Our Team + Board

Get to know our staff and board of directors.

Team Members

Yolo Akili Robinson

Yolo Akili Robinson (he/him)

Founder and Executive Director

Yolo Akili Robinson is an award-winning writer, healing justice worker, yogi and the founder and Executive Director of BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective). Yolo has worked primarily in three areas: Batterers intervention/family counseling with Black men and boys, HIV/AIDS, and healing justice/wellness. In 2018, Yolo was awarded the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "Health Equity Award" for his work. He was also featured at the 2020 BET Awards as an "Empowerful Spotlight," highlighting his work facilitating the vision of BEAM. His writings and work have appeared on Shondaland, GQ, Women's Health, USA Today, Vice, BET, Huffington Post, Cassius, Ebony, Everyday Feminisms and more. He is the author of the social justice themed affirmation book, "Dear Universe: Letters of Affirmation & Empowerment for All of Us" (Michael Todd Books, 2016) and a contributor to Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown's anthology on Black vulnerability and shame resilience, "You are Your Best Thing" (2021, Random House Books).

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Dayo Akinyemi (she/her)

Director of Communications

Dayo is a listener and a health communicator whose main goal is to make health information accessible and relevant to different audiences, particularly communities of color. She believes that meaningful communications honor the lived experiences of those you are communicating with. Her work has included managing the communications for a large, NIH-funded study focused on queer men of color, and garnering media interest for health and science at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dayo is an avid reader, and primarily reads books authored by women of color. One of her favorite authors is Octavia E. Butler.

shanna avery

Shanna Avery (she/her)

HR & Culture Manager

With close to 10 years of experience in the Human Resources sector, Shanna has extensive experience in creating cultures of collaboration, implementing change to achieve workforce excellence, and providing HR support in every aspect. Shanna received her undergraduate at Devry University in Business Administration and her MBA at Keller Graduate School of Management in HR Management. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and shopping. 

Khadijah R. Barber

Khadijah R. Barber (she/her)

Executive Administrator

Khadijah has two years of experience working as a part of an Executive Administrative Support Team for a non-profit and well over 10 years of experience providing administrative support in various capacities. She has also served as an entrepreneur working with her family business, providing support with marketing, expense reporting, scheduling, and data entry. Khadijah brings passion to structure and enjoys creating processes that support growth. She has BA in psychology and a PhD in LIFE — living, learning, unlearning and learning anew. She enjoys reading, traveling with her family, and creating spaces that support calmness, relaxation and healing, specifically for Black women.

Skye Barclay

Skye Barclay (she/her)

Communications Coordinator

Skye is a social media and communications specialist. She is committed to amplifying voices in the Black community and spreading mental health resources to communities of color. After over half a decade of working on numerous wide-reaching marketing campaigns, she has developed a community-oriented approach for creating meaningful content that resonates with people. In her free time, she can be found traveling the world, learning different languages, and roller skating. Skye holds a B.F.A. in Film & Television from Chapman University where she minored in Advertising.

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Joëlle Dussek (Lï)

Programs Manager

Joëlle, is a hybrid notion walking through life. Half Haitian, half African American, half from the South - New Orleans, half from the North - New York City. Lï is a Somatic Psychologist as well as a television producer. Lï enjoys travel and dancing to any and all African and Aboriginal genres of music.

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Richard Ford III (he/him)

Graphic Designer

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Richard Ford III (RF3RD) works as a visual artist in New York City. Holding a BFA in Illustration from Columbia College Chicago, his work is influenced by the aesthetics of anime and manga, which he compliments with his background in graffiti/ street art, giving his work attitude, dimension, color, and personality. Richard’s work ranges from collaborative large scale murals for Naomi Osaka (Bodyarmor SuperDrink) to animated illustrations for Universal Music Japan’s Wagakki Band (Sakura Rising).

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Donnie Hue Frazier III (he/him)

Community Engagement Specialist

Donnie Hue Frazier III is an actor, filmmaker, creative director, and public health consultant. Having earned a degree in Sociology and Psychology with a concentration in Human Services, Donnie Hue has worked in the field of Public Health as a consultant for organizations serving the LGBTQ+ community. Donnie's primary scopes of focus in this work are sexual health, prevention, and mental health. Donnie is also the founder of Shades of Hue LLC, which was developed as a production company for cultural entertainment, community engagement, and creative consulting purposes.

Noelle Folden-McDowell_

Noelle Folden-McDowell (she/her)

Director of Finance

Noelle is an Accounting/Finance superstar with over 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She is committed to uplifting equality for the Black community, and creating work environments where we all have a seat at the table. She received her undergraduate degree at DeVry University in Business/Accounting, and her MBA at Keller Graduate School of Management. During her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family.

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Davonte M. Green (he/him)

Community Facilitation Manager

Davonte Green has a proven commitment to working to support the progression of Black people and the communities in which we live. His work includes serving in under-resourced, low-performing schools in South Los Angeles, founding a leadership network and consultancy for inspired Black men, and facilitating an entrepreneurial curriculum within Southern California state prisons. Additionally, he has experience working with local universities to recruit high-quality student success coaches, raising funds to support the homeless epidemic in LA County, and consulting for and speaking for the Department of Children and Family Services.

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Keonna Knight (she/her)

Facilitation Manager

Keonna Knight is a liberation coach, wellness educator, and facilitator of leadership trainings centered around healing, radical imagination, and liberation. She utilizes her background as an elementary school teacher, counselor and community-based yoga and mindfulness instructor to make wellness and healing culturally relevant, practical and approachable for Black and underserved communities. In addition to serving as the Facilitation Manager at BEAM, she partners with The WELLS Healing Center to provide sliding scale fee counseling to Black womxn and queer and transgender people of color. She also serves as the CEO of Heal with Keonna, where she offers one-on-one coaching and community-engaged workshops to Black womxn and change makers seeking support on their healing and liberation journeys.

