Activism

San Jose Spotlight: 15 of the Most Influential Black Leaders in Silicon Valley

Local Black leaders are working to change the odds and boost equality for the community. In celebration of Black History Month, San Jose Spotlight is highlighting 15 of the most influential Black leaders in Silicon Valley.

Published

2 years ago

February 14, 2023

Oakland Post

Black residents make up about 3% of Santa Clara County’s population, but the impact of Black leaders on the region is undeniable — even while facing adversity.

By Loan-Anh Pham, San Jose Spotlight

Black residents make up about 3% of Santa Clara County’s population, but the impact of Black leaders on the region is undeniable — even while facing adversity.

The Black community in Silicon Valley and across the nation face systemic disparities: The population is overrepresented among the homeless and historical housing segregation has resulted in lower rates of Black homeownership.

Data from the 2022 Silicon Valley Pain Index shows the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected Black residents in terms of income and poverty levels, and Black students face higher levels of suspensions compared to white counterparts.

These trends have resulted in what leaders call a “Black exodus” as residents flee pricey Silicon Valley or face displacement.

But there’s hope. Local Black leaders are working to change the odds and boost equality for the community. In celebration of Black History Month, San Jose Spotlight is highlighting 15 of the most influential Black leaders in Silicon Valley.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list of all the tremendous Black leaders in our region, these individuals have broken barriers, shattered stereotypes and inspired change in Silicon Valley.

Here they are in alphabetical order by first name.

Ahmad Thomas

Ahmad Thomas broke barriers in August 2020 when he became the first Black man to lead the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a powerful trade association of prominent businesses and tech giants.

Right off the bat, Thomas got to work on improving Silicon Valley’s economic vitality, while also prioritizing diversity and equity in business. He advocated for more racial equity in Silicon Valley by helping member companies hire more minority candidates and funding more Black- and Latinx-owned startups.

Prior to joining SVLG, Thomas worked as an investment banker for Barclays. Thomas also worked as a senior aide to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Alma Burrell

Eliminating health disparities in underserved communities has been Alma Burrell’s calling. After managing health programs for children for 20 years, Burrell joined Roots Community Health Center as its chief administrative officer. The nonprofit health organization is committed to serving marginalized and underserved communities in San Jose.

She is a leading expert on the need for African-centered medical care and spent 18 years working with the Black Infant Health program in Santa Clara County, which is aimed at improving the wellbeing of pregnant women and their babies.

Black mothers in the U.S. are about three times more likely than white mothers to die from childbirth-related causes, according to the CDC. “I love my people and I want to see healthy babies,” she told LAist.

Andre Chapman

While working in tech in the 1990s, Andre Chapman was disheartened by the lack of minorities in the field. He personally witnessed the unsettling tale of two Silicon Valleys — the haves and have nots. He left his lucrative tech job — a move questioned by some — and decided to do something about it.

Chapman founded The Unity Care Group in 1993 to develop educational and social programs to enrich the lives of disadvantaged underserved youth. Now he works to improve the foster youth system through mental health and criminal justice reform and has helped thousands of families.

Chapman is a national expert on creating culturally proficient services and a recipient of San Jose State University’s Evelyn T. Robinson Outstanding African American Alumnus award.

Forrest Williams

During his 16 years in public office, Forrest Williams prioritized equitable education and access to public services, working to build multiple community centers and libraries. He said education is a priority for Black residents and future generations.

Williams a former San Jose councilmember and Oak Grove School District Board member who spent 35 years as an IBM engineer.

The county’s Black students face higher levels of suspensions, lower test scores and less mental health support. Williams said increasing equity in education requires community involvement from parents, students and leaders.

“You’ve got to take an active role in the educational system… that will make a significant difference,” Williams told San Jose Spotlight. “Kids (are) the objects of the future.”

Iola Williams

The late Iola Williams made history as San Jose’s first Black councilmember in 1979 and went on to serve for 12 years, including two terms as vice mayor. She was a pivotal leader and advocate for civil and LGBTQ rights.

Williams was a major supporter of the shift to district elections in San Jose — which allowed for the election of more diverse policymakers — and an advocate for neighborhoods.

Williams received the African American Community Service Agency’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which was renamed after her, in 2016. She died at age 83 in 2019 after losing a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Rev. Jeff Moore II

Rev. Jeff Moore II said visibility and meaningful representation for the region’s Black community is the first step.

