Api institute of Domestic Violence Becki Masaki, dv leader

biographies of key personnel

API Institute of Domestic Violence
Becki Masaki, DV Leader

Beckie Masaki, MSW, has worked in the movement to end violence against women for over twenty-eight years. She is currently the Associate Director of the API Institute on Domestic Violence of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. Beckie was previously the executive director for Asian Women’s Shelter (AWS), having served that position for over twenty-one years. She also co-founded AWS, one of the first VAW programs in the nation that could meet the language and cultural needs of Asian survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. Beckie has extensive experience in providing multilingual, multicultural services to domestic violence and trafficking survivors and their children, innovative program development, prevention, community building, policy-making, and institutional advocacy. She has provided peer-based training, technical assistance, and facilitation to a wide range of groups on local, state, national and international levels. Beckie is on the advisory committee for the NoVo Foundation in shaping a VAW movement building initiative. Past advisory and steering committee roles include the Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, National Advisory Committee for the Greenbook Project, California Domestic Violence Advisory Committee, and founding steering committee of the Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence. Beckie has also received numerous awards in recognition of her work.

Matt Huckabee

Blue Shield of California Foundation
Bess Bendet, Director

As Director of Blue Shield Against Violence, Bess leads the Foundation's work to end domestic violence through strategic initiatives, grantmaking, and collaboration with leaders in the field.  She brings to her role a deep commitment to gender equality, social justice, and nonprofit excellence, as well as years of experience designing and leading effective grantmaking and program strategies. Bess previously served as the founding executive director of Three Guineas Fund, a public foundation focused on improving education and economic opportunity for women and girls, and led Girls Incorporated of Alameda County, working directly with hundreds of girls and teachers in schools and community-based settings across the San Francisco Bay Area on gender equality. Immediately prior to joining BSCF, she led a year-long organizational development and strategic planning process for the Tides Network. Bess earned a Masters in Education and an MS in Management from Stanford University, and a BA in Anthropology from Brown University.

Christine Tran, Program Officer

Christi joins the Blue Shield of California Foundation as a Program Officer for the Blue Shield Against Violence program area. In addition to supporting the program's strategic vision, her responsibilities include managing grantmaking and building relationships with current and prospective grantees. Prior to joining the Foundation, Christi was an Associate Consultant at The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit strategy consulting firm, where she partnered with Foundation staff to develop its strategic direction. While at Bridgespan, she also conducted and analyzed research on domestic violence, public education, aging populations, rural philanthropy and youth nonprofits for engagements with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies and the James Irvine Foundation. Christi's prior experience includes strategic oversight and operations management at the Phillips Brooks House Association. She has also served as a program director for Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment, worked as an anti-violence community organizer and youth worker in Dorchester, MA through AmeriCorps, and taught as a guest professor at a national university in Cape Verde, Africa on a Michael C. Rockefeller fellowship. While earning her Master's in Education, Policy and Organizational Leadership Studies at Stanford University School of Education, Christi served as a research assistant at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities. A Gates Millennium Scholar, she holds a BA in Government from Harvard College.

Daneen Cline, Program Assistant

Daneen is a Program Assistant with Blue Shield Against Violence, coordinating program initiatives such as the 2008-2010 California Domestic Violence Shelter Initiative and managing BSAV administrative activities. In addition to her passion for women’s issues, Daneen brings 12 years of executive and administrative experience to her position at the Foundation. While previously employed in the private sector, Ms. Cline supported members of both financial analysis and planning teams and was responsible for the operations of two Northern California offices. Daneen joined Blue Shield of California Foundation as a recent graduate of Mills College, with her senior thesis focused on the issue of women’s access to health care, and having earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in Women’s Studies.

California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
Tara Shabazz, Executive Director

Tara is the Executive Director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, having worked with CPEDV since its inception. She has also worked with the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence in a variety of capacities, five years prior to the formation of CPEDV. In addition to her skills and education, Tara is a recognized professional in the domestic violence field. She has overseen the development of CPEDV’s programs and services, has served on the numerous committees and task forces, has written training materials, articles and contributed to other publications, and has been a speaker and presenter at several statewide and national conferences. Tara has also worked in the content areas of youth violence prevention and teen pregnancy prevention; the focus of her career has been on advocacy, community organizing, agency capacity building, educational program planning and development and multicultural issues. Tara possesses a Master’s degree in Education, with an emphasis on Multi-Cultural Education, from California State University, Sacramento and focused her undergrad studies on Interdisciplinary Studies while on a full-ride athletic scholarship to play Division I Softball.

