Oakland Roots Community Health Center’s Dr. Noha Aboelata and DeVone Boggan of Richmond’s Advance Peace are among six winners of this year’s James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards.

Each year, Irvine’s Leadership Awards recognize innovative leaders whose breakthrough solutions to critical state challenges improve lives, create opportunity, and contribute to a better California.

In addition to spotlighting exemplary leaders whose work benefits the people of California, The James Irvine Foundation provides each recipient’s organization with a grant of $250,000 to support their work.

“These trailblazing leaders are an inspiration for what they have accomplished for the people of California already and what they can accomplish in the future,” said Don Howard, President and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation. “We are delighted to highlight the promise of their efforts and help others take note of their approaches.”

To learn more about the Leadership Awards, which were announced in San Francisco on February 7, please visit IrvineAwards.org

Dr. Noha Aboelata. James Irvine Foundation web site photo.

Founder and CEO of Roots, Dr. Aboelata received the award for addressing the root causes of health disparities and improving outcomes for people impacted by systemic inequities.

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As a family practice physician and later Chief Medical Officer at Oakland’s Native American Health Center, Dr. Aboelata found the standard 15-minute patient visits insufficient to address the full range of her patients’ issues.

So, in 2008, she founded Roots Community Health Center (Roots) to provide whole health care to those who lacked safety net services and access to traditional support systems — primarily African American men, including those re-entering society from prison — to help facilitate their journey toward self-sufficiency.

Roots has since expanded to serve women and children and provides primary care, navigation services, and employment opportunities to individuals and families in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Roots’ active clientele exceeds 10,000 — 89% African American, evenly split between men and women, and largely Medi-Cal recipients.

“It takes a lot more than a doctor and an exam room to bring health to our community,”Aboelata said.

DeVone Boggan. James Irvine Foundation web site photo.

DeVone Boggan, founder and CEO of Advance Peace, received the award for creating healthy, safe, and just communities by transforming the lives of individuals at the center of gun violence.

From 2015 to 2019, African American males aged 15-34 in California had a firearm homicide rate 16 times higher than white male firearm victims of the same age group.

In 2010, Boggan launched the “Peacemaker Fellowship” support group for African American males involved in gun violence but avoided imprisonment. The model is based on Boggan’s conviction that participants are products of their toxic environments and capable of changing their lives, a theory that is supported by outcome data.

Between 2012 and 2019, firearm assaults in Richmond dropped by 85% and homicides were down 65% compared to the eight years prior to launching the program.

In 2016, Boggan spun off the Peacemaker Fellowship® into a non-profit, Advance Peace, which has supported the model’s implementation in Richmond, Stockton, Sacramento, Fresno, Salinas, and Woodland.

“Every one of our Fellows on day one of their fellowship should be in jail. Not only are they active, but they have also been engaged as a habitual shooter,” Boggan said. “Advance Peace builds trust with each Fellow through goodwill, love, and engagement and helps them identify and achieve their goals.”

Brandon Smith and Royal Ramey. James Irvine Foundation web site photo.

When Brandon Smith and Royal Ramey were released from prison, they couldn’t find firefighting jobs even though they had been trained at a fire camp while incarcerated.

As California’s fire seasons become longer and more intense, The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reports that they need more firefighters.

But the men and women who were trained while incarcerated couldn’t get jobs.

Smith and Ramey pushed past the barriers most Fire Camp alumni face, which include stigma, parole limitations, childcare, access to transportation, financial limitations and a criminal record hindering their ability to obtain the emergency medical technician (EMT) license required for the job.

They enrolled in a fire academy to be retrained and became wildland firefighters nearly two years after their release. While on the job, Smith and Ramey encountered incarcerated firefighters who wanted to know how to gain similar success.

That inspired the two men to found The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program in 2015 to help their peers navigate the complicated hiring process to become firefighters.

FFRP recruits incarcerated firefighters from fire camps and provides individuals — primarily formerly incarcerated men and women of color — with on-the-job training, re-entry support, and connections to firefighting careers. To date, Smith and Ramey have trained and provided career support to more than 3,000 currently and formerly incarcerated individuals.

“Our work prevents wildfires, diversifies the workforce, and creates positive opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to contribute to their communities.” Ramey said.

The James Irvine Foundation has honored more than 100 Californians with a Leadership Award since the program began in 2006. Award recipients are chosen by an independent selection committee of distinguished California leaders that reviews nominations based on the work’s significance, effectiveness, and innovation, among other criteria.

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