Staff
Teiahsha Bankhead, Ph.D., LCSW, Executive Director, is a social justice activist, a restorative justice advocate, a licensed psychotherapist and a professor with both MSW and Ph.D. degrees in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. Born to a Black radical mother during the uprising of the Watts Rebellion and coming of age in South Central Los Angeles during the embittered racial relations and social unrest of the civil rights era ignited within Dr. Bankhead a passionate commitment to social justice advocacy and transformative community empowerment. Dr. Bankhead has a commitment to racial justice, racial healing and restorative economics. She has taught racial, gender and sexual orientation diversity, theories of criminal behavior, and US social policy at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She speaks and holds circle on the subjects of School-Based Restorative Justice, Race and Restorative Justice, the Indigenous Roots of Restorative Justice, Social Justice and Restorative Justice, Truth-Telling and Racial Healing, Youth-Led and Movement-Based Restorative Justice, the School-to-Prison Pipeline, Mass Incarceration, and Restorative Cities.
Jodie Geddes is an international speaker on restorative justice, author, and advocate for racial healing and justice. She has an MA in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. While there, Jodie explored the intersections of peacebuilding, restorative justice, and systems change. As a Jamaican native who grew up in Brooklyn, NY, she uses her journey as a catalyst for creating new narratives about the Black experience and the possibilities for healing. Jodie serves as the Safe Outside the System Program Director at RJOY (Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth), providing support for community members experiencing a crisis with mental wellness and other community resources. In addition, she is the Co-Manager for CTTT (Coming to The Table), providing training and resources for communities and individuals to explore the history and legacy of enslavement.
Jodie is the co-author of the Little Book of Racial Healing: Coming to the Table for Truth-Telling, Liberation, and Transformation. In addition, she co-hosts a podcast called Ma.ternity Leave.
Gary Malachi Scott is the Re-entry and Community Restorative Justice Coordinator. He co-founded the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council and is on the Safety and Services Oversight Commission (Measure Z) in Oakland. Malachi has experience as a journalist, including articles in the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has been featured in other articles around the issue of incarceration and restorative justice. He came to restorative justice through the Victim Offender Education Group, a program of the Insight Prison Project, while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. During his incarceration, he obtained an Associate’s Degree, co-founded a restorative-justice based group called Kid C.A.T. (Creating Awareness Together) and was the sports editor for the San Quentin Prison News.
Dr. Komoia Johnson currently serves as the Program Director for RJOY. She is an experienced Trainer, Curriculum Designer, and Restorative Justice (RJ)/Conflict Resolution Practitioner in the Bay Area since 2006. Her training audience includes teachers, students, families, and administrators, locally and nationally as well as community-based organizations, professors, teachers in training, and mental health interns and licensed practitioners in higher education. In addition to restorative justice and conflict resolution skills, Dr. Johnson is trained in Nonviolent Communication, Behavior Analysis Case Management, and Coaching for Equity.
Credible Messenger Manager
After graduating college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Reuben began his career on the East Coast in the Tri-State Area, where his work consisted of Group homes and Juvenile Detention Centers. He would eventually move to the Bay Area, where he started his career in OUSD as a Restorative Justice Schools Facilitator for 7 years. After gaining a ton of experience working in schools, Reuben would take it a step further by aligning with organizations in the community that focused on restorative healing for the entire family. This led to where he is now, at Restorative Justice For Oakland Youth. His goal is to not only create safe spaces for young people to address their trauma, but also create healing spaces for their families and the communities that they reside in.
