Renee Smith-Maddox, Ph.D. has built a formidable career with several non-profits and higher education institutions. She’s an equity-minded practitioner, strategist, anti-trafficking advocate, champion of empowerment and leadership initiatives for women and girls and a venture catalyst committed to helping organizations and visionary leaders transform to meet the demands of social change.
She is currently a clinical teaching professor and Diversity Liaison for the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. She teaches online and on-ground courses in the Master of Social Work and Doctor of Social Work programs in areas such as social change and innovation, organizational development, and Capstone Projects focusing on the Grand Challenges of Social Work.
Dr. Smith-Maddox’s extensive knowledge in designing and managing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives is informed by her experience as a facilitator, professional coach, an education analyst in the NYC Board of Education, an executive director of youth development initiatives and college access programs, and a teacher researcher with inquiry-based research projects in K-12 schools.
She also designs DEI Learning Labs as problem-solving spaces for leadership teams, administrators, students, staff, and faculty to address implicit bias and microaggressions and to reconceptualize a more diverse, just, inclusive, equitable classroom and work environment.
She previously served as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In this role, Dr. Smith-Maddox conducted the school’s climate study which included staff, students, and faculty. For five years, Dr. Smith-Maddox co-chaired USC’s DEI Awareness Week, an annual professional learning event that provided 100 sessions focusing on a range of DEI-related training sessions for students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
At the university level, she has chaired the Provost’s Diversity and Inclusion Council, led the DEI strategic planning process for 23 academic units, and co-chaired the Academic Senate’s Campus Climate Committee. Dr. Smith-Maddox has also conducted document analyses on hiring practices, faculty diversity, and DEI initiatives in higher education.
She holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy and Master’s degree in the Management of Human Services from Brandeis University, Heller School of Social Policy and Management. She earned her BA degree in psychology at Lincoln University (in PA).

Nancy K. Hernández is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at CHLA providing trauma informed care for Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) users at no cost. Hernández is a south-central Los Angeles native of Salvadoran decent who provides culturally sensitive services in both Spanish and English. Her master's degree in social work and involvement with organizations focused on working with the immigrant community reflect her passion for immigrant rights and advocating for youth. Nancy has six years of research experience on such topics as diversity issues of equality and access to educational institutions among undocumented youth, and the effects of housing on homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and chemical dependency. Nancy has over 10 years of clinical experience surrounding adolescents, substance use treatment, and u assistance for unaccompanied immigrant minors. Dedicated to assisting underserved communities, Hernández strives to continue her career working in the community that helped her become who she is today. She hopes to empower others to create social change and fight for equity as others have done for her.

Dr. Bridgid Mariko Conn is a board-certified child and adolescent psychologist in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (DAYAM) at Children's Hospital Los Angeles who specializes in working with gender diverse youth and young people who have experienced complex trauma. She is also an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California. She presently serves as a co-chair for the Anti-Racism Ad Hoc Committee at the DAYAM. Her clinical and research work focuses on centering and amplifying the voices of marginalized and minoritized communities of adolescents and young adults to address disparities in mental health, substance use, and experiences of minority stress.

Carrie Mounier, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working across multiple programs at the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. For over 20 years, she has developed expertise in providing clinical services to youth and young adults with a high degree of clinical complexity. Specialties include: Young people experiencing homelessness, LGBTQIA+ youth, Youth with complex trauma, serious mental illness, and co-occurring substance use disorder. Mounier supervises clinicians and trainees in the Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Program, providing clinical guidance and resource development. For many years she has been coordinating the social work internship training program at the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, providing structured training opportunities to masters-level social work students and pre-doctoral level psychology students. Since 2017 she has been the Social Work Clinical Faculty for the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In this capacity she teaches and trains students in medicine, nursing, nutrition, social work, and psychology to be clinicians and leaders in the field of adolescent health. A goal of this work is to increase trainee/ provider capacity to understand and use Structural Competency to recognize, address, and counterbalance the effects of structural racism. Current areas of interest include: Medication-Assisted Treatment for youth and young adults with opiate use disorders, Interdisciplinary Practice, using EMDR and Neurofeedback to address complex trauma in community mental health, and integrating Structural Competency in all aspects of clinical training. She is a passionate advocate for youth and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Saba Mwine (She/Her/Hers) is the managing director of the Homelessness Policy Research Institute, a collaborative of over seventy researchers and policymakers that accelerate equitable and culturally informed solutions to homelessness in Los Angeles County by advancing knowledge and fostering transformational partnerships between research, policy, and practice. She has over 16 years of experience spearheading projects throughout the nation that measure, investigate and enforce equal access to housing based on multiple protected classes. Saba played numerous roles, from project designer and civil rights investigator to management consultant and educator. In her more recent tenure at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), she established CSH’s first racial equity initiatives via fundraising, designing grant programming, developing and delivering transformative learnings, and guiding community initiatives. Saba is a classically trained actor and holds a master’s of fine arts in theatre; she is committed to the performing arts as a tool for healing racial trauma and shaping community spaces. In California and nationally, Saba is a prominent voice in the movement to establish racism and white supremacy culture as the most major and least examined cause and perpetuator of homelessness.

