Co-hosted by Baywell Health (formerly West Oakland Health Center), Change Consulting, and the Maynard Institute, Bay Area journalists covering Oakland convened at Oakstop, across from the historic Fox Theater, to discuss building better beats, helping audiences understand public safety, and break down the causes of crime and possible solutions.

An especially important topic as we enter election season, journalists, editors, public safety experts and community advocates came together to consider how best to educate the public and seek data-driven, community-oriented solutions to crime and violence. The convening also inspired discussions and closer examinations of the concepts of violence, crime, safety, and justice.

The Maynard Institute would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all partner organizations, panelists, coordinators and attendees.

Agenda and Speakers:

Welcome Address by Martin Reynolds of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Comparative Community Survey Research Presentation with:

  • Robert Phillips, Baywell Health (formerly West Oakland Health Center)
  • Thu Quach, Asian Health Services

Community Panel moderated by Bilen Mesfin Packwood of Change Consulting with:

  • Tinisch Hollins, Californians for Safety and Justice
  • Nicole Lee, Urban Peace Movement
  • Thu Quach, Asian Health Services

Journalists Panel moderated by Professor Lisa Armstrong of UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism with:

  • David DeBolt, East Bay Times
  • Julian Glover, ABC7 News Bay Area
  • Marisa Lagos, KQED
  • Roselyn Romero, The Oaklandside

Hosted at Oakstop on Telegraph Avenue across from Oakland’s Fox Theater.

David DeBolt spent more than a decade as a daily newspaper reporter covering city government, education, and crime and criminal justice, primarily in Oakland and Contra Costa County, for the Oakland Tribune/East Bay Times and The Oaklandside. He returned to the Times in 2022 to become an editor and oversees a team of metro and breaking news reporters.

Julian Glover is a multi-platform anchor, executive producer, and reporter covering race and social justice. He produces high-impact documentaries and data-driven reports for ABC7 News Bay Area. His most recent documentary “Californian’s Case for Reparations” chronicles the push for reparations, linking anti-Black policies of the past to the lived experiences of today’s Californians. Glover’s ongoing reporting on discrimination in the home appraisal process and devaluation of Black neighborhoods culminated in the documentary “Our America: Lowballed” and has prompted action by the Biden Administration, Congress, and appraisal industry. His housing reporting was awarded multiple Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow award.

Tinisch Hollins has over two decades of professional experience in community organizing, guiding government systems, and informing public policy to make social change. She is a gifted critical thinker, public speaker, and seasoned facilitator who uses both professional training and lived experience to build shared understanding and to frame practical and sustainable solutions rooted in community well-being. Through demonstrated leadership in the fields of violence prevention and social justice, she has built effective partnerships with impacted communities, decision-makers, influencers, and stakeholders throughout California. Currently, Tinisch serves as the Executive Director of Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ), one of the nation’s most effective criminal justice reform agencies. CSJ works to reduce wasteful jail and prison spending and advance common-sense public safety solutions that address the root causes of crime and achieve long-term safety.

​​Marisa Lagos is a correspondent for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk and co-hosts a daily show and podcast, Political Breakdown, where she sits down with political insiders to dig into policy and politics — and offer a peek into the lives and personalities of those driving politics in California and beyond. At KQED, Lagos also conducts reporting, analysis and investigations into state, local and national politics for radio, TV, online and on stage. In 2022, she and Shafer moderated the only gubernatorial debate in California. In 2020, the Washington Post named her one of the top political journalists in California; she was nominated for a Peabody and won several other awards for her work investigating the 2017 California wildfires. She has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Los Angeles Times. A UC Santa Barbara graduate, she lives in San Francisco with her two sons and husband.

Nicole Lee is the founding Executive Director of Urban Peace Movement, a grass-roots racial justice organization in Oakland that builds youth leadership to transform the social conditions that drive community violence and mass incarceration. Lee is a fourth-generation Oakland resident of Chinese American heritage and has spent the past 25 years leading critical social justice work through coalition-building and youth organizing campaigns. In 2009 Lee founded the Urban Peace Movement, an organization which has been instrumental in pushing for an end to youth incarceration and mass incarceration in Alameda County. In 2018 Lee was named on EBONY Magazine’s prestigious Power 100 List as a “Community Crusader.” In 2022 Lee received the Rosenberg Foundation’s Leading Edge Fellowship.

Robert Phillips is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Baywell Health, a federally qualified health center founded in 1967 to improve the health of the Bay Area’s Black communities. Before Baywell Health, Robert was President, CEO, and founding Board Member of Alluma, a non-profit technology social enterprise; executive director at Kaiser Permanente; managing director at the Sierra Health Foundation; managing director and senior fellow, among other positions, for The California Endowment; and an organizer, political director, policy analyst, and capital strategies rep for SEIU and the AFL-CIO. In addition to his professional experience, Robert is ABD in Health Policy from UNC-Chapel Hill, has an MPH from Harvard University, an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, and a BA from Morehouse College. Robert has a Certificate of Business Excellence in Executive Education from UC Berkeley and an Investment Stewardship from Yale University.

Thu Quach, Ph.D. serves as the President of Asian Health Services, a federally qualified health center in Alameda County serving 50,000 patients in English and 14 languages. As an epidemiologist, she is involved in research and policy efforts to promote health equity, emphasizing the importance of language justice, data equity and culturally responsive mental health. She has conducted pioneering research focused on nail and hair salon worker health and safety to inform policy and practice. She has expanded culturally and linguistically responsive mental health services, including starting up a specialty mental health division. During the pandemic, she assembled an Asian American & Pacific Islander multi-lingual team to provide community testing, contact tracing, and vaccinations. In response to the increased anti-Asian violence, she helped established trauma-informed mental health services to support impacted families, while promoting cross-racial solidarity.

Roselyn Romero covers public safety for The Oaklandside. On the beat, she has reported on police pursuits, law enforcement technology, commercial burglaries and violence prevention solutions. Before covering public safety, Roselyn was The Oaklandside’s small business reporting fellow through the Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship Program, during which she highlighted the Town’s diverse entrepreneurs and bustling business corridors while shedding light on the public safety challenges facing small business owners and restaurateurs. Roselyn has worked for The Associated Press, USAFacts, NBC Bay Area, KSBY News and other media outlets. She is a proud daughter of Filipino immigrants and currently lives in East Oakland.

Moderator Bios:

Lisa Armstrong is an award-winning journalist with credits in The New Yorker, The Intercept, Rolling Stone, The Texas Tribune and other outlets. She reports mainly on incarceration and has also produced documentaries, including one for CBS News about how subpar mental health care provided by for-profit companies led to in an increase in suicides in state prisons. Armstrong is a professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and also taught at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY for 12 years. She also teaches journalism at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Bilen Mesfin Packwood has over 20 years of experience in media and communications and is the founder and principal of Change Consulting, a social change communications agency based in Oakland, California. She has established a reputation as a trusted strategic advisor to leading changemakers.

Martin G. Reynolds is the co-executive director of the Maynard Institute. He is co-founder of Oakland Voices, a community storytelling project that trains residents to be community correspondents. He was named as Digital First Media’s Innovator of the Year for his work on Oakland Voices. Prior to his Maynard fellowship, Reynolds was senior editor for community engagement and training for Bay Area News Group and served as editor-in-chief of The Oakland Tribune between 2008-2011. His career with Bay Area News Group spanned 18 years. Reynolds was also a lead editor on the Chauncey Bailey Project, formed in 2007 to investigate the slaying of the former Oakland Post editor and Tribune reporter. Reynolds also conducts Fault Lines diversity training programs for media companies and colleges and universities.