Letitia Henderson, a native Oaklander, is a powerful, skilled, and connected community leader who has an exceptional ability to bring people together for community building and mutually enriching outcomes. Letitia launched Exceptional Community Connections in 2015 to expand her ability to help human service systems authentically partner with traditionally marginalized communities. Letitia’s goal is to create and facilitate spaces that increase social capital and equity for the common good.  Her project leadership experience includes more than 20 years of professional experience in the field of Human Services. She holds an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley, is an alumna of the Coro Full-time Fellows in Public Affairs, and is currently a Doctoral Student in Organizational Development and Leadership at the University of Arizona Global Campus. As the Principal of the C4ES Project, Mrs. Henderson will lead the project design, planning, data collection efforts, and provide support to all other aspects of the project that contribute to the final plan.

Natriece uses poetry and creative content to educate and inspire underserved communities to achieve equity and excellence. She helps busy people launch ideas and become better entrepreneurs. Her passion points of service are youth enrichment, emotional wellness, business planning/scaling, and financial wellness.

Saleem served as Executive Director at Leadership Excellence and as faculty at Holy Names University, the University of San Francisco, and CSU East Bay.  He played an instrumental role in addressing the pressing challenges of Disproportionate Minority Contact within juvenile justice systems, collaborating closely with youth services providers and local governments nationwide. From Oakland Unified and Contra Costa Unified to San Francisco Unified, Berkeley Unified, and San Mateo Foster City School Districts, Saleem led transformative intervention and enrichment programs for youth. He has provided invaluable training and coaching for staff members, equipping them with the tools necessary to make a lasting difference.  Saleem has a successful track record of securing program funding through grant writing and fundraising.  He has a BA from Sonoma State University, a Master's Degree in Education from the University of San Francisco, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice from CSU East Bay. Saleem is a devoted husband and father of three. 

Diane Lewis is a seasoned Consultant with 10 years of experience specializing in Technical Assistance, Community & Provider Outreach and Partnership Development.  A native of Oakland with an extensive resume of over 25 years’ in Healthcare, Sales,  Marketing, Clinical and Social Research. Diane is passionate about improving the  economics of communities one neighborhood at a time. After completing her Master’s in  Public Administration at Cal State East Bay, she’s worked for various employer’s  including: Kaiser Permanente, Anthem, Hill Physicians Medical Group, Brown and Toland Physicians and more recently, UC Davis Health and the Alzheimer’s  Association. 

Marthea Alley-Caliz has over twenty years of experience working with nonprofit, community, and government groups that provide critical community services.  She specializes in  executive coaching, team/board development, launching new initiatives, grant writing and funding strategy development.  She believes in the power of people to transform communities, one project at a time. She started community impact work by directing nationally-recognized services at Marriott Foundation for 5 years and then serving as the Executive Director of the Resource Center for Nonprofit Management.  Since then, her experience includes over 15 years working for County government in senior and administrative roles which span areas of contracts/finance, data/evaluation and special projects management.  Ms. Alley-Caliz also leads Community ConnexUs Consulting Services and serves as lead consultant and executive coach with an emphasis on organizational, leadership, board development, and program sustainability. Ms. Alley-Caliz holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Golden Gate University, School of Law as well as a B.A. with emphasis in Public Administration from University of California, Berkeley.

LeAndrea Johnson is a dedicated nonprofit and small business consultant with experience in grant management and community storytelling. She is a knowledgeable grant writer passionate about articulating the critical need for resources that support the self-determination of deliberately disadvantaged communities.  

Page Tomblin has over twenty years of demonstrated expertise and a distinguished track-record overseeing the development, coordination, and implementation of complex program implementation, policy design, data analysis, and communications efforts.  She is dedicated to bettering the lives of children and families through fostering partnerships and working with community. Page has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University in New York. She lives in the East Bay with her family.  

Kate Lesta is a Cultural Practitioner & Consultant dedicated to fostering emergent creativity through grassroots community organizing. Kate’s consultancy offers full-charge bookkeeping, project management, grant writing and event production to small, independent businesses, nonprofits and impact-based organizations, with priority focused LGBTQIA2+, BIPOC and Womxn led endeavors.