participants. He is also an artist and musician who enjoys creating original works around themes of community, justice, and liberation.
Alma Pulido, Interim Intake Coordinator
(415) 226-9410
Alma has been involved in restorative work throughout her academic, professional, and volunteer experiences. Currently a graduate student at San Francisco State University, she serves as a Graduate Teacher in the Department of Communication Studies, teaching The Fundamentals of Oral Communication and participating in the Conflict Resolution and Mediation program. Her research focuses on restorative justice, conflict resolution, mediation, and transformative healing. Alma’s graduate thesis examines the perceived credibility of offenders in mediation settings and community justice as alternatives to the punitive judicial system. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies with a minor in Counseling, and an A.A. in Paralegal Studies from Skyline College. As a litigation paralegal, she provides pro bono work for Root & Rebound, developing declaration statements for judges to assist individuals in expunging their conviction records.
Rachel Vyda-Venning, Program Director
rvydavenning@communityboards.org | (415) 920-3820 x109
Rachel comes to Community Boards with 20 years of experience as a business leader, consultant and advisor to Non-Profits. Rachel is a versatile executive; planning and leading the day-to-day operations and infrastructure of an organization, collaborating on strategic planning processes, honing and delivering messaging both internally and externally, and connecting the dots to make things work better. They have expertise in communications and marketing strategy, operations and business development, and cross-functional team leadership. They earned her MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. Rachel looks forward to supporting the team at Community Boards.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Christina Sabee, President
Christina serves as Board President. She has been a professor in Communication with an emphasis on Conflict Management since 2002 – both at San Jose State University and at San Francisco State University. During that time, she also served as SF State’s Dean of Equity Initiatives, Employee Ombudsperson, and Associate Dean for Liberal and Creative Arts – specifically working toward creating inclusive environments in Higher Education for all community members. Learn more about Christina.
Kiana Araghi
Kiana is a real estate attorney based in San Francisco, specializing in commercial leasing. As a life-long Bay Area resident, Kiana received a B.A. in English Literature from Stanford University, and a J.D. from University of California, Hastings. As an undergraduate, Kiana worked at a nonprofit research institution providing policymakers, educators, and parents accurate, empirical data to enact policies to improve public education for children K-12. Learn more about Kiana.
Elise Hansell
Elise is a dedicated advocate for gender equity and good governance, bringing over a decade of experience in local government. With a problem-solving approach rooted in research, creativity, and strategic partnerships, Elise has worked on a broad range of issues, including criminal justice reform, gender-based violence prevention, and COVID-19 emergency response. Currently, Elise works at San Francisco Digital & Data Services. Learn more about Elise.
Jorge Herrera
Jorge is an experienced finance and legal professional who’s been employed at various global banking and corporate institutions, including GE Capital, AMTRAK, and Manufacturers Hanover Trust. His primary responsibilities have included investment management, corporate and structured finance, strategic planning, process improvement, contract negotiations and audit preparation. Among many volunteer positions held over four decades, he has served as board member at AYUDA and the Penn Latino Association. Learn more about Jorge.
Dr. Eugene B. Kogan, Vice President
Eugene serves as Board Vice President. He is an award-winning Harvard thought leader and keynote speaker on power strategies in negotiation and leadership. For over 15 years, he has enabled thousands of executives worldwide to make strategic choices during pivotal moments. With insights grounded in rigorous research, Eugene a co-authored book, Mediation: Negotiation by Other Moves (Wiley 2021). He combined this with firsthand learning from Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powell. Learn more about Eugene.
Alice P. Mead, JD, Secretary
Alice serves as Board Secretary. For twenty years, she served as the Vice President of U.S. Public Policy and Public Affairs for GW Pharmaceuticals, specializing in regulatory law governing new drug and device development; and domestic and international treaty issues relating to prescription drug development. While at GW, she initiated and shepherded a program which resulted in FDA approval of a new medication for children with intractable epilepsies. Learn more about Alice.
Junna Ro
Junna is a legal and compliance executive who most recently served as general counsel and head of HR at Metromile, a publicly-traded insurance tech company, where she managed all legal, regulatory, compliance and HR matters, and helped lead the company through a successful acquisition in 2022. Previously, Junna worked as vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer, and associate general counsel at AAA (CSAA Insurance Group). Learn more about Junna.
Emily Wei
Emily brings a wealth of financial management experience in areas such as grant administration, regulatory compliance, annual budget development, financial planning and analysis, financial reporting, variance analysis, and developing financial infrastructure for continuous improvement. Emily was born and raised in Houston, moving later to Delaware and then Taiwan. She moved to San Francisco to attend the University of San Francisco. Learn more about Emily.
Yujia Zhu
Yujiais a seasoned social entrepreneur, business strategist, and an advocate for Women in STEM with over 12 years of experience in humanitarian sector. She is the founder of For A Safer Space (FASS), a Canadian federally registered nonprofit, and creator of FASSLING (Fassling.ai), an AI-powered emotional and coaching support app that became once the most-used and highest rated non-medical and non-therapy app on the ChatGPT official store. Learn more about Yujia.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Terry Amsler | Bob Bailey | Brittny Bottorff | Jon Eldan | Adam Green | Fred Lambright | Tracy Lemmon | Joseph Ragazzo | Gail Sadalla | Elizabeth Shwiff | Teri Sklar | Charles Spiegel | Kyungah “Kay” Suk | Marion Standish | Victoria Borrego Swepson | Michael Tobriner