Kathy Moore, Associate Director

Kathy has worked in the domestic violence field for the last 20 years, having served in direct service capacities, program management, as well as executive leadership roles. She has a strong administrative background, including serving seven years as Executive Director at a non-profit domestic violence organization in Oregon. Kathy relocated to California in 2005, where she continued her work in the DV field, serving as an independent consultant, facilitator, trainer, researcher and evaluator before joining the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV) as Associate Director.

Alicia Stonebreaker, Program Coordinator

Alicia is a Program Coordinator for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. She has been involved in intimate partner violence prevention and education since 2002. As an advocate for those seeking mental health services she aided in the development of new procedures and policies at a local mental health clinic. She has direct and indirect counseling experience and has catered her education to understanding the construction of violence. As an avid volunteer she has aided in the planning process and the creation of large and small scale events. Alicia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Women’s Studies from California State University, Sacramento.

Center for Violence Free Relationships
Matt Huckabay, Executive Director

Matt Huckabay is honored to join with his fellow cohorts, embarking on what he describes as “…a significant personal and transformative journey for the domestic violence movement. The spectrum of his professional career spans from managing businesses with multi-million dollar budgets to training inmates on the delivery of palliative care to their terminally ill brothers dying behind bars. Huckabay’s life experiences have taught him the importance of building collaborations based on common hopes and shared dreams in order to effectively confront inequality and realize social justice. He contends, “…identifying and correcting imbalances between heart and structure that occur in me, my staff and our agency is the never ending dance.”

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
Michelle Gislason, Senior Project Director

Michelle is responsible for the program creation and management of CompassPoint’s leadership programs, including the Coaching and Philanthropy Initiative and the Leadership Development Program for Executives Serving Transition-Age Youth. She is a trainer and coach for CompassPoint’s leadership series, “Thriving as an Executive Director,” and Bay Area LISC’s Community Development Leadership Institute, and recently co-authored the book “Coaching Skills for Nonprofits Managers and Leaders (Jossey-Bass). In addition to being a trainer, consultant, and certified organizational coach, Michelle is a trained facilitator in the Authenticity Circles© peer coaching model and an occasional guest lecturer at UC, Berkeley: Haas School of Business and San Francisco State University. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts degree and completed her Masters degree in Organizational Psychology in 2007.

Marissa Tirona, Senior Project Director

Marissa provides management coaching, training and consulting services primarily in the areas of nonprofit finance, leadership, strategy development, organizational dashboard and governance. She speaks frequently on the topics of financial leadership and performance metrics. Currently, she is directing a study of leadership and workforce issues across community clinics in California and is co-managing two leadership development programs. Before joining CompassPoint, Marissa was the program director of a national employee rights organization and an employment attorney with two national law firms. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Jemmott Rollins Group
Fran Jemmott, Principal & CEO

Fran’s expertise, passion, and life commitment are concentrated at the nexus of public health, mental health, and community development, with a focus on systems change, capacity building, policy advocacy, and fund development. Her professional experience includes leadership of grassroots community-based organizations, university-based research and policy centers, philanthropy, and large associations. Since 2003, Fran has served as the principal of Jemmott/Rollins Group, a woman and minority-owned consulting practice specializing in planning and implementation of large-scale training designs to foster progressive social change; technical assistance an customized training materials; staff development and group facilitation. Ever the experiential learner, Fran develops and applies what she learns through service. Her current board appointments include the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Liberty Hill Foundation, and Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE).