As managing director of the Homeless Policy Research Institute, Saba is responsible for advancing the Institute’s strategic vision to accelerate equitable and culturally informed solutions to homelessness and serves as the lead staff person for all HPRI activities, including conducting and supervising rapid response research, RFP services, and research translation. Additionally, Saba supports the implementation of HPRI’s research agenda and works in close leadership with HPRI’s Race Equity Committee and other stakeholders to establish equity frameworks for key areas of the HPRI’s work. She is also responsible for planning and producing HPRI research symposia and other events and helps conduct policy outreach at the local, state, and national levels.

Reba Stevens is dedicated to using her real experience to advocate for people who are homeless and residents who need/use mental health services in Los Angeles County. She is committed to ensuring responsive, accessible services to those most in need.

Prior to a mental illness diagnosed and beginning her road to recovery, Ms. Stevens lived on and off the streets of Los Angeles for 21 years. She recalls the fears and trauma of being homeless; the overwhelming depression, stress, anxiety, feelings of shame, remorse and complete demoralization. She found comfort in alcohol and other drugs. Her understanding of the Mental Health & Criminal Justice system in L.A. County, her experience, knowledge, and empathy for unhoused people, deeply inform her unwavering conviction that solutions must be based on an individual’s needs and experiences. Ms. Stevens pursues these solutions relentlessly.

Today Ms. Stevens is a fierce advocate. Her goal, assuring policies and programs serve homeless people and those in need of mental health & substance abuse services by addressing long neglected and now dire needs. Through service on key leadership bodies in Los Angeles County, she is the voice of those who need help, often the only voice speaking from “real life experience” and actual use of the key systems under review.

Ms. Stevens is an appointee to the following governmental advisory bodies:

Los Angeles County, Health Agency Integration Advisory board (IAB), 2015 -2018;
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Homeless Advisory Board, 2015 - present;
Los Angeles Regional Homeless Advisory Council, (RHAC), 2017 - present;
Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Service Area, 6 Advisory Committee, 2009 - present;
Los Angeles City, LA Door Housing Committee, 2016 - 2019;
Los Angeles City, Mayor’s Homeless Cabinet, 2016-2020;
Los Angeles City & County Office of Diversion and Reentry Prop 47 Steering Committee, 2017 - present;
LAHSA Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness, 2018 - present;
Los Angeles County, Department of Mental Health Commission, 2018 – present;
Project RoomKey - The 100 Day Challenge May 2020;
Los Angeles County, HIV Commission, 2021;
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Continuum of Care Board, 2021;
LGBT South Community Advisory Board, 2019 – present;
SPA 6 Homeless Coalition, member, 2015 – present;
Measure J- Care First Community Investment Community, Advisory Committee 9-21-Present.

In 2017, as an appointee to Los Angeles County’s Measure H Revenue Planning Committee Process sessions, she regularly testified at the County Board of Supervisors and LAHSA Board of Commissioners to support ending homelessness. As a mental health consumer of LA County Department of Mental Health (DMH) since 1999, sobriety date July 11, 1998, she is adept at finding ways for improving systems, structures, and services for all. Her advocacy has received coverage in print and broadcast media:

Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Daily News
NBC Universal
LA Works
Free Your Mind Projects Radio Show, KABC-AM (AM790)
Hope on The Horizon MHSOAC News Publication
LACDMH and Jackie Lacey Discuss Jail Diversion Program
Making Sense of Measure H: Dr. Mitch Katz and Reba Stevens with Pat Prescott (94.7 The Wave)
Unsheltered… New Possibilities TEDx Crenshaw (Ted Talk)
Strategic Concepts in Organizing & Policy Education (SCOPE)
Empowerment Congress Mental Health Committee
Empowerment Congress Human Services Committee

Reba is a sought-after public speaker, her motto is:

“Hope is the Application of Humanness where there is Hopelessness, that only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”.