Dr. Jerdine Clarke- Clinical Director (she/her/hers)
Jerdine Clarke, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who graduated from the Wright Institute in Berkeley. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Berkeley in African American Studies. Dr. Clarke is excited to join the RJOY family and brings with her over 25 years of working with trauma across the lifespan. Dr. Clarke is an APA Minority Fellow who brings her passion for enacting social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in more than just clinical spaces. She completed her post-doctoral clinical training at Kaiser Permanente Oakland’s Child and Family Psychiatry in their Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and at Core Insights Psychological Group. Dr. Clarke completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Wright Institute where she helped develop graduate student leadership through mentorship and teaching and provided consultation to students and staff around DEI related challenges. Dr. Clarke’s APA doctoral internship was completed at Kennedy Krieger Institute in the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress in Baltimore, Maryland and her dissertation focused on the impact on gender and race in assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for commercially sexually trafficked children. Prior to beginning her graduate studies Dr. Clarke worked at the Victim Services Division at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office supporting child and adult survivors of violent crime. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Clarke has worked in and with various community-based agencies and grassroots movements to promote individual and community activism, involvement, and empowerment. Dr. Clarke also runs a small private practice in Alameda
Linda Grubbs joined RJOY in 2023 and now serves Human Resources and Finance Manager. She has a Master of Education with an emphasis in Instructional Technology and spent 16 years on the business side of the healthcare field. She is a Learning and Development Specialist whose experience includes Program and People Management; Instructional Design, Curriculum Development, and Training; Workshop Development, Design, and Delivery; and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. While new to Restorative Justice, Linda is excited about using her skills and experience in this area. She spent the past 16 years supporting a system-impacted family member in upstate New York, and she is eager to help RJOY further its mission in Oakland and the Bay Area.
Charles Anderson is a Los Angeles native passionate about personal development and encouraging positive change in those around him and within his community. He studied Africana Studies at San Diego State University and works at Pottery Barn in the Digital Creative department.
Charles is currently serving as the Black Associate Network (BAN) Chair of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. His team’s efforts are focused on producing comprehensive programming for associates in the various work centers across the eight brands nationwide. In 2022, as BAN Co-Chair, Anderson secured the allocation of $100,000 in company sponsorship to assist the missions of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, NAACP, and National Urban League.
Charles’ vision is to continue contributing his knowledge and passion by supporting causes he upholds and values. He has served as President of the The Urban League of San Diego County Young Professionals Chapter, NULYP Western Region Vice President, NULYP Programs Committee Member, NULYP Leadership, Training, Development Committee Member, Chapter Advisor for the San Diego NAACP Youth and College Chapter, and NSBE’s Region VI Technical Outreach & Community Help Chair (T.O.R.C.H.). His energy stems from visualizing the potential in people and projects and pushing them past boundaries that may look impossible to achieve extraordinary results.
A magnetic restorative justice leader and facilitator, Colleen Tiffenson holds the reimagination of a school climate culture that could interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline as the core of her work with young people at Bret Harte Middle School in Oakland. The recipient of a double Ivy League higher education, and extensive work experience advocating for folks on the margins, Colleen is masterful at creating community and brings a practical yet human-centered approach to her practice as an RJOY staff member, facilitating a weekly Sista Cypher healing space for intergenerational women of color seeking support and connection.
Jonathan Hampton comes to RJOY after serving 15 years on an indeterminate sentence. He draws from his experience of navigating his way throughout both the State and Federal habeas corpus ladder. Jonathan currently shares his knowledge as a Credible Messenger at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center and Camp Wilmont Sweeney.
max cadji is the happy father of Felana, JJ, and Hery. He is a farmer, food &restorative justice advocate with over 20 years of installing greenhouses, community gardens, small farmers, and farmers markets across Northern California. He also has done community based restorative justice work for the last 15 years with the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council. Max cares for the Ubuntu Orchard at RJOY as well as doing community outreach work.
Taribu Shakur serves as a Credible Messenger with RJOY. He comes from a long line of generational trauma and made his transformation at the age of 25. Taribu has been immensely impacted by the injustice system. He believes RJOY has helped empower him to move deeper towards his vision and passion. He is excited to bring his nearly 34 years of experience to at-risk youth.
Taribu says, “I am about organizing the unorganized and reorganizing the organized in the complete interest of amelioration.”