Moore is former president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP and is a longtime community activist whose work revolves around education, homelessness and oversight on police departments. A tireless champion for civil rights, Moore said Black representation is vital — from corporate leadership to classrooms.

“Our diversity is so rich and so great, but yet, the Black voice, there’s nobody advocating for it,” Moore told San Jose Spotlight. “That’s one of the biggest things: who is that champion that we can go to?”

LaDoris Cordell

LaDoris Cordell made history as Northern California’s first Black female judge and served in Santa Clara County for 20 years, from 1982-2001.

In addition to devoting her legal career to creating justice for minorities and low-income people, Cordell is an author, artist, vocalist and pianist. She is also a member of the LGBTQ community and a mother to two daughters.

In, 2021, Cordell published “Her Honor,” a book that explored the broken criminal justice system and how to fix it. She also served as a Palo Alto councilmember and San Jose independent police auditor.

“The number of African Americans who reside in Santa Clara County and throughout Silicon Valley continues to drop… My concern is that the contributions of this area’s Black residents will fade from the public memory,” Cordell told San Jose Spotlight. “Even though our population is small, racial profiling of African Americans continues unabated.”

Milan Balinton

Milan Balinton, the executive director of the African American Community Service Agency, confronted more than one barrier growing up. Facing a learning disorder and growing up in poverty, Balinton decided to dedicate himself to public service and education — fighting for those who are voiceless.

He learned advocacy from a young age when his grandmother introduced him to the NAACP and urged him to “give back to the community, for many have sacrificed so that we could be free, and you must do the same.”‍ Those words still guide him today.

Balinton is also a trustee on the Franklin-McKinley School Board and is involved with the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet. He was the 2016 winner of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 People’s Choice Award.

Nicole Taylor

Nicole Taylor is the CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the largest charitable foundation in the United States.

Taylor joined the foundation at a critical moment: It had just lost its former CEO amid a scandal that involved misconduct by top leadership. Taylor jumped in headfirst to restore trust and rebuild values at the power philanthropic organization. She met with nonprofit partners to learn more how the foundation can open doors for marginalized communities.

Taylor herself is no stranger to hardship. She’s the daughter of an immigrant mother who came to the U.S. without an education and went on to become an educator in Oakland’s public school system. Her previous roles include serving as Stanford University’s dean of community engagement and diversity and CEO of the East Bay Community Foundation.

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is a social justice advocate, businesswoman and community organizer. She started her career as a union organizer in San Jose and became the executive officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council in 2003 at the age of 26, which boasts 110 unions and more than 100,000 members.

She left the post in 2009 to lead D.C.-based Green For All, an anti-poverty organization founded by national news personality Van Jones. Currently, she serves as co-founder and CEO of Promise, a company reworking the bail system.

San Jose Magazine named Ellis-Lamkins one of the 100 most powerful people in Silicon Valley. She was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the 25 most Powerful Americans by Ebony Magazine.

Regina Celestin Williams

Regina Williams grew up in low-income housing in Richmond. She knows firsthand the importance of affordable, stable and safe housing for all — and now she’s working to ensure others have it. In 2021, Williams became the executive director of Silicon Valley at Home, a nonprofit that advocates for policies to increase the supply of affordable housing.

Williams was inspired by a “transformative” affordable housing class at Stanford, prompting her to pivot from engineering and making it her life’s goal to advance the housing movement. She previously served as the director of housing development for First Community Housing. In 2019, Williams was named one of the area’s 40 Under 40 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Her husband, Jahmal, is also a respected community leader. He is the co-chair of the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet and San Jose State University’s director of advocacy for racial justice.

Rick Callender

Three years ago, Rick Callender broke barriers by becoming the first Black man to lead the Santa Clara Valley Water District — the area’s largest water supplier. It was a dream for a man who worked his way up the ranks at the organization since 1996.

Callender, an attorney and longtime community leader, serves as president of the California-Hawaii chapter of the NAACP. In that role, he helps oversee 74 branches and youth units of the association to help ensure racial justice and equality.

“When fighting for justice, it’s important to remember that it’s both a marathon and a sprint at the same time,” he told California Black Media.

Ricks mother, Norma Callender was, also a civil rights leader in the San Jose community.

