Board of Directors
Staff
Kim is a retired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Principal (non-CPA partner). She held various roles at PwC over her 24-year career there. Most recently, she was a Founding Fellow of the CEO Action for Racial Equity Fellowship, a business-led initiative to develop, promote, and scale sustainable public policies and corporate engagement strategies to advance racial equity across the United States. Before her fellowship work, Kim was PwCs’ Global Advisory Risk & Quality Leader and also served as the U.S. firm’s Black Inclusion Network Leader. She also served as PwC’s Global Deputy General Counsel and in PwC’s U.S. Office of the General Counsel. Before joining PwC, Kim was a commercial and securities litigator with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Kim has a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she was an editor of the California Law Review and Student President of Berkeley Law Foundation. She earned her B.A. in philosophy from Cornell University.
Kim is an active participant in her local community and currently serves as a director on the Boards of the S.H. Cowell Foundation, Legal Services for Children, Oakland Promise, the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Oaktree Foundation. In addition to her nonprofit board work, Kim also serves as an independent board member for the Oakland Roots Sports Club. In addition, on a pro bono basis, she is currently co-leading an effort to bring an HBCU satellite campus to Oakland.
In addition to the San Francisco Business Times naming Kim as one of the 150 Most Influential Women in Business, Kim and her husband have numerous recognitions for their community work including the Oakland Magazine the California Law Review, Friends of Oakland Parks & Recreation’s annual Ann Woodell Community Award, the Oakland Parks and Recreation Salute to Excellence and Community Spirit award, Community Champion Award from Life Goes On Foundation, and Living Legend Award from Beebe Memorial. Kim is also the recipient of a Powerful Women of the Bay award.
Lecturer, Public Administration, Cal State East Bay
Alton Jelks brings extensive public administration expertise to the board of directors, having worked as Administrative Assistant to Assemblyman Elihu Harris, Special Assistant to the Mayor of Oakland, Deputy City Auditor and Associate Vice Chancellor for Peralta Community College District, where we had responsibility for fundraising, employee trainings and oversight of organizational processes. Alton excels in group facilitation for public and private sector settings, and has also served on the board of directors of many nonprofit organizations as well as worked at the executive level in the area of marketing and fundraising. Alton has taught in the Master of Public Administration at California State University East Bay for over two decades, teaching the full range of courses offered.
Secretary/Treasurer
Royl L. Roberts is a Doctor of Business Administration, Attorney, businessman, community activist, educator, and administrator. Mr. Roberts attended San Antonio Community College and later graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He went on to have a successful career in finance and property & casualty insurance and has worked for Fortune 500 companies. While working full time, Royl obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Our Lady of the Lake University. Because of his success he was promoted and relocated to the Bay Area over 20 years ago. He recalls how the move to Bay Area opened his mind to so many opportunities.
Royl graduated from Golden Gate University, School of Law and worked in the Non-Profit Sector with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center and interned at the Peralta Community College District in the Office of the General Counsel. He later worked in several leadership positions in the District including Risk Management, Employee Relations, Chief of Staff and as the District’s General Counsel.
Dr. Roberts left Peralta in 2023 to become the Chief Assistant District Attorney of Alameda County. He currently works as a Defense Litigation Attorney with the State of California. In 2024, Dr. Roberts completed his dissertation to receive a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Saint Mary’s College of California.
Royl served as a Commissioner on the Alameda County Human Relations Commission, and sits on the Board Member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center. He is a Life Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., a member of Phi Chi Theta Business Fraternity, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity and a Past Master of Ujima Lodge #35. Lastly, Royl is a proud husband and father to one son and one daughter.
Senior Campaign Advisor, Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Latressa Wilson Alford, JD is a seasoned veteran in government relations and community affairs. With over 30 years in public service, she is highly sought after for her experience in public and legal policy, engagement with underserved communities, and ability to leverage public-private partnerships. As CEO of the firm L. Wilson Alford & Associates (LWA), she is widely recognized as a social entrepreneur because of her ability to build public-private relationships and solve challenging relationships.
Previously, Latressa Wilson Alford served as Senior Aide to Congressman George Miller. She also managed bridge funding to small, minority businesses as a 20 year member of the City of Richmond Revolving Loan Fund Board.
