HOPE is a collaborative of public agencies, community-based organizations, and Oakland residents. Leadership bodies and individuals within the collaborative work together to pursue our vision of a healthier, more vibrant Oakland.
The Steering Committee is responsible for the leadership of the collaborative and for making all major decisions.
HOPE staff is responsible for the overall coordination of HOPE’s work.
Staff
Asia Hampton
Asia Hampton comes to the table with 9 years of experience working in all areas of the food system to increase equitable access to food and opportunity. From working food service in Southern California to facilitating Food Justice Education workshops in Oakland and Brooklyn, she is intimately familiar with the challenges so many communities face not only in accessing fresh and affordable products, but also in building stable lives and livelihoods in the face of an ever-widening gap of inequality. She believes in creating localized safety-nets that strengthen community and are locally responsive.
As the former Director of Phat Beets Produce she invested heavily in staff and leadership development and is excited to continue this work with HOPE Collaborative. She currently serves on the board of Oakland Communities United for Equity and Justice, leading them through the process of developing a board that is accountable to self-directed programs. Asia is also a Member of the Oakland Food Policy Council actively working on the development of a new organizational structure and the implementation of The Good Food Purchasing Policy within OUSD.
Originally from San Diego, Asia moved up the California coast to attend UC Santa Barbara where she earned a B.A. in Sociology. She traded in warm beaches for long bridges when she moved to Oakland in 2012 and traded moderate weather for four seasons with a brief stint in New York while she worked on her Master’s in Food Systems at NYU. She now happily lives in Oakland with her partner and dog, making frequent trips out of town to maintain the amazing friendships she’s made along the way.
Elizabeth Esparza
Elizabeth recently earned her master’s degree in Public Policy from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she focused her studies on food systems and the relationship between food waste and hunger. Her passion for food systems work began during her time at Sonoma State University, where she worked to engage with her fellow students and the community around issues of inequality and sustainability. Elizabeth spent two years as a FoodCorps service member, focusing on garden and nutrition education with the Pittsburg Unified School District and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. She then chose to pursue a degree in public policy to find a way to integrate her priority for education and community engagement with the understanding that learning about the ways that systemic change happens can help make on-the-ground work more effective and sustainable. Originally from Fullerton, Elizabeth has spent the past 8 years moving up and down the California coast and is excited to settle back into Bay Area life. In her free time, you can find her spending time outside, reading, writing, and hosting her parody cooking show on Instagram.
Contact Elizabeth at elizabeth@hopecollaborative.net
Nakia Woods
Nakia Woods is the acting Program Director for HOPE Collaborative. Prior to being the Program Director, they were a member of HOPE’s steering committee and supported staff in the programming that is essential to HOPE’s mission. In addition to their work at HOPE Collaborative, Nakia is a Legal Organizer with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and focuses on meeting the immediate needs of Black immigrants at risk of deportation via organizing, advocacy, and providing culturally competent immigrant support services A San Diego native, Nakia has been thriving in the Bay area for the past 8 Years. In their spare time, they love to take care of their new plant daughter Lily Potter, interact with all things Harry Potter (peep the shirt y’all I think they may be a little obsessed), and constantly change their social media accounts from private to public.
Paul Hoàng Nguyễn
Paul holds a BA in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. Before joining HOPE, Paul was organizing a Community Supported Agriculture program that focused on working with Asian Farmers to bring culturally relevant produce to community members in his hometown of Garden Grove, CA. In Los Angeles, he continued to learn and work on Food Justice Issues. Working to expand the CSA program as well as address public health issues in Asian and Pacific Islander communities. During his time in LA, Paul also worked with high school students in the San Gabriel Valley to advocate for better air quality and worked with youth toward becoming leaders in their community. Paul is excited to lead the food work that HOPE has been championing here in the City of Oakland and looks forward to learning more about the Oakland community.