Rosalyn Hughey

Rosalynn Hughey broke barriers both in a development industry dominated by men — as well as racial barriers by becoming the first Black city department head in San Jose in 2021. Today, she serves as a deputy city manager in America’s 10th largest city.

Hughey, who previously ran the city’s massive planning department, grew up watching her dad — a contractor — build homes from the ground up. While juggling one of the hardest jobs at San Jose City Hall, Hughey worked to address citywide injustices and focus on improving neighborhoods. She’s spent more than three decades as an urban planner in a field often dominated by white men. Hughey is also credited with kickstarting conversations about race and equity within the city.

Tony Alexander

Tony Alexander is no stranger to San Jose politics. He served as a leader in San Jose’s labor movement spanning decades with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, leading its minority coalition. An East San Jose product, he served on the Alum Rock Union School Board and was appointed and reelected to the San Jose Evergreen Community College Board last year. He also started his own political consulting venture, JW Consulting in 2015.

Alexander is the president of the Silicon Valley African American Democratic Coalition and past president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP.

His wife, Linda Stuckey-Alexander, has also been a force in local politics and leads Democratic Activists of Women Now (DAWN) and his parents, Charles “Chuck” and Saphrona Alexander, were longtime community activists in San Jose.

Walter Wilson

Walter Wilson, a partner of the Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, has for years fought for equal treatment of Black and minority-owned businesses.

He believes stopping displacement of Black residents in San Jose requires creating economic resources for small businesses and communities. Wilson is a project manager for the Silicon Valley African American Cultural Center Project, which provides health services, retail options, housing and cultural representation to the county’s Black community.

“Without economic opportunity and economic growth, you can’t build your household,” Wilson told San Jose Spotlight. “You can’t build your community and you definitely won’t have the opportunities for your kids to do better.”

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Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

Published

15 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Oakland Post

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An Inside Look into How San Francisco Analyzes Homeless Encampments

Dozens of unhoused people are camped at Sixth and Jesse streets in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. Tents made of tarps and blankets, piles of debris, and people lounging alongside the allies and walls of businesses are seen from all angles. These are some of the city’s hotspots. City crews have cleared encampments there over 30 times in the past year, but unhoused people always return.

Published

3 days ago

November 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Since the ruling of Grants Pass by the US Supreme Court earlier this summer, which allows cities the authority to ban people from camping or sleeping on the streets, San Francisco has been at the head of the conversation to crack down on encampments.

By Magaly Muñoz

These are some of the city’s hotspots. City crews have cleared encampments there over 30 times in the past year, but unhoused people always return.

But it’s normal to have tents set up again within less than 24 hours after an encampment sweep, David Nakanishi, Healthy Streets Operation Center Manager at the Department of Emergency Management, says. Sometimes there’s less people than before but often there is also no change.

“Most of the people that were in the encampments that want to go inside, we’ve gotten the majority of those [into shelter],” Nakanishi says. “Many of the people we encounter now, are those who have various reasons to not accept shelter, and some are already in shelter/housing”.

Where neighboring cities in the Bay Area are clearing encampments a few days a week, San Francisco is sweeping 10 times a week, two per weekday.

David Nakanishi, Healthy Streets Operation Center Manager at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, makes a 311 report on an encampment in the Mission District. These reports allow smaller city teams to tackle individual spots where unhoused people frequent. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Considering the controversy that plagues the city around its harsh policies, the Post decided to tag along on a ride with Nakanishi to show us how he decides what encampments make it on the city’s sweep list.

Nakanishi, having over 20 years of experience in homelessness management, drives around the busiest parts of the city almost daily. He’s tasked with arranging a weekly sweeping operation schedule for city teams to engage with unhoused folks to help get them off the streets.

So what exactly is he looking out for when deciding what encampments get swept?

It depends, he says.

Locations like schools, recreational centers, senior centers, or businesses are places he tends to want to address quickly, especially schools. These are the places where the complaints are highest and access to facilities is important for residents.

He says he also takes into account 311 calls and reports made to him by city staff. On the date of publication, over 100 calls and reports were made about encampments around the city, according to San Francisco data.

