Anne-Marie Flynn

Anne-Marie Flynn is the Program Coordinator for the CRC's Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions project.  Anne-Marie was born and raised in Northern California and has lived, worked and traveled in many countries including India, Bolivia, Ecuador and El Salvador.  Prior to working for the Center for Regional Change she spent more than fifteen years working in the non-profit world and is an expert in participatory training, facilitation, and program management.  Anne-Marie has a BA in Sociology and Ethnic Studies from UCLA and a Masters Degree from UC Davis in International Agricultural Development.

Alyssa Nelson

Alyssa Nelson is the Co-Director of Youth In Focus, a non-profit intermediary organizations that supports young people to conduct youth-led participatory action research (YPAR), evaluation, and planning.  Alyssa is an advocate for social and environmental justice who earned a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of California, Davis, during which time she collaborated with multiple youth, community, and organizational partners in the Central Valley.  Her dissertation told the story of created a community mural in Knights Landing, California based on the results of a youth-led participatory action research project she helped organize.

Chris Benner

Chris Benner is an Associate Professor of Community and Regional Development, and Chair of the Community Development Graduate Group at UC Davis.  He is also a member of the Center for Regional Change's Executive Committee.  His research focuses on the relationships between technological change, regional development, and the structure of economic opportunity, focusing on regional labor markets and the transformation of work and employment patterns.  His applied policy work focuses on workforce development policy, workforce intermediaries, and strategies for promoting regional equity.

Dave Campbell

Dave Campbell is a political scientist who serves as a Cooperative Extension Specialist and as Director of the California Communities Program (CCP) in the Department of Human and Community Development at UC Davis.  He is also a member of the Center for Regional Change's Executive Committee.  His research examines the intersection between public policy and community development processes at the local level.  For the past 10 years, he has evaluated welfare-to-work and workforce development in California, including the faith-based initiative of Governor Gray Davis.  His is currently leading a research team evaluating the Sierra Health Foundation REACH youth development initiative.  That research has sparked a growing interest in creating positive bridges between the fields of community and youth development, a goal he expects the Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions project to advance.  A 20-year resident of Davis, Dr. Campbell is married to a Presbyterian minister and has a 21-year old son attending Whitman College.

Dina Okamoto

Dina Okamoto is an Associate Professor of Sociology at UC Davis.  Her research examines the social outcomes and processes related to ethnic and immigrant group integration in the U.S. She is particularly interested in understanding the conditions under which different ethnic groups cooperate, how community-based organizations shape the lives of immigrant youth, and the extent of immigrant civil and political participation in new immigrant destinations.  Dina received her PhD from the University of Arizona and she was a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in 2004-05.

Estella M. Geraghty

Este Geraghty is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine in the Division of General Medicine at UC Davis.  As a trained clinician/researcher her interests include spatial epidemiology and geographic information systems (GIS) as methodologies for understanding the interplay between health and the environment.  She teaches GIS for Health Applications as well as time management and public speaking.  Dr. Geraghty earned her MD from UC Davis in 2002 and also holds a Masters of Medical Informatics Degree and a Masters in Public Health Degree from UC Davis.  She is among the charter class of Certified in Public Health professionals.

Evan Schmidt

Evan Schmidt is current a graduate student in the Geography Graduate Group.  Her research is in youth negotiation of the build environment and participation in community development processes.  Evan has experience in facilitating youth community engagement and experiential education, and in coordinating non-profit community organizational programs.  She holds a BA in Women's Studies from the University of Kansas and a MS in Community Development from UC Davis.