Contact Paul at paul@hopecollaborative.net
Steering Committee
David Ralston
David Ralston, Ph.D., MCP. David has been involved with the HOPE’s steering committee and executive committee since its founding and served as past treasurer and the past co-chair of the Built Environment Action Team. David works as a regional program manager and senior planning policy advisor for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District where he is focused on implementing environmental justice and health equity policies. Prior, David worked for 15-years as a planner and urban economic analyst for the City of Oakland. David is active in teaching (San Jose State, Merritt College) and the catalyzing of local urban greening, environmental sustainability, and community-led development projects. David lives with his family in Oakland.Josue Chavez
Josue Chavez became a Youth Action Board member in his freshman year for HOPE Collaborative. With that same year, he was able to balance another non profit, AIA (Alternatives in Action), where he co-taught, focused, and incorporated lessons to a film class of 20 students. During the 2017-2018 school year, Josue Chavez served as an active member of the Student Nutrition Advisory Council, assisted in lifting student priorities to improve students’ experiences with school food, collaborated with California School-Based Health Alliance, District’s Nutrition Services, and the District’s Health and Wellness. During his sophomore year, Josue Chavez was elected to run as Student Director under OUSD’s Board of Education for the 2018-2019 school year. During his term, he has been one of the primary All City Council youth leaders in the initiative to bring student voice to the revisions of the District’s Physical Education and Policy. Currently, Josue Chavez takes great pride in being a student of color, and believes that Oakland has allowed him to be a person effecting positive change for all people with the Youth Leader position HOPE Collaborative has to offer.Kimi Watkins-Tartt
Kimi Watkins-Tartt serves as Director of the Alameda County Public Health Department. In this capacity she is responsible for providing overall direction, planning and organization of the programs and operations of the Public Health Department. Prior to this, and in the role of Deputy Director, Ms. Watkins-Tartt was responsible for the oversight of the department’s programmatic divisions which include Family Health Services, Community Health Services, Public Health Nursing and Communicable Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, Ms. Watkins-Tartt oversaw the management of internal department policies, program budget, grant coordination and personnel management. Ms. Watkins-Tartt has worked for over 25 years within the local public health community and brings a wealth of experience in public health administration, policy development, as well as community health planning and coordination. Prior to taking on the role of Deputy Director, Ms. Watkins-Tartt led the Division of Community Health Services, driving the division’s strategic initiatives including the launching of new efforts that aligned with the department’s strategic direction to achieve health equity. Ms. Watkins-Tartt was instrumental in helping the department design and implement its health equity and local policy efforts and recently spearheaded the department’s first Chronic Disease Prevention Planning process. Ms. Watkins-Tartt has a long-standing passion and commitment to health equity and social justice. She is a founding member and current Co-Chair for the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) and serves as Vice-Chair of the Health Equity and Social Justice Committee of the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCH)
Nicole Leopardo
Nicole Leopardo, MA, is a scholar, educator, researcher, writer, and activist based in San Francisco. Nicole believes in the power of education and the practice of research justice to facilitate deep thought, self-love, and the disruption of social and institutional inequities. Nicole is currently a lecturer in the historic College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU). In this role, Nicole helps her students develop a critical consciousness through curriculum that centers the experiences of people of color historically and contemporarily. Nicole co-founded the Critical Mixed Race Studies minor program at SFSU which offers students critical, theoretical and methodological approaches for addressing notions of mixed race, mixed heritage, and transracial adoptee identity development and community agency in a variety of institutionalized contexts. Her master’s thesis, Food Rituals: An Entree into Multiracial Family Culture, uses a research justice methodology to examine the role of food rituals in establishing blended cultural practices in multiracial families. Her academic focus crosses the boundaries of Ethnic Studies, Critical Mixed Race Studies, and Food Studies. Nicole is also a Steering Committee member with HOPE Collaborative, a community collaborative that works towards policy and systems change to promote the health and well-being of Oakland’s marginalized communities. Nicole works as a consultant with clients like the Oakland Food Policy Council and The Justice Collective. She received her MA in Ethnic Studies from SFSU with specializations in Mixed Race Identity and Food Studies. Nicole also holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Political Science and minors in Black Studies and Writing: Business Communication.Ryan Thayer
Ryan Thayer has a decade of experience working to promote equitable community-based food systems. He has established community-led processes that cultivate local leaders to build power on a neighborhood level. Ryan co-founded the Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition and previously served on the SF Soda Tax Committee and SF Food Security Task Force. He currently works in Alameda County to promote a regional community-based food system.