Makeshift structures built from plywood and tarps are starting to pop up more throughout the city. Certain areas under freeways are not under direct authority from San Francisco, making it harder to sweep these encampments. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Nakanishi made a few 311 reports himself on the ride along, pulling over to take photos and describe the encampments into his 311 app. He says it helps him remember where to possibly sweep next or allows smaller teams in the city to engage quicker with individuals on the streets.

Nakanishi also looks at the state of the encampments. Are there a lot of bulky items, such as furniture, or makeshift structures built out of tarps and plywood, blocking areas of traffic? Is trash beginning to pile up and spill into the streets or sidewalks? Sites that meet this criteria tend to be contenders for encampment sweeps, Nakanishi says.

Street by street, he points out individuals he’s interacted with, describing their conditions, habits, and reasons for denying assistance from the city.

One man on 2nd St and Mission, who rolls around a blue recycling bin and often yells at passing pedestrians, has refused shelter several times, Nakanishi says.

People deny shelter for all kinds of reasons, he says. There’s too many rules to follow, people feel unsafe in congregate or shared shelters, or their behavioral and mental health problems make it hard to get them into proper services.

Inside a tent left by an unhoused man on Stevenson and 14th Street in San Francisco. The area smelled of human waste and leftover alcohol. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Nakanishi references another man on South Van Ness under the freeway, who city outreach have attempted to get into shelter, but his screaming outbursts make it difficult to place him without disturbing other people in the same space. Nakanishi says it might be an issue of the man needing resources like medication to alleviate his distress that causes the screaming, but the city behavioral team is in the process of outreaching him to figure that out.

In October, city outreach teams engaged with 495 unhoused people. 377 of those engaged refused shelter and only 118 accepted placements, according to city data. That number of monthly referrals is consistent throughout the entirety of 2024 so far.

Nakanishi has long advocated for the well-being of unhoused people, he explains. In 2004, he was working with the Department of Public Health and told then-Mayor Gavin Newsom that there needed to be more housing for families. Nakinishi was told it was easier to deal with individuals first and the city “will get there eventually.” 20 years later, family housing is still not as extensive as it could be, and the waiting list to get placements for families is a mile long with over 500 names.

In 2020, he was a Senior Behavioral Health Clinician at a hotel in the city during the pandemic. He says in 2021 he collaborated with DPH to provide vaccines to those staying in the makeshift hotel shelters once those became available.

Nakanishi strips apart a solo tent on Stevenson and 14th Street in San Francisco. He discards items, like tarps and cardboard, so that people cannot reuse them to make another sleeping structure. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Despite the constant media attention that city outreach is inhumanely treating homeless people, so much so that it has led to lawsuits against San Francisco from advocates, Nakanishi says not a lot of people are seeing the true conditions of some encampments.

He describes soiled clothing and tents, drenched in urine, and oftentimes rodents or bug infestations in places where people are sleeping. He’s asked homeless advocates- often those who are the most critical about the city’s work- who have shown up to observe the sweeps if those are conditions the city should allow people to be subjected to, but not many have answers for him, Nakanishi says.

The city’s “bag and tag” policy allows city workers to throw away items that are “soiled by infectious materials” such as bodily fluids and waste.

Sweep operations are conducted at 8am and 1pm Monday through Friday. People at the encampments are given 72 hour notice to vacate, but some don’t leave the area until the day of the sweep.

City outreach workers come out the day before and day of to offer resources and shelter to those interested. The Department of Public Works discards any trash that is left over from the sweep and washes down the area.

Nakanishi told the Post that the only time the city takes tents or personal possessions from residents is when folks become physically violent towards workers and police take the items as evidence. Other items taken are bagged and tagged in accordance with city policy.

Stories from local newspapers such as the San Francisco Standard and the Chronicle show instances of SFPD handcuffing residents while their items are thrown in the trash or disposing of personal possessions without reason.

Advocates have long been pushing for a more competent and compassionate process if the city is going to choose to continue sweeping unhouse people.

No matter the lawsuits and constant criticisms from allies, the encampment sweeps are not slowing down, even with the cold weather quickly approaching the coastal city.

Nakanishi says there aren’t a lot of large encampments left in San Francisco so now they do runs of streets in order to stretch out the sweeps as much as possible.

It’s calculated strategies and years of first hand knowledge that make this job work, “It takes dedication to the work, caring for the people and the community, and persistence, patience and sometimes good luck to make the positive changes for the people on the street,” Nakanishi says.