Latressa’s other professional experience is as editor of the Metro Publication Group, founded by the late Carlton B. Goodlett physician, civil rights leader and publisher of the Sun Reporter Newspaper Group. She worked as a Senior Fellow under the Honorable Rod Diridon who she assisted with planning the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Light Rail and Historical Trolley System.
In 2016, Latressa founded LWA – an experienced consulting firm to provide political management and deliver successful campaigns and education initiatives around diversity, inclusion and smart engagement.
Recently, Latressa was tapped by Congresswoman Barbara Lee as her Senior Campaign Advisor to manage Rep Lee’s reelection campaign and state and national campaigns that Rep Lee supports. Latressa is a delegate for Assembly District 14, serves on the board of the Community Democratic Club and is Bylaws Chair for the CA Democratic Black Caucus.
Latressa is a Lifetime Member of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) and is BWOPA State Director of Education, Legislation and Policy. She is a founder of the Solano-Napa Chapter and serves as its vice president.
Latressa has been recognized as the 2021 Woman of the Year by Assemblyman Tim Grayson, listed in Who’s Who in America (2021) and inducted into the Bay Area Blues Society Hall of Fame (2013). Latressa has a Jurist Doctorate and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. She has three daughters: Nikole, Alyssa and Justice.
Nosa Edoimioya is the Founder and CEO of Reforge Robotics, a robotics software company building advanced motion control, calibration, and precision enhancement tools for industrial robots. Through Reforge, Nosa is focused on making high-performance robotics more accessible by enabling standard robot arms to achieve significantly higher precision, reliability, and throughput through software, sensing, and physics-based control. Reforge’s technology supports applications in manufacturing and automation.
Prior to founding Reforge Robotics, Nosa worked in robotics, mechanical engineering, software, and advanced manufacturing. He completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University and earned a PhD from the University of Michigan.
Nosa is also active in community and civic leadership. He served as the Executive Director of The Phoenix Scholars for three years, supporting low-income and underserved students through the college application process. He also served on several other student organizations at Stanford and Michigan to enhance the experience of students of color pursuing STEM fields.
LaNiece Jones is a respected public affairs strategist, civic leader, and community engagement professional with more than 30 years of experience advancing equity, leadership development, and community empowerment throughout California. She currently serves as Director of Community Engagement for the Office of Mayor Barbara Lee and is the State President & CEO of BWOPA ONE, a leading Black women-led civic and political advocacy statewide legacy organization.
An Oakland native, LaNiece has dedicated her career to building partnerships between government, philanthropy, business, and grassroots communities to expand civic engagement leadership opportunities. Former chief consultant for the California Legislative Black Caucus, is the founder of L.A. Jones & Associates Marketing Public Relations, and previously served as Executive Director of the Peralta Colleges Foundation.
LaNiece’s service on the Board of Directors for the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center reflects her lifelong commitment to social justice, community empowerment, and preparing the next generation of leaders to create meaningful change.
Retired Educator
Bill Riley is a native of Oakland, California. He attended Oakland public schools and transferred from Merritt College, where he was student body president, to the University of San Francisco (USF) earning a B.A. in Sociology and Physical Education. He then attended San Francisco State University earning a M.A. in Educational Administration; then returning to USF, he received an Ed.D. in Educational Policy.
Dr. Riley has an over 40-year long career in public education, including working in the Oakland, East Palo Alto/Ravenswood and San Ramon School Districts. He has been a teacher, counselor, coach, vice-principal, principal, and administrator on special assignment. He also served as the Alameda County Office of Education’s Coordinator of Pupil Services and Child and Family Advocacy.
Community is important to Bill. He is currently a member of the Martin Luther King Jr Freedom Center Board of Directors and recently appointed by Mayor Libby Schaaf to the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth Planning and Oversight Committee. In the past Bill has served on the Oakland Zoo Board and on the City of Oakland Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission for thirteen years. In addition, he served on the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees from 1998 through 2018; representing Area 5 covering a large portion of Oakland and the entire City of Piedmont.
Bill has been happily married for over forty-five years and has two grown daughters, both of whom are college graduates.
Stephanie Tran is a community leader and entrepreneur dedicated to strengthening communities through civic engagement, collaboration, and public service. Born and raised in Oakland as a first-generation Asian American, she has built her career around connecting people, organizations, and institutions to advance initiatives that strengthen neighborhoods and expand opportunity.