Gideon Mazinga

Gideon Mazinga is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Center for Regional Change. He is conducting research on the Health Youth /Health Region program particularly in the geo-spatial and quantitative analysis.  He holds Ph.D. in Social Policy and Social Research from Loma Linda University, Master of Science in Administration in International Community Development from Andrews University, Postgraduate certificate in Health Care Finance from Boston University, Postgraduate certificate in Health Geo-informatics from Loma Linda University, and BBA from Andrews University.  Prior to joining the Center for Regional Change, Gideon worked with Loma Linda University in the Health Geo-informatics unit and in the Office of Institutional Research & Planning.  He also taught some Statistics and Research Methods courses on part time basis in the graduate school of Social Work and Social Ecology.

Gloria Rodriguez

Gloria Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor in the UC Davis School of Education. Dr. Rodriguez's interest in public policy and resource allocation issues led her to specialize in school finance reform and policy, particularly as it affects communities of color and low-income populations. Dr. Rodriguez also conducts research on school-level resources allocation practices and broader school finance policy issues, as well as the equity status of Latina/o students in the U.S.

jesikah maria ross

jesikah maria ross is an educator, media maker and community development practitioner.  She works with schools, non-governmental organizations and social action groups around the globe to create participatory media projects that generate critical literacy, civic engagement, and community change.  An award-winning media activist, jesikah's work centers on advancing social and environmental justice.  She is Co-founder and Director of UC Davis' Art of Regional Change initiative which brings artists, humanists, and social scientists together to collaborate with community partners on media projects that address pressing social issues in California's Central Valley and Sierra Nevada mountains.

Joshua Breslau

Joshua Breslau, PhD, ScD is a medical anthropologist and psychiatric epidemiologist in the Department of Internal Medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine.  His research examines social and cultural factors in the etiology of psychiatric disorders and the impact that childhood psychiatric disorders have in adolescence, particularly with respect to educational attainment and intimate partner violence.

Jonathan London

Jonathan K. London is the Director of the Center for Regional Change and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human and Community Development. Jonathan conducts research on rural community development and environmental justice. He has extensive leadership experience in non-profit management, participatory research, and community engagement. He holds a Masters of City and Regional Planning and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from UC Berkeley.

Julia Vargas

Julia Vargas is a Project and Operations Manager at Youth In Focus' Sacramento Office.

Kindra Montgomery

 Kindra Montgomery has an extensive history as a trainer and organizer that has worked with youth and community development organizations across the country.  She has a widespread background in social justice youth development, school reform, environmental prevention, social marketing, and civic engagement.  Currently, Kindra is a Research and Policy Analyst for the UC Davis School of Education-Center for Community School Partnerships.  In her position she continues her work to address isssues of youth equity and access while engaging the systems that impact them.  Kinda has a B.A. in Polical Science and a Master's in Public Administration.

Larisa Jacobson

Larisa Jacobson works with the Center's Health Youth, Healthy Regions project and is a Masters student in International Agricultural Development at UC Davis.  In the past, she has worked as a teacher and curriculum developer with youth in a variety of communities, and has conducted research focused on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities.  Larisa holds a Masters degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley.

Leticia Carrillo

Leticia Carrillo is currently a Human Development graduate student at UC Davis.  She studies the relationships between acculturation and health in adolescent populations.  Specifically, she's interested in the study of acculturation and outcomes such as nutrition and physical activity.  Currently she is working with the Youth Voices for Change team to learn more about health, education, civic engagement, and employment among youth residing in West Sacramento.

Mindy Romero

Mindy Romero is currently working with the Center's Healthy Youth, Healthy Regions Project and is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology department at UC Davis.  A native of the region, Mindy has worked with non-profits and has experience in community organizing.  Her areas of research include collective action, intergroup relations, stratification, identity, stigma, and political participation.  She is currently examining the power of community dynamics on Latino voter turnout across the United States.  Mindy holds a Masters degree in Sociology from UC Davis.

Michael Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald is the Healthy Youth/ Healthy Regions Informatics Coordinator.   Mike has degrees in Sociology and Psychology from UC Davis and his interests include data management and applied research.  Prior to coming to the Center, he spent 15 years primarily in the public sector providing database design, research, and analytical support in areas from public health preparedness to social services.  For the past 2 years he worked as a researcher  at CSU Sacramento in the Applied Research Center. Mike volunteers, is on the Board of Directors for a local community service organization working with low income and at risk populations, and is an avid fan of soccer and the San Francisco Giants.

