Adam is the Director of Independent Political Organizing, Center for Popular Democracy. Adam has 20+ years of organization-building experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. Adam was hired as Campaign Manager for the Just Cause Evictions campaign in Oakland in 2002, the organization’s first staff position, and continued working with Just Cause (now Causa Justa :: Just Cause) for 13 years. In his time at CJJC, he helped to build up the organizing campaigns, electoral work and infrastructure, and helped facilitate two mergers with allied organizations.
Maisha is a Program Officer at the Libra Foundation focused on Libra’s Criminal Justice & Drug Policy Reform work. She has nearly twenty years of experience as a social justice organizer, cultural worker, arts and policy manager, communications director, and grantmaker.
With a deep understanding of intersectionality, her work is guided by her commitment to build power and self-determination in marginalized communities.
She has extensive experience in campaign and cultural strategy development, people-centered communications, facilitation and partnership management, staff supervision, budget and grant management, research and writing, collaborative leadership, and impact evaluation.
“I’ve been organizing for the self-determination and liberation of Black and marginalized communities since I was in high school, and like CJJC, I believe that building power among those most impacted by the systemic issues that are literally killing us is paramount to our freedom.
“I’ve always had a deep respect for CJJC’s decades-long work in marginalized and impacted communities to ensure equitable and safe housing, and thriving, self-determined neighborhoods across this country, and I’m honored and excited to join the board.”
Shaketa brings her experience and wisdom to CJJC after years of organizing to defund the police in Buffalo, NY. Her approach to leadership is rooted in the belief that our liberation is interdependent and intertwined, and that when Black and Brown communities win, we all get more free. Shaketa’s fierce commitment to base building comes from the knowledge that only through building real power to transform capitalism can we achieve the changes our communities need and deserve. Shaketa loves thinking about how we transform ourselves as we transform systems. When not at work, you can find Shaketa exploring new music, doing yoga, eating fancy ice cream, and finding joy in her family. If reincarnated, Shaketa hopes to return again as a Black woman.