Jonathan “Mac” Macaranas, Chief Operating Officer

Coupled with 13 years of logistical expertise and world travel with the US Navy, Mac brings an additional 14 years of private and corporate philanthropy experience to any social endeavor. His formal social and economic justice work concentrates in the areas of public health, K-12 public education, affordable housing, financial education, entrepreneurship and community development, and focusing on strategic planning, financial systems, board development, program development, creativity and innovation. He served on the Boards of the Center for the Pacific-Asian Family, the Neighborhood Funders Group, and the Greater Seattle Business Association, and numerous community advisory committees including KCET Public TV, the Seattle Pacific Science Center, and Seattle University College of Education. Mac resides in Southern California and is a classically trained musician, a sports enthusiast, a published poet, and an avid outdoorsman.

Taigy Thomas-Gooding, Director of Research and Development

Grounded in a deep commitment to fairness and social justice through public health efforts, Taigy brings the skills and experience learned in academic, government and nonprofit sectors to her work at JRG. Her professional experience includes university programming and teaching, grassroots leadership, non-profit development, strategic planning, and government-based research.  Prior to working with JRG, Taigy served as an evaluator for Mendocino County and Sacramento County health and human service programs. She has also served as a Research Analyst IV, with the Quality Management Division of the Orange County Health Care Agency where she designed and implemented countywide health needs assessments, research programs, and survey studies.  Taigy is the author of several book chapters, manuscripts and reports that emphasize the integration of research and policy. She received her Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) in Community Health Sciences with a minor in Biostatistics from the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).

Damon Azali-Rojas, Director of Field Programs

Damon has more than a decade of experience organizing and working on policy initiatives at the city, county and legislative levels. He is exceptionally skilled as a group facilitator, community organizer, and policy analyst. Before joining Jemmott Rollins Group, Mr. Azali-Rojas was the lead organizer at the Labor and Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles. There he led successful community organizing campaigns on youth and education issues, urban transportation and other policy initiatives. He is currently facilitating JRG's work with the Liberty Hill Foundation on The California Endowment's Boys and Men of Color Initiative, and providing field-building expertise to Blue Shield of California’s statewide Strong Field Project for domestic violence agencies. Mr. Azali-Rojas is based in Los Angeles, California.

Jared Morgan, Program Associate

Jared joined Jemmott Rollins Group in 2012. He was raised in Culver City, CA and graduated from Santa Clara University with a major in Political Science. He worked for United States Senator Barbara Boxer for over two years. He started out as a Staff Assistant and was quickly promoted to a Constituent Representative, where he advocated for the Senator’s constituents experiencing issues with Social Security, Medicare and financial institutions.

Women’s Foundation of California
Inger Brinck, Director of Programs

Inger Brinck rejoined the Foundation as Director of Programs in March 2011. Inger previously served with the Foundation from 2001-07. As Senior Program Officer, she led the Foundation's efforts to strengthen economic security among women and their families. Inger left to pursue graduate studies and received her M.A. in Economics (with an emphasis in Public Policy) from Claremont Graduate University in January 2009. Inger then joined the Advancement Project in Los Angeles where she developed a new program to increase transparency, accountability and equity in the use of public funds. Inger continues her work in public finance and is currently collaborating on a paper that addresses fiscal distress among California cities. Inger has been involved in local, national and international efforts to ensure women's human rights. She served on the Advisory Board of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings College of the Law for nine years and is currently on the Board of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.

Maya Thornell-Sandifor, Senior Program Officer

Maya has been with the Foundation since 2002, having previously served as senior communications officer on the development and communications side of the organization. Maya has over 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector with skills including fundraising, media and communications work and program operation. At the Foundation, she is responsible for managing the grantmaking program, the capacity building fund and program, and staffs the Women of Color Donor Circle. Maya has a master's degree in organizational development from the University of San Francisco. She serves on the board of directors for Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy and Next Step Learning Center in Oakland and is a member of the Alameda Contra Costa Links.

Fabiola DeCaratachea, Program Officer

Fabiola joined the Women’s Foundation of California in 2012. Originally from Michoacán, Mexico, Fabiola was raised in the Central Valley and graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a major in Politics. She has worked with non-profit organization in the Bay Area and in the Valley for over 15 years on issues of domestic violence, human rights and social justice. For the past six years she served as program officer with First 5 Kings County where she was responsible for Capacity Building efforts for all funded programs. In March of 2012 Fabiola was appointed by the Kings County Board of Supervisors as a First 5 Kings County Commissioner.