Honorees
Shanti Brien
Shanti Brien is an educator, writer, and advocate for criminal justice reform and equity. She has been an attorney for 20 years, dedicating her career to criminal justice reform, advocacy for the incarcerated, and civil rights litigation. For six years Shanti has been a professor and teacher, with a specialty in developing and leading interactive educational experiences for adults. She is a founding partner of Fogbreak Justice, an education and consulting company for civic leaders, law enforcement and other criminal justice stakeholders.
Shanti is a Visiting Professor of Practice at the Lokey Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at Mills College. Her courses focus on creating social justice through the law including criminal justice reform and gender equity. Shanti writes and speaks about social justice issues, criminal law and policy, implicit bias, and diversity and inclusion to professionals, community groups and schools throughout the bay area. She contributes to Ms. JD: Determined to Rise, a resource for women law students and young lawyers, as well as the Exedra, a local online newspaper. Shanti is an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She grew up in California and now lives in the East Bay with her family.
Dr. Shakti Butler
Shakti Butler, PhD, visionary, filmmaker, transformative learning educator, wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many - is President and Founder of World Trust Educational Services, Inc., a non-profit transformative educational organization. Rooted in love and justice, World Trust produces films, curricula, workshops and programs that are catalysts for institutional, structural and cultural change. Shakti is an inspirational speaker, facilitator, trainer and lecturer who is sought after by schools, universities, public and private organizations, and faith-based institutions.
Dr. Butler has produced five documentaries. The first four form the core of World Trust's teaching tools and have experienced increased exposure - over 30 million views of one clip alone -- generating national dialogue and critical thinking that is impacting institutions and communities across the country. These are The Way Home; Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible; Light in the Shadows and Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity. In 2017 Shakti premiered Healing Justice, intended to popularize a national conversation about justice, healing, and the youth-to-prison pipeline. Dr. Butler also served as diversity consultant and advisor on the Oscar-winning Disney animated film, Zootopia, which focuses on challenging bias and systemic inequity. Shakti's work incorporates whole body learning through stories, art, movement and dialogue.
Misha Olivas
Misha Olivas is a San Francisco native who strives to help young people use their cultural identity and natural resilience, along with their personal and community history to become agents of change for themselves, their families and their communities. As a child, her Mom supported parents at SFUSD, her Dad was very active in bay area soccer and both parents worked hard to support cultural events and organizations in the Mission. Service and involvement in the community has always been an expectation and ethos for her family. Misha is currently the Director of Community and Family Engagement for United Playaz, a violence prevention and leadership development organization committed to providing young people with positive role models and activities to engage in as an alternative to involvement with gangs, drugs and other high-risk behaviors. A proud mother of four, Misha is committed to helping youth realize the importance of giving back to their community and embodying the United Playaz motto "It takes the hood to save the hood".
Peggy Orenstein
Peggy Orenstein is the author, most recently, of Don't Call Me Princess: Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life. Her other books include The New York Times best-sellers Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Waiting for Daisy as well as Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love and Life in a Half-Changed World and the classic SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap.
A contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, Peggy has also written for such publications as The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, Elle, Time, Mother Jones, Slate, O: The Oprah Magazine, New York and The New Yorker, and has contributed commentaries to NPR's All Things Considered and the PBS News Hour. Her articles have been anthologized multiple times, including in The Best American Science Writing. She has been a keynote speaker at numerous colleges and conferences and has been featured on, among other programs, Nightline, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, NPR's Fresh Air and Morning Edition. Her TED Talk, "What Young Women Believe About Their Own Sexual Pleasure," has been viewed over 2.8 million times.
The Columbia Journalism Review named Peggy one of its "40 women who changed the media business in the past 40 years." She has been recognized for her "Outstanding Coverage of Family Diversity," by the Council on Contemporary Families and received Books For A Better Life Awards for both Girls & Sex and Waiting for Daisy. Her work has also been honored by the Commonwealth Club of California, the National Women's Political Caucus of California and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Additionally, she has been awarded fellowships from the United States-Japan Foundation and the Asian Cultural Council and been a grateful resident at Mesa Refuge and the UCross Foundation.
Musical Guest
Rozz Nash
ROZZ NASH is a classically trained vocalist, musician, and choreographer and has been a dance and music instructor in New York City and the Bay Area for over 25 years. She has directed and choreographed musicals and dance works for various organizations, dance studios, and higher learning institutions, mostly in the New York City area. Now that Rozz has relocated back to her native Bay Area she she is the artistic/executive director of a new performing and visual arts conservatory called The People's Conservatory in Oakland. She is an international touring artist and most recently has toured with her music project COULON, and her children's music project The Rozz & Val Show.
The San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center
The Green Room at the SF War Memorial & Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, CA
The Green Room, located on the second floor of the Veterans Building, echoes the building facade with five sets of glass doors opening to a russet tiled 138-foot long loggia facing City Hall. The 28-foot high ivory and gold leafed ceiling of the room is graced with five 24-lamp chandeliers. Entry alcoves lead to double doors at either end of the room and the north alcove has a built in wet-bar.
Thank You To Our Sponsors
Thank You To Our In-Kind Sponsors
California Regional Board
Julie Keshmiry, Board Chair
Lauren Babb
Tracey Briones
Hilary Chen
Annalyn Cruz
Allison Guillen-Capo
Alicia Jabbar
Michele Kwok
Devon McAllister Rothwell
Katharine Schmidtke
Monique Shields
National Board of Directors
Joyce DeLucca, Board Chair
Jason Baeten
Resa Caivano
Anna Fieler
Coni Frezzo
Julie Keshmiry
Maria Kiskis
Regina Manzana-Sawhney
Danielle Merida
Mala Singh
Regan Solmo
Amie Thuener
Girls Leadership Team
Mia Arakaki
Marla Cole
Simone Marean
Laura Martinez
Maria Temporal
Takai Tyler
Marissa Viray
Event Planner
Amanda Cox
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