Tommy “Shakur” Ross was paroled in 2023, after being imprisoned for 37 years. During his incarceration, Shakur transformed his life and accomplished many achievements. He has gained training and experience as a peer health educator, circle keeper, group facilitator, podcaster, mentor, event planner/organizer, and restorative justice practitioner. In June 2022, Shakur joined RJOY as a Restorative Justice Coordinator. Shakur currently facilitates the Freedom Circle, a circle for formerly incarcerated and carceral-impacted people.
Sundus Waqia has been with RJOY for 3 years. She embarked on her journey starting at the RJOY Ubuntu Farm and Healing Center during the 2021 summer program. She began as an Intern and made her way to the Associate position. Currently, she leads the hybrid Black Women’s Circle on Monday nights. She also holds a weekly Peer Circle for young people at the Dimond Library Branch.
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Jacqueline E. Harrison is a native of Oakland, Ca. She is a Doctoral Graduate of USC School of Social Work and also holds a master degree in Communications & Media Technology from the Academy of Arts.She is an accomplished scholar-athelete and a Big West Champion in the the 400 meter. She brings practical, applied solutions to large-scale social challenges to RJOY, including successful mentorship programs for at risk youth and policy to address systemic inequities.
Jacqueline Harrison is ROY’s “Grants & Contracts Manager”
Credible Messenger, RJOY
As an Associate at RJOY, I support our Youth Program by building meaningful relationships with students across high schools, helping them stay on track for graduation, and creating spaces where they can express themselves and be vulnerable. I also serve as a Credible Messenger at the Juvenile Justice Center, working directly with incarcerated youth through one-on-one conversations, mentorship, and presence.
My path to this work is deeply personal. Having experienced incarceration myself, I know firsthand how much it means to have someone see your potential when you’re at your lowest. That experience sparked a commitment in me to show up for young people in ways I once needed—to support them in becoming their best selves and remind them of their worth.
My roots are in the Bay Area, where I earned my high school diploma from Skyline High School and later graduated from the University of San Francisco in 2024 with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in African American Studies. Most of my work has been in youth-centered nonprofits, including First Place for Youth and Greater New Beginnings group home. Before stepping fully into youth advocacy, I also had early experience in journalism—working on-air with YR Media (formerly Youth Radio) and in front of the camera with the San Francisco Chronicle as they tracked my transition from high school to college.
What brings me joy is writing poetry, being outdoors, and spending time with people I care about. I’m committed to growth—my own and that of those around me—and always looking for ways to elevate, learn, and give back.
Therapist, RJOY
Karena is committed to healing & justice, with an emphasis on restorative practices in carceral settings & communities. She strives to co-create communities where truth-telling & dignity are tended and celebrated, and has consulted at community, state, national, and international levels. Karena loves all things food, learning from horses, and envisions her future on a sun-drenched compound, full of her beloveds. Karena maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Berkeley, CA.
I am most present on and around horses – this – and they – bring me joy.
Ryan is a Care Manager and Youth Internship Program Coordinator at RJOY. He is an Oakland native and graduate of Morehouse College with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science. He uses his experience in community organizing and activism from Oakland to Atlanta, combined with a professional history of service and administrative roles to deliver trauma informed care. As a Care Manager he uses his passion for Black liberation, human rights and transformative justice to coordinate care for Oakland residents and as a Youth Program coordinator, he is employing his restorative justice training to facilitate community-building and harm-reduction circles. He is impact driven and eager to learn more about constructive solutions to structural inequality.
Clinical Trainee, RJOY
Clinical Trainee, RJOY
Nailah Alexandre is a second-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the Wright Institute and currently a clinical trainee at RJOY. She holds a master’s degree in Psychology from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Florida International University .
Nailah began her career in community mental health, working with local nonprofit organizations focused on increasing public access to mental health services. She later transitioned to working in school settings with children and young adults with disabilities, and also has experience providing crisis support to diverse populations.
As a clinical trainee, Nailah is committed to creating a safe, supportive space for clients as they navigate their counseling journey. She aims to help individuals explore how their personal experiences have shaped their identities and how they engage with the world today.
My hobbies include watching movies, reading, and playing the violin