Renee Wyatt has 20 years of experience working with marginalized populations in Los Angeles, California as a Mental Health Therapist, Personal Service Coordinator, and Money Management Specialist.

Through lived experience she knows firsthand the difficulties of living clean/sober, locating permanent housing, and obtaining employment; realizing the impact systemic injustice plays on post-incarcerated individuals.

Her strong devotion to underserved populations inspired her to take on responsibilities such as Housing Liaison and in 2012 Renee singled handedly housed 80% of the homeless population at Barbour & Floyd Medical Associates by navigating through bureaucratic policy and procedures (her boss proudly called her Housing Guru). Her sincere passion is to change policies that create barriers for the homeless such as under-resourced neighborhoods or homeless definitions that limit access to housing for individuals with criminal histories.

Renee also has a passion for learning, with a Master’s in Social Work from California State University Dominguez Hills focusing on mental health, Bachelors of Science from California State University Dominguez Hills in Public Administration, and an Associate of Arts Degree from Long Beach Community College in Business.

Mara Ziegler, LCSW is a senior social worker at Public Counsel on the Children's Rights Project’s Transition Age Youth team. She works as part of a multidisciplinary team of lawyers and social workers to assist system-impacted youth ages 14-24 faced with legal issues that threaten their stability. Her focus is on youth who have current or former experience in foster care (particularly those who are expecting or parenting), homelessness or other trauma. She works at a local and statewide level providing direct services and policy advocacy to assure these resilient young people will be able to achieve stability and a successful transition to adulthood. Mara provides trainings to community partners on issues related to system-involved youth, trauma informed care and resiliency for professionals. Mara is also an Adjunct Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. She teaches a variety of social work practice and policy courses in the department of children, youth and families.

Sabrina Forte, Director of Policy and Impact Litigation, works with the Alliance’s policy team to develop and shepherd state, local, and federal policy efforts and lead targeted impact litigation designed to promote and protect the rights of youth in foster care. Prior to joining the Alliance, Sabrina was a staff attorney at Youth Law Center, where she engaged in legal advocacy related to transition-age youth in and exiting foster care, including advocating for extended assistance to young adults exiting foster care during the Covid-19 public health emergency. Before that, she was a staff attorney and project coordinator for Bay Area Legal Aid’s Youth Justice Project, where she worked with young people in San Francisco and the East Bay to access critical entitlements in the education, mental health, social services, juvenile probation, and child welfare systems. Sabrina has presented to state and national audiences on a range of topics including transitional housing rights and resources, the application of Continuum of Care Reform and extended foster care to probation-supervised foster youth, and the importance of civil legal aid for young people impacted by foster care, juvenile justice, and homelessness.

Sabrina earned a joint JD/MA degree from Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College. She began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Richard A. Paez on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and before law school she taught elementary school in Boston, MA.

Sarah O. Clifton is the Transition Age Youth Program Manager at the Alliance for Children’s Rights where she represents youth aging out of the foster care or juvenile justice systems to ensure that they have the knowledge, resources, and support to succeed and thrive as young, independent adults. Prior to joining the Alliance, Sarah worked in several public interest positions advocating on behalf of society’s most vulnerable individuals, including representing parents in dependency court for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, and monitoring conditions of confinement, and medical and mental health care in Los Angeles and Orange County jails as a staff attorney with the ACLU of SoCal and in California state prisons and hospitals as a Coleman monitor for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Sarah earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, followed by her LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from California Western School of Law. She externed for the Federal Defenders of San Diego and the California Innocence Project, and she was a summer law clerk for the Los Angeles County Public Defender where she engaged in her first work with juvenile clients. Sarah also worked as a summer research assistant focusing on youth gangs and gang databases. Prior to law school she earned a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Sociology, Psychology and Criminal Justice from the University of Connecticut. She began her legal career as a public defender in Massachusetts. She is admitted to practice law in state and federal courts of Massachusetts and California.