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Kishanna Laurie (she/her)

Research & Curriculum Consultant

Kishanna is a bibliophile and lexophile, and as a lover and student of books and words, she has served as a teacher and librarian for over 20 years. Kishanna discovered that what she enjoys most about teaching is supporting others through their process of self-discovery and self-reflection. Kishanna is also a healer and an intuitive, and has the honor of being a Usui Reiki Level II Practitioner. She is currently pursuing her 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training and a certificate in Health + Wellness Coaching.

Allen Lipscomb

Allen Lipscomb, Psy.D., LCSW (he/him)

Facilitator

Dr. Allen Lipscomb is an Associate Professor and Director of Online and Offsite MSW Programs as well as Director of Minority Male Mentoring (M3) and Student Success Allies (SSA) program at California State University Northridge in the Department of Social Work. Dr. Lipscomb is a clinical psychologist by highest degree earned and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of California. Dr. Lipscomb received his doctorate in Psychology (Psy.D.) with a clinical emphasis in marriage, family and child psychotherapy from Ryokan College and his Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Southern California.

Jason Mitchell

Jason Mitchell (he/him)

Facilitator

Jason Daveon Mitchell is an Asst. Minister at Agape International Spiritual Center, where he manages the prayer ministry, guides the Practitioner Core and is the director for Agape’s Sacred Service Ministry. His years working with at-risk youth and children in the juvenile justice system; and serving in the heart of Los Angeles’ Skid Row Community providing direct services, informed his vision of humanity’s beauty, power and love. For more than 20 years, through teaching, spiritual counseling, speaking, facilitating workshops and for 10 years with Our Daily Prayer Call — a morning devotional session where people from around the world gather in prayer, affirming and inspiring each other — Jason has devoted himself to anchoring a field where all are invited to awaken to the Truth of who they are; liberating ourselves and courageously living this truth without apology! 

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Shawn J. Moore (he/him)

Facilitator

Shawn has worked in higher education and student affairs for over 10 years, specializing in leadership development, training/program design, and workshop facilitation – with a particular focus on diverse populations.  Reckoning with his own contemplation of burnout, purpose, and alignment, Shawn transitioned out of his role as Associate Dean of Student Life & Leadership at Morehouse College in the fall of 2021 to focus more on mindfulness and stillness-based training programs and workshops. 

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Meag-gan O'Reilly, Ph.D. (she/her)

Facilitator

Dr. Meag-gan O’Reilly is a licensed Psychologist, self-worth expert, DEI Consultant, and the Co-founder of Inherent Value Psychology INC. She previously served as a Staff Psychologist and Coordinator of Outreach Equity and Inclusion at Stanford University where she created the first satellite clinic for Black undergraduate and graduate students and co-created the Outreach and Social Justice Seminar in 2016, which trains clinicians to be culturally conscious and justice-oriented. Dr. O’Reilly has taken the TEDx stage and is the creator of therapeutic Healing Circles for Black employees in partnership with companies such as Google, The San Francisco Ballet, Virgin Pulse, and the United Negro College Fund STEM Scholars Program. Her research and writings focuses on social justice, and she is the author of Systems Centered Language: A Necessity to Speaking Truth to Power During COVID-19 and Confronting Racism.

Natalie Patterson_

Natalie Patterson (she/her)

Interim Director of Training & Programs

Natalie can best be identified as a Teaching Artist, she uses her dynamic range of expertise to masterfully make tangible abstract concepts. Natalie has the unique ability to bridge one’s personal experiences with the larger cultural occurrences using art, performance and custom workshops. Over the last 18 years, Natalie has crafted time-tested approaches to fostering cultures of growth, curiosity, compassion, and integrity. As a poet and educator, she has worked extensively in non-profit, higher education and with major brands like Sephora, Uproxx, The United Way, Summit, Darling Magazine, Adidas Women, TASTEMADE and SoulPancake. She speaks her mind, from inspiration to social justice she is equally inspired.

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C.J. Robinson (he/him)

Graphic Designer

C.J. Robinson is an art director, designer, and illustrator from Atlanta, GA, currently based in Brooklyn. He received his BFA from Syracuse University where he studied Communications Design. He specializes in creative direction, editorial illustration, brand strategy, and visual identity, and also has passion for fashion and music, which influences his work. His work has been featured in GQ, Esquire, Oprah Daily, and NBC.

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Uzo Seymour (they/he)

Social Media Coordinator

Uzo is a social media strategist fixated on the ways in which we communicate with the world and assert our identities within it. Their work as a musician and voice among Black gender non-conforming people has lead to an ever-growing presence on TikTok and features with Folx, NPR, HER and the Chicago Tribune. The success of their personal brand led them into a career in social media consulting for comedy troupes, wellness influencers and artists, with the belief that everybody has a story to tell and the ability to reach the masses. Outside of work, Uzo is a massive UK Hip Hop head, cat dad and Bollywood film enthusiast.

Board of Directors

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Martine Seiden Agatston

Tax Associate, Proskauer Rose LLP

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Vignetta Charles, PhD, MPH
Board Chair

Chief Executive Officer, ETR

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Nicole Clark, LMSW

Nicole Clark Consulting, LLC

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Angela Knudson, MPH

Community Impact Lead, AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah

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Dannielle Thomas, MA
Board Secretary

Chief Operations Officer, Social Insights Research

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Nick Washington, CPA
Board Treasurer

Vice President, Corporate Accounting Policies, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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