BONNIE GARCIANational Director of Legislative Affairs
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DARNELL CHADWICK GRISBY, MPPExecutive Director
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A national thought leader in transportation policy and the mobility justice movement, Darnell Grisby joined TransForm as Executive Director in October 2020. He spent the previous nine years as Director of Policy Development and Research at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), where he helped to raise its profile and the impact of its advocacy. When Darnell was growing up in Southern California, limited transportation options, under-investment, and over-policing shaped his perspectives and set him on a path to public service and advocacy. He believes that explicitly anti-racist policy will confront the interlocking systems of oppression that underlie so many of our housing and transportation investments and policies. Darnell served as a legislative director and senior advisor in the California State Legislature and a lobbyist in Sacramento before working at Reconnecting America, a think tank devoted to smart growth. He has deep policy expertise in housing affordability, transit-oriented development, and the intersection of transportation and housing finance. Darnell has been quoted or featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and Bloomberg, among many other outlets. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at UCLA and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. |
PETER O. NWOSU, PH.DProvost & Senior Vice President
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Dr. Peter Nwosu became provost and senior vice president of academic affairs and student success at Lehman College of The City University of New York, effective spring 2019. He has broad responsibilities for advancing excellence in faculty teaching, research and scholarship, improving student success outcomes (access, learning, retention, graduation, and post-graduate experiences), and achieving greater academic and institutional effectiveness at the college. His portfolio includes five academic schools; student affairs; enrollment management; library; research and sponsored programs; and international programs and global partnerships, among others. An American Council on Education Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Nwosu is a nationally recognized academic leader whose impactful experience includes the collaborative design, development, and implementation of initiatives ranging from curricular modernization and innovation, to guiding faculty and staff development, expanding opportunities for faculty and student research and creative activities, aligning academic and student life, fostering strategic partnerships, and improving student success outcomes. Prior to his appointment at Lehman, Dr. Nwosu served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Clark Atlanta University (CAU), an HBCU that has been ranked as the leader in economic mobility among Atlanta-area colleges and universities. At CAU, he led strategic and operational initiatives for the divisions of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, a portfolio that includes four academic schools; planning, assessment, and institutional research; institutional accreditation; strategic planning; enrollment services; student services and campus life; research and development; center for undergraduate research and creative activity; university honors and scholars’ program, and career development center, among others. Prior to his appointment at CAU, Dr. Nwosu served as associate vice president for Academic Programs and accreditation liaison officer at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), where he led the revitalization of academic assessment processes and the implementation of a student success approach that has garnered national recognition. The National Academic Advising Association selected CSUF in 2016 to receive its Outstanding Institutional Advising Program Award for “innovative and/or exemplary practices” that make “significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising.” Before his appointment to CSUF, Dr. Nwosu was associate vice president for Academic Affairs, Institutional Planning and Assessment at Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, where he led the development of a campus-wide assessment program, the implementation of the university’s strategic plan, the creation of new degree programs, and the coordination of a successful institutional reaccreditation process. Author of three books and more than 90 scholarly writings including refereed journal papers, training manuals, and conference presentations, Dr. Nwosu is a recognized expert in intercultural and international communication, diversity training, strategic planning, assessment, program evaluation and educational effectiveness. Dr. Nwosu currently serves on the Executive Board of the American Council on Education Fellows Program, the Board of Directors of the California Urban Partnership, and the Board of Directors of the national Association of Chief Academic Officers. Dr. Nwosu earned a Ph.D. in communications studies from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and is also a graduate of the Institute of Higher Education at Harvard University. |
MALAKI SEKU AMENChief Executive Officer
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MALAKI SEKU AMEN (pronounced “ma-luck-eye / say-coo awe-men”) is executive director and founder of the California Urban Partnership (CUP). A 25 year veteran in the community economic development field, Malaki has shaped businesses, policy and programs as a social entrepreneur, as well as an appointed advisor in California's Legislature, Office of the Governor, Fortune 500 corporations and the University of California Office of the President. During the early 90’s as a staff member of the Al Geiger Center for Business Incubation (now known as The African Marketplace), Malaki served on a regional economic response team formed to address the closure of military bases in Sacramento County. At the Incubator, he also coordinated the business development skills training and microloan program for low to moderate income residents, as well as created Sacramento’s first printed directory of Black businesses, professionals and community organizations. Later on, he would lead independent projects to publish four other versions of the award winning directory. In roles as partner of a public affairs and visual media firm (intermittently from 1995 to 2012), Governor’s appointee and staffer in California’s Legislature (2001 to 2007), and state lobbyist for the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization (2008 to 2011), Malaki led and coordinated the development of numerous legislative proposals, negotiations and forums to shape economic justice and growth in California. This includes providing management support in a California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency division’s programs responsible for awarding $72 million in business and community support grants, which created and retained over 18,000 jobs. After founding the CUP in 2010, Malaki became the architect of two flagship programs for the organization; the Community Investment Initiative (CII) is a policy and organizing laboratory to address racial wealth gaps, and ARIZE.org is a search engine website and smartphone app for finding and conducting research on Black owned businesses. Malaki is recognized statewide and nationally as an expert and influencer in crafting policies for equitable access to the new $73.6 billion dollar U.S. legal marijuana market. After California voters legalized recreational weed in 2016, Malaki was the lead agitator, community organizer, negotiator and designer of the City of Sacramento’s Cannabis Opportunity, Reinvestment and Equity ordinance (CORE) and $2M technical assistance program. CORE is the inspiration for federal legislation (the MORE Act), and is often referenced across the country as one of the early best practice models for delivering economic justice to entrepreneurs who are survivors of racialized marijuana policy enforcement in America. Malaki is a fellow of the John F. Kennedy School’s Senior Executive program, and the Community Economic Development Institute, at Harvard University. |
LATASHA JOHNSON
Chief Financial Officer
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Latasha Johnson is director of finance and administration for the California Urban Partnership (CUP). She was the former Project Manager for the California Department of Transportation’s (CalTrans) Northern California Support Services Program for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs). Latasha successfully managed two of Triaxial Management Services, Inc’s multi-million dollar three year contracts, with responsibilities for service and staff oversight in the company’s Oakland and Sacramento offices. Under Latasha’s leadership, the Triaxial team provided technical assistance, application review and consultation services to help prospective applicants apply for and procure federal contracts. This included providing services to numerous large prime contractors to help them identify and recruit qualified DBEs as project subcontractors. Latasha is a former member of CalTrans Small Business Council. For 7 years, Latasha worked for Citigroup in North Texas as a Commercial Risk Analyst, underwriting millions of dollars of business credit for their brand portfolio, Home Depot. |
VACANTSecretary of the Board
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A national thought leader in transportation policy and the mobility justice movement, Darnell Grisby joined TransForm as Executive Director in October 2020. He spent the previous nine years as Director of Policy Development and Research at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), where he helped to raise its profile and the impact of its advocacy. When Darnell was growing up in Southern California, limited transportation options, under-investment, and over-policing shaped his perspectives and set him on a path to public service and advocacy. He believes that explicitly anti-racist policy will confront the interlocking systems of oppression that underlie so many of our housing and transportation investments and policies. Darnell served as a legislative director and senior advisor in the California State Legislature and a lobbyist in Sacramento before working at Reconnecting America, a think tank devoted to smart growth. He has deep policy expertise in housing affordability, transit-oriented development, and the intersection of transportation and housing finance. Darnell has been quoted or featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and Bloomberg, among many other outlets. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at UCLA and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. |
