Margie de Ruyter is a coordinator with the San Diego County Office of Education’s College and Career Readiness department, providing career technical education support to K12 school districts and the County’s Juvenile Court and Community Schools. She participates on the community college regional consortium’s Strong Workforce Program workgroups to help inform priorities and goals for K-12 funding and provides support to the College and Career Readiness team in developing strategies to enhance and develop career pathways for K-12 districts. In addition, Margie has over 20 years of experience in the administration and oversight of workforce development funds for the San Diego County region. She led the design, development and implementation of youth and adult workforce training programs, managed procurement processes, monitored annual performance accountability and provided workforce board support. As a consultant with the Public Consulting Group, she led projects within the public workforce development domain, providing subject matter expertise to state and regional clients, designing and implementing best practice solutions. Margie is a workforce development coach for CA Workforce Development Board’s Workforce Accelerator Fund grantees. Margie currently serves on the board of YouthWill and Harmonium Inc. She has a B.A. in Human Services Administration from Springfield College, an Executive Management Certificate from UCLA, and will complete her MPA from Univ of Mass Global in June 2021. Margie enjoys travel and exploring the outdoors hiking throughout SD county.

Desjonae Hixon is a 23 year San Diego native currently attending college full-time studying Fine Arts. She currently is working for herself in her small business selling art and resin crafts locally and through Etsy. Desjonae is a self-taught artist with the hopes of combining her love of art with her passion for youth empowerment. Through her first-hand experiences, she wishes to share her insights with those who may be struggling with violence, homelessness, and neglect. For a few years now she has been more involved with her community committed to advocacy for homeless youth and education in her surrounding areas.

Trial Attorney Irving Pedroza has dedicated his life to helping people overcome adversity. Irving practices in courts all over the State of California, litigating hundreds of cases involving personal injury, bad faith insurance, civil rights, and consumer class action. He has recovered millions of dollars for his clients. Irving was born in Guerrero, Mexico from humble beginnings. At the age of six his parents immigrated to the United States, to Escondido, where he grew up. Irving’s family struggled with poverty, mental health disorders, and domestic violence. As a result of his upbringing, Irving has dedicated his life to helping others, through the justice system, or during his spare time through peer-mentor programs. Irving was the first in his family to attend college. After College, he obtained his Juris Doctorate from California Western School of Law. Irving is a relentless and passionate advocate for his community. Aside from YouthWill, Irving serves as a Director and Motivational Speaker with PowerMentor, a non-profit organization that focuses on developing young leaders through mentorship. Additionally, Irving sits on the board of directors for San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association.

Tareq Haidari has ten years of government and non-profit sector experience. He has acted as a direct lobbyist and political organizer for nonprofit organizations focused on community development and transportation. Tareq has researched and drafted white papers on a wide range of public policy issues including juvenile criminal justice reform, public transit investment, and youth development. He has a strong understanding of the state and local legislative process, and public budget development. Tareq obtained his BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and MA in Public Administration from San Diego State (SDSU).

Formerly Executive Director of the Training and Research Institute for Residential Youth Centers in New Haven, CT; San Diego Youth and Community Services; and Watson and Associates International. Paul began his career as a youth organizer at the age of 17. He has a Master’s degree from Springfield College. He began a consultant organization in 1998 and specialized in Community Development, Youth Development, Child Welfare, and Organizational Development. He successfully completed International projects in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan), The Netherlands, Brazil, Jamaica, and Egypt. He is a national trainer in Youth Development and a member of the Community Youth Development Design Team. He was trained as an ICA Participatory Facilitator. Paul has also served as faculty at Springfield College, New School of Architecture and Design, San Diego City College, and UC San Diego. Paul has won numerous awards and has published both books and articles.

Khea Pollard is a Justice Program Manager for the National Association of Counties, County Innovations Lab, serving County governments across the United States. Khea’s work focuses on the intersection of behavioral health; criminal justice reform; and equity, supporting counties participating in NACo’s flagship initiative “Stepping Up” to reduce the number of individuals with mental illness in county jails. Prior to this role, Khea was the Health and Human Services Policy Advisor and Community Representative for County Supervisor Greg Cox, advising the Supervisor on issues pertaining to children and youth, child welfare, juvenile justice, safety net and eligibility programs, behavioral health and the County Probation Department. She coordinated the Neighborhood Reinvestment and Community Enhancement grant programs on behalf of Supervisor Cox, allocating millions of dollars to community-based organizations over the course of six years. A native San Diegan, Khea graduated from the University of San Diego (USD) with a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies. She held multiple leadership positions during her time at USD and is a recipient of the prestigious Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges, an award recognizing academic excellence, leadership in extracurricular activities, citizenship and services to the school, and potential for future achievement. She obtained her master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at the University of San Diego and has worked on numerous nonprofit consulting projects in the areas of finance, strategic planning, civic engagement, human resources and more. Khea’s passion project is her coffee shop co-owned by her and her mother, Cynthia Ajani. Café X: By Any Beans Necessary’s mission is to build a sacred space that nurtures Black cultural heritage in San Diego while creating generational wealth for its members and surrounding community. Blending advocacy with organizational precision, Café X is connecting people throughout the San Diego region, developing a shared vision to improve the quality of life in marginalized communities – one cup of coffee at a time. Khea also serves on the Executive Committee of the Black Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (BWILD) and is a proud RISE Urban Leadership Program Alumni.