Josephine Ayankoya is a dedicated equity practitioner and public health professional with over a decade of experience directing systemwide change management, health equity, and community engagement initiatives across Bay Area government systems. Ms. Ayankoya specializes in creating, operationalizing, and evaluating equity frameworks, as well as mobilizing communities through data-driven and culturally responsive methods.

As Director of the Office of Equity for the County of Alameda, she developed a framework for operationalizing equity across county systems, established a 35-member, cross-departmental Equity Task Force, and supported strategic planning and reporting for the Alameda County Reparations Commission. When Josephine served as the Equity and Inclusion Officer for the City of Hayward, she directed strategic planning and community engagement for the Russell City Reparative Justice Project for families displaced by eminent domain. Ms. Ayankoya’s management of this community-driven effort ultimately led to a $1.3 million-dollar commitment from the County of Alameda and City of Hayward to establish a Russell City Redress Fund. Josephine was the inaugural Chief Equity Officer at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), where she developed the Office of Racial Equity and Belonging; trained supervisors and executive leadership on leading equitable teams; and directed the ongoing implementation, evaluation, and socialization of the department’s Racial Equity Action Plan.

In earlier roles at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), Ms. Ayankoya gained program management and community engagement experience in both the Behavioral Health Services and Population Health Divisions. In these roles, she managed over 275 supportive housing and emergency units for people experiencing homelessness; oversaw multiple population-based mental health programs; led local outreach, education, and recruitment for clinical HIV studies; and delivered trainings at global convenings of National Institutes of Health clinical trial networks. 

Josephine’s multidisciplinary approach to reducing disparities and optimizing access is informed by her Master of Public Health in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and her Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Carmen Berry has extensive experience and a proven commitment to program development and implementation for local government and private sector operations. As a Special Assistant to the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Racial Equity, Ms. Berry is responsible for supporting the office’s day-to-day operations and establishing and cultivating relationships with residents, community stakeholders, and community-based organizations. Before joining the Mayor’s Office of Racial Equity, Carmen served as Program Manager of the District’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. In this role, she wore many hats, including manager of the Family and Survivor Support team, tasked with providing direct support to families of homicide victims and survivors of shootings and stabbings. Carmen also served as a Community Outreach Coordinator under the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services’ Safer, Stronger DC Community Partnerships Office. In that role, Ms. Berry provided direct support to communities impacted by high rates of gun violence.

Before joining the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services’ office, Ms. Berry’s passion led her to the field of Public and Community Health. She managed a hypertension and diabetes screening and education program for MedStar Health by operating directly from African American barbershops across the District. She also served as a Senior Research Supervisor in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, examining how environmental exposure during pregnancy and early life might play a part in the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Carmen is a native Washingtonian and resides in her childhood home located in Ward 5. She holds a Master of Science in Health Education from Howard University and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from Morgan State University.

Allyson Criner Brown (she/her) is a seasoned equity and community engagement practitioner, trainer, and scholar who has served as the Training Specialist for the Mayor’s Office of Racial Equity since 2023. Her recent accomplishments include expanding the offerings and impact of ORE's trainings and producing the equity framework, related trainings, and the first agency-wide racial equity impact assessment (REIA) tools for the DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). In 2026, Allyson was named an individual finalist for the Calvin Cafritz Awards for Distinguished DC Government Employees, recognizing the impact of her career in District Government.

For more than a decade, Allyson led teacher training, curriculum development, anti-bias children’s book reviews, and parent organizing with DC Public Schools as the associate director of Teaching for Change. She became a noted voice for equity in public education, appearing in interviews, publications, and as a presenter in places such as Education Week, NPR, The Atlantic, U.S. Department of Education, National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and more. Allyson is co-author of Engagement for Equitable Outcomes: A Practitioner’s Playbook (Rowman & Littlefield/Bloomsbury, 2022), and her previous publications include the essay “Engaging and Embracing Black Parents” in Teaching When the World is on Fire (The New Press, 2019), edited by MacArthur “genius” fellow Lisa Delpit. Additionally, she is the editor of three Teaching for Change publications: Parent-Principal Chats Manual (2019), Parent Organization Equity & Inclusion Tool (2017), and the second edition of Between Families and Schools: Creating Meaningful Relationships (2016).

Allyson holds a Master of Public Administration from GWU’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, and a Bachelor’s in US History from the University of North Carolina.

Naomi Fassil is dedicated to improving policy administration for marginalized communities, bringing a range of experience in legislative affairs, data analysis and humanitarian assistance. As the Policy and Data Analyst for the Mayor’s Office of Racial Equity, she conducts policy research and data analysis to support the development of equitable outcomes across District agencies.

Prior to joining District Government, Naomi worked as an Employment Specialist for the International Rescue Committee and later the Ethiopian Community Development Council, where she supported refugee and immigrant economic integration through workforce programming and policy implementation. She also served as a Congressional Legislative Intern in the Office of former Representative Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick, conducting research and preparing policy analyses on issues including public health, education and social services. Earlier in her career, Naomi worked in both qualitative and quantitative research at PSB Global Insights, contributing to research initiatives for federal Government agencies, healthcare organizations and Fortune 500 clients. Passionate about combatting racial and ethnic disparities in education, Naomi serves as a volunteer, mentoring first-generation high school students pursuing higher education.

Naomi is a Master of Public Administration candidate at American University and earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Service, with a thematic concentration on justice, ethics and human rights from American University as well..