Stephanie is a graduate of Louisiana State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with minors in International Studies and African American Studies. Her education provided a strong foundation in public policy, equity, and cross-cultural leadership that continues to inform her approach to community service.
With more than 15 years of leadership experience across the private and civic sectors, Stephanie has developed strategic partnerships, led community initiatives, and worked collaboratively with businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies to address community needs. She also serves in volunteer leadership roles supporting civic participation, neighborhood revitalization, and community engagement throughout Oakland.
Stephanie is honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center, where she supports the organization’s mission of developing values-based leaders committed to justice, nonviolence, and service. She believes that investing in young people through education, mentorship, and leadership development is essential to building stronger, more connected communities.
Executive Director, Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center
Roy received a BA in English and Masters in Creative Writing both from the University of Washington. Roy has a Doctorate in Education and is a published author, scholar, and presenter on civil rights, nonviolence and libratory leadership practices. He has served as director of various non-governmental entities including Seattle Managua Sister City Association, International Relations Director for El Centro de la Raza, and is the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Community Leadership and the Jack Hunter O’Dell Education Center. Roy has received international, state and regional awards for his work in civil rights and confronting racial and socio-economic disparities. He is widely published and his work has been featured in Life Magazine, the New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Seattle Times, Oakland Tribune, and in a National Public Radio TV Special “The United States of Poetry” and a National television feature on the Nickelodeon Network.
BOARD MEMBER, EMERITUS
Audree is a passionate advocate and an established national leader who has leveraged passion and confidence to bring innovative solutions to parks, recreation, conservation, preservation and play, with a special love for building strong relationships, she has a proven track record of cultivating community partners. Audree’s experience includes 40 plus years in municipal government, most recently she has combined her public sector work with the private sector through her service as a consultant with, the City of San Bruno Community Services Department, where she serves as a Strategic Advisor, she also serves as a consultant with National Strategies, LLC, she served as the Interim General Manager for Marin City Community Services District, and served as an Associate Researcher with Dr. Nina Roberts/Resource Legacy Fund with The California State Coastal Conservancy and served as a consultant to-Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District/Cooley Landing Project.
Audree is a graduate of the University of Redlands with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and holds a Master’s Degree in Leadership in the Arts from Saint Mary’s College of California. Audree is committed to public service. IN addition to her service on the Freedom Center Board of Directors, Audree is a member of the University of San Francisco Gellert Family Business Resource Center Advisory Board, and is a member of National Parks and Recreation Ethnic Minority Society.
Founding Member
The Honorable Barbara Lee is renown in her dedication to life-long public service having served as Assemblymember, Senator, Congresswoman and Mayor of Oakland, representing the Easy Bay of California. Having served in state leadership, Mayor Lee was elected to Congress in 1998 where she served until January of 2025. Subsequently, Ms. Lee was elected Mayor of Oakland where she now serves as Oakland’s 52nd Mayor.
Throughout her tenure, the Hon. Barbara Lee has served as a forceful and progressive voice dedicated to social and economic justice, international peace, and civil and human rights. The Democratic lawmaker has established a reputation for principled and independent stands, unafraid to take on the tough issues and speak her mind for her constituents, for a more just America, and for a safer world. As a social worker by profession, advocating for her diverse constituents in dealing with federal, state and municipal bureaucracy has been a priority.
Director of Government and External Affairs
Dr. Karen Bohlke has thirty years of administrative, managerial, grant writing, fund development and advocacy work with educational organizations serving youth and families. She has successfully managed a capital campaign for the O’Dell Education Center in Kent, WA, and numerous federal grants including as partner for Gear Up at the University of Washington, as director of Jose Marti Child Development Center bi-lingual Head Start and Therapeutic Day Care, leadership programming with Metro Miami Dade County Teen Court Program, an ARRA Federal Stimulus work study program with the Oakland Civic Green Campaign, oversight of Department of Justice Appropriation with the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center, Oakland CA and a twelve year Washington State Legislative Appropriation with the Institute for Community Leadership. Karen coordinates our fund development and government relations efforts. Karen holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University, an MA Ed from Antioch University, and a BA in Education from the University of Washington. She is a Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Fellow.
