Leadership After ɫƵ: Celebrating Black Excellence Among our Alumni
In celebration of Black History Month,weڱٳܰingour incredible alumni,modern day heroes who continue to change the world.Keep reading to get to know theseincrediblealumniand learn more about the amazing work theyaredoingin their communities.
Alexis McKinney, ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2014-2015
“My year of service taught me resilience. It gave me lifelong friends and it truly showed the importance of serving others.”
Alexis McKinney is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion(DEI)Content Specialist for the. She is responsible for managing social justice content and works on planning content for cultural celebration nights and DEI staff initiatives. She graduated from Marquette with a bachelor’s degree inpublicrelations. Following thekillingof George Floyd, Alexisutilizedher voice to create change. She createdthe“” video and was a part of the Racial Injustice Task Force (RITF)at her organization.The RITF created the Racial Injustice initiative, a long-term commitment geared towards amplifying the work of non-profit organizationspushing forpolice reforms andfightingracial injustice. She also created the Black Employee Network at the Blazers andnow advisestwoofthefiveemployee resource groups in the company.
Alfredo Chavez Jr., ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2015-2016
Afterserving with ɫƵ LA,AlfredoChavez Jr.has dedicated his life to continuing to serve the students of Los Angeles.After servingwithCYLAhe started his teaching career at Larchmont Charter School as a Lead PE Teacher/ Cross-Country, Basketball, and Track‘n Field coach. Aftertwo years he transferred to KIPP ǰó Academy as the Founding PE Teacher. During thistime,he also worked as the Junior Los Angeles Lakers Coach during the summer.Alfredois currently the Physical Education teacher andathletic director at KIPPǰó Ay andwas recently featured in the for supporting students through the pandemic and finding innovative ways to keep students active!He has developed the. YouTube channel,which provides virtual access to yoga and high intensity workouts,and created thepage on Instagramto spread school spirit and keep students excited about athletics even in the virtual academic space.
Christina Broderick, LSW, ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2012-2013
Christina Broderick, LSW is the Founder and CEO of,where the mission is to provide a proactive, sustainable approach to student mental health literacy and initiatives.Through her work, she consults with schools,organizationsand individuals on increasing mental health literacy for students, training staff on implementation within instruction and creating organizational change to best increase mental health outcomes.Before becoming a social worker, Christina was on the path for medical school, going on medical school interviews during hercorpsyear. However, her intimate experience in education through ɫƵ caused her to realize her true passion was in education and filling gaps in mental health care and services for students. After hercorps year, she decided to pursue her Master’s in Social Workandcontinueworking with students in various capacities. Through these experiences, shecuratedher own company aimed to transform students from statistics to success stories through proactive mental health literacy.
Christian Entezari, ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2013-2014
“ɫƵ demonstrates that, with a foundation of idealism rooted with the support of representative role models, we can dismantle the many systems designed to keep black and brown students from thriving.”
Along with serving as the ɫƵ Los Angeles Alumni Board Chair, ChristianEntezaricontinued to work in the field of academia post ɫƵ and is currently a Senior Advisor at Fortune Schools of Education.Thearea group ofninepubliccharterschools in San Bernardino and Sacramento which boast the second and third highest Black student populations in Californiaand focused on closing the African American achievement gap. Christian also proudly serves on the boards of two other non-profit organizations:,a community partner dedicated to empowering middle & high school youth to build their confidence for college, career, and community advancement by teaching the art of storytelling, and,a club dedicated to building the leadership and power of progressive Black women Democrats throughout California.
Dre Thomas, ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2010-2011
“ɫƵ gave me the opportunity tohome in onmy passion to make a meaningful impact on young people, specifically young girls of color. I’ve always felt a calling to raise up the next generation of female leaders and I’m so thrilled to have had the chance to work, mentor, and lead in communities I called home.”
Dre Thomas is the founder of, a non-profit organization based in New York. Theorganization’smission is to adequately prepare girls for puberty and provide a space where they can be authentic and discover something new. Since their 2017 launch,Smile on Mehasprovided more than 3,000 hygiene products to girls in under-resourced communities throughout the tri-state area.During the pandemic, theylaunched a members-only clubcalled,a space where girls can thrive in their comfort zones and discover theremarkable.One of their thriving online programsis; an online conversation series wheretheytackle big topics in a tiny and intimate setting. To learn more, you can follow them onInstagram at andhear more abouttheir fullstory.
Kellee Kemp, LMFT, ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2007-2008
Kellee Kemp isthe Chief Programs Officer for,an organization thatworks with clients and partners who focus on social justice, race equity and making a deep community impact. Kellee also serves as the Director for, providing free, high-quality healing-centered and trauma-informed programming to the community.Kellee is dedicated to social justice and passionate about empowering marginalized communities fromwithin. The first-time Kellee drove down to Belize through Mexico with her family and witnessed abject poverty, she knew she had to be in a profession where she could make difference. She found her way to therapy because she believes it is important to have your experiencesreflectedto you by someone who looks like you and has shared experiences and background. She has worked mainly instudentaffairs and community mental health working alongside, Black college freshmen, LGBTQIA+ students, veterans, pregnant and parentingteensand residents in housing development projects all over Los Angeles County. Recently Kellee helped advocate for theCORPSAct, by writing anOpEdڱٳܰed in Black Voice News that shed light on the importance of mentoring programs like ɫƵ and called others to support their programming. Read herpiece.
Jessyka Ramirez-Holden, ɫƵ LA AmeriCorps member, 2010-2011
“I would not be where I am today without ɫƵ. Not only did I grow as a person,Igrew as an educational leader. City Year is important to me because ɫƵ honors young people who are usually not seen or heard, this was me as a student. Through ɫƵ I was recognized for my quiet leadership and was able to amplify student voices’ and teach them to advocate for their communities. ɫƵ fueled my passion to always create an environment in which ALL students are given the opportunity to contribute and change the world!”
Dr.JessykaRamirez-Holden is the Assistant Principal at Environmental Charter Middle School. Prior tothisJessykahadeightyears of experience teaching Englishandsocialstudies while holding teacher leadership positions as dean of student engagement, department chair, and grade level chair. As a social justice educator, her educational philosophy rests on her belief that every student is an agent of change with the academic ability to change the world. She also has a passion for community engagement, which led to involvement in her neighborhood council. As a board member, she effectively fostered community partnerships with stakeholders to leverage resources for the school community. Jessykadevelopeda monthly speaker series atherschool site, whichwas born out of honoring Black leaders inthecommunity and inviting them to speak toherstudents and share their story.To learn more, or get involved, check out thewebsite.
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