Michael Rios

Michael Rios is a professor in the Department of Environmental Design and is affiliated with the Geography and Community Development Graduate Groups at UC Davis.  He is also a member of the Center for Regional Change's Executive Committee. His research interests focus on public policy, professional practice, and citizen participation in regional planning and urban design. Current CRC research projects include a comparative study of diaspora communities in the Sacramento region and a multi-year project focused on youth and regional vitality. 

Nancy Erbstein

Nancy Erbstein is a researcher in the U.C. Davis School of Education/CRESS Center and the Department of Human and Community Development.  Nancy conducts research on how the relationships between schools and their localities produce and disrupt ethnic, socio-economic and linguistic disparities in educational outcomes.  She enjoys employing multiple research strategies (including qualitative, mixed, participatory, and spatialized methods) and cross-disciplinary collaboration.  As a Co-PI of HYHR, Nancy co-coordinates the Qualitative Research Team, leads qualitative data collection and analysis focused on youth experience, and consults to the quantitative and youth voice teams.  Nancy holds a Ph.D. in Education from U.C. Berkeley.

Patsy Eubanks Owens

Patsy Eubanks Owens is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture in the Department of Environmental Design.  Her research interests focus on the relationships between people and the outdoor environment.  Specifically, her work examines the role of the physical environment in the development, health, and well-being of youth and methods for community involvement in design decision-making.  Her recent research includes "You, Your Community, Your View," (sponsored by the UC's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources) which through youth-generated photographs and writings documented and examined places, people and activities important to youth in seven California communities.  Professor Owens has also recently collaborated with researchers in Scotland and New York on "Places for Teens," an examination of the physical and experiential characteristics of places that make them important for teens. Her research has been published in Urban Geography, Landscape Journal, Children's Geographies and Child and Adolescent Social Work.

Rebeca Burciaga

Rebeca Burciaga is a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions Project. She is currently conducting HYHR ethnographic case studies of youth from throughout the Sacramento Region who have dropped out, been pushed out, or are considered not finishing high school. Dr. Burciaga’s research with community cultural wealth and educación (a Latina/o concept that includes respect, integrity and reciprocity), conceptualizes these frameworks/value systems as resources for the educational persistence of Chicana/o and Latina/o students at various stages of the pipeline - from preschool through the professoriate. Rebeca's work is informed by critical feminist, critical race and other sociological theories. Through the method of testimonio, her research examines how educación  is practiced, articulated, and cultivated in communities, schools and homes. Rebeca has a Ph.D. in Education from UCLA, an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a B.A. in Latin American and Latino Studies from UC Santa Cruz. An NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Santa Cruz in Psychology from 2007-2009, Rebeca will begin a tenure–track position at San José State University in Educational Leadership in the fall of 2010.

Sarah Ovink

Sarah Ovink is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at UC Davis, currently working with the Center's Healthy Youth, Healthy Regions project on youths' civic engagement in the Sacramento region.  Her research and teaching interests include sociology of education; race/ethnicity, class and gender; racial/ethnic minorities; immigration; and children and youth.  Her dissertation research employs a mixed-methods approach (including in-depth interviews and examination of national data sets) to examine gender differences in postsecondary pathways of Mexican American students in teh San Fransisco Bay Area.

Tara Mirel Zagofsky

Tara is currently working with the Center's Healthy Youth, Healthy Regions Project and the Environmental Justice Project, in collaboration with the John Muir Institute for the Environment. She provides facilitation, community engagement and research services. Tara holds a BA in Sociology and Cultural Studies and a MS in Community Development. Her interests are focused around multicultural facilitation - www.tarazagofsky.com.