Community Organizer
Karen Bustamante is a graduate of the Freedom Center and a Community Organizer where she has studied ethical leadership since high school. She has traveled up and down the West Coast with the Freedom Center as an intern and staff member visiting cities, rural towns, and sovereign native nations meeting with congressional, state and local elected officials, as well as tribal and community leaders. Karen represented the Freedom Center in Selma, Alabama for the Faith and Politics Civil Rights Pilgrimage for the 50th Anniversary of the Marches from Selma to Montgomery. She has facilitated countless Leadership Poetry Workshops, lectures, civics classes, hosted voter registration drives, door to door canvassing, and cultivated relationships. Karen holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Leadership and Nonprofit Management from California State University, San Bernardino. Karen has a B.A. in Political Science, with Pre-Law and International Relations, and a minor in Writing, University of California, Merced. She is a member of Pi Alpha Alpha Honors Society and served as Vice President of Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity Merced chapter.
Washington D.C. Liaison
Jayda Gray is a graduate of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center. She joined as a sophomore in 2019 and has participated and led leadership poetry workshops, hosted and presented at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, and has represented the Freedom Center in California, Washington, Alabama, Washington D.C., and South Africa. Jayda has traveled on the Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama in 2020 and 2022 as a delegate of the Freedom Center as well as South Africa in 2023 for the Gandhi, Mandela and King International Conference. Jayda is our Washington D.C. Liaison to the Congressional Black Caucus and other members of Congress.
Jayda graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 2022 and currently attends Howard University, double majoring in Political Science and Sociology and minoring in Community Development.
Business Manager
Jana Jordan-Fisher has thirty five years of Corporate Tax, Accounting, and Payroll Tax experience. She has successfully managed the accounting for other Non-Profits and Small Businesses. Jana is from Pasadena and moved to the Bay Area to attend Golden Gate University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Accounting. She has previously worked for Del Monte Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Genentech and Anderson and Associate’s CPA firm. She is certified with the Internal Revenue Service and California Tax Education Council. She specializes in keeping the organization current and in compliance with the accounting and tax laws for Non-Profits. Jana’s intent is to bring her education and knowledge to the organization while obtaining the spirit and integrity of Martin Luther King Jr., the MLK staff and its friends.
Civic Engagement Intern
Omar began community organizing with the Martin Luther King Jr Freedom Center in 2022, during his sophomore year at Bishop O’Dowd High School. After becoming actively engaged in the civic engagement work of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center’s, Omar committed himself to keeping a foot in the community. Omar teaches civics classes, coordinates and speaks at public events, conducts family orientations, writes essays for democracy education, and helps produce the MLK Freedom Center’s Promoting & Protecting Democracy Video Series.
Coming from Deep East Oakland, Omar has seen the results of folks who let their shattered dreams consume them, and has committed himself to keeping a foot in the community so that he can inspire those of marginalized communities to keep hope alive in turbulent times. Omar graduated from Bishop O’Dowd High School May of 2025, recipient of the Board of Regent’s Award for best exemplifying the mission of Bishop O’Dowd. Omar will begin studying Journalism at the University of Southern California as a first generation college student with a full ride scholarship August of 2025.
Deputy Director
Beverly Thomas is the Deputy Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center, bringing more than 20 years of cumulative experience in government and nonprofit organizations. In her leadership role, Beverly helps advance the Freedom Center’s mission, strengthen organizational operations, and support strategic initiatives that promote social justice, civic engagement, leadership development, and nonviolence.
Before joining the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center, Beverly spent many years serving as an Administrator and Office Manager in the Public Affairs Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In this capacity, she provided senior-level administrative leadership, managed complex office operations, and supported scientists and research teams in the Earth Sciences Department.
Beverly holds a degree in Business Administration and brings extensive expertise in organizational management, office operations, administrative systems, executive support, event coordination, and program and project management. She is known for her strong organizational skills, attention to detail, ability to manage competing priorities, and commitment to building efficient systems that support organizational success.
As Deputy Director, Beverly works closely with leadership, staff, community partners, government and external relations stakeholders, and supporters of the Freedom Center. She plays an important role in ensuring that the organization’s programs, partnerships, events, and administrative functions are aligned with its vision and mission.
Beverly is committed to helping the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center build strong organizational capacity while carrying forward the enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the principles of nonviolence, service, equality, and justice.