top of page
20191113_214805_edited.jpg

MEET OUR TEAM
Alphabetical order by first name 
(click on letter)

A
20230103_144525.jpg

Amin Robinson
He/Him

Youth Services Coordinator 

1000020005.jpg
Angel Arellano 
She/They
Admin Assistant/Receptionist 
1000020009.jpg
Andy Cabrera
They/Them
Lead Benefits Enrollment Specialist
Anita_edited.jpg
Anita Thomas
She/They
Wellness Services Manager
20210702_160204_edited.jpg
Ashlee Banks
She/Her
Youth Services Manager 
BenJan_2021.png
Benjamin Jackson
He/Him

Clinic Services Manager

Benjamin Jackson was born and raised in Oakland ca. He is the Center's 1st Wellness Services Coordinator and is committed to linking our LGBTQ community to resources. A major focus of his work is to help improve health outcomes for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, with a special emphasis on those at the highest risk for contracting HIV and those living with HIV. He provides community members with information for housing assistance, food resources, education and training, addiction and recovery support & resources, health screenings, HIV testing, linkages to treatment and other wellness services. Benjamin has worked with a variety of patients in different healthcare settings and in 2014, he discovered his passion for Public Health as an AAHU fellow with the Black AIDS Institute in collaboration with UCLA. When Benjamin is not at the center, he enjoys cooking, maintaining his health and fitness, listening to music, attending concerts, shopping, and traveling with friends.

B
20231214_162043.jpg
Cata Stewart
She/Her
Recovery Services Specialist

Cata Stewart is a Recovery Specialist here at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center and is a Substance Use Disorder Certified Councelor II (SUDCCII), with 22 Years of sobriety. Her modalities are CBT, MI,DBT MBCT. "I’m grateful for organizations such as the LGBTQ center and other Programs that provide resources and support to special interest groups and marginalized populations. Through programs just like these I was afforded a life I couldn’t have imagined. I’m excited to serve the community in which Im a part of Thank you for letting me be of Service."

C
tmp_1629694084857_edited.jpg
Chris Palominos
He/Him
Outreach &Training Manager

Christopher J. Palominos was born in Modesto California and raised by his mother in a small town in Michoacan Mexico. Christopher credits his mother with helping to shape his personality and was a huge inspiration for him in every aspect of his life. At the age of 18, he moved back to the United States to learn English and to pursue his dreams. Chris worked in the financial industry helping clients to reach and exceed their personal financial goals. In the course of working as a Service Advisor, Chris became increasingly interested in community service. During his search for community service work , he learned about the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center and realized that it was the perfect opportunity to transfer the skills that he learned helping his clients reach their goals into helping community members and the Center to reach its goals. In his free time Chris enjoys traveling, meeting new people, exploring cultures and their cuisines. His favorite quote: " Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it because you can't know. You can't ever really know the meaning of your life. And you don't need to. Every life has a meaning, whether it lasts one hundred years or one hundred seconds." Ghandi

Donte_edited.jpg
Donte Washington
He/Him
ART Linkage &
Outreach Coordinator /Food Pantry Coordinator
20221215_171140.jpg
Cielo Flores
He/Him
Youth Services Operations Coordinator
D
J
1000019994.jpg
Jade Moncado
She/Her
Supportive Services Manager
Jessie_edited.jpg
Jessie Spivey
He/Him 
Elder Services Director

Jessie Ray Spivey is a Sacramento native and transplant to Oakland, who spent his previous years in public service and volunteering in the community. Jessie serves as Operations Manager at The Oakland LGBTQ Center and Co-Facilitator of Black Connect, a support group for Queer Black cis and trans masculine men. He is also the creator and founder of The Doudad, a full circle birth Doula practice that amplifies the voices of men in birthwork.

joe-hawkins-01_660xx3894-5192-0-0.jpg
Joe Hawkins
He/Him
CEO/Co-founder

Joe Hawkins is a noted, Oakland California based community organizer, LGBTQ advocate, non-profit executive, event producer, and social entrepreneur. Joe was named by Business Equality Magazine as one of America's Top 50 over 50 LGBTQ Legacy Leaders for 2019 and the San Francisco Business Times honored him with the 2022, Selisse Berry - Leadership Legacy Award. Joe first came to national prominence as one of the first gay men to ever appear as a guest on the iconic Oprah Winfrey talk show during the early 90's, defending his right to parent his son as an out gay man. He was one of the many early HIV/AIDS activist and appeared on numerous talk shows to include Geraldo Rivera and the PBS documentary series Frontline, to highlight the often overlooked, intersectional issues experienced by Black LGBTQ people, to a national audience. Among his many accomplishments, Joe is a co-founder and former co-chair of Oakland Pride and was voted Grand Marshall of both the San Francisco and Oakland Pride Parades. He worked as a founding program member and CEO of OpNet Community Ventures, one of America's first high-tech training programs, launched in 1995, for low income youth and youth of color in San Francisco. Joe served as Regional Director for Innovative Housing, a shared housing non-profit for low income families and individuals in Marin County. He worked as the Director of Administration at AIDS Project of the East Bay (APEB), served on the Ryan White Planning Council and was a founding organizer of the East Bay AIDS Walk. Joe also created California’s largest and longest running Black LGBTQ Film Festival and produced California’s longest running LGBTQ Hip-Hop event that lasted 25 years. He produces Blatino Oasis, California’s largest and longest running gay and bisexual men of color getaway retreat, held annually in Palm Springs, California. In 2017, Joe co-founded and is the CEO of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Oakland's first all inclusive, intergenerational, LGBTQ+ service center and a new model for service provision in Oakland. A military veteran, Joe’s service to the community has been recognized with numerous awards, including proclamations from 7 mayors of 3 cities and 4 governors in the state of California. His work with youth technology training programs was recognized by the White House and featured on Good Morning America and in numerous publications including USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. In 2014, the City of Oakland presented Joe with the Mayor's Proclamation, naming a day in his honor and in 2017, the Northern California chapter of the ACLU honored him with the Grover Dye award, their highest award for community activism. In 2018, his vision for LGBTQ wellness programming resulted in the LGBTQ center receiving the American Psychological Association's Presidential Citation Award and in 2023 the Center was featured in a national ad campaign for its HIV prevention efforts. Joe loves living in Oakland and the Bay Area and spending his free with his husband Nico, camping on the beach, touring California and spending time with his son and three beautiful grandchildren.

Awards & Features

click on links to view videos and articles  

JoannaHold2021.png
Johanna Holden
She/Her
Development Director

Johanna Holden grew up in the occupied Ohlone community of Huichin (Berkeley, California), where she skillfully avoided her bullies by playing in the mud, climbing trees, and dancing. A proud Jew, transgender woman, dyke, she sees her work as Development Director as part of the proud legacy of building economic, political, and cultural independence for people of color-led community organizations in Oakland. She is overjoyed to be part of the thriving community that has sprung up around the Oakland LGBTQ Center, and when not writing grants, talking to donors, and finding ways to make non-profits serve the people, she co-facilitates the center’s White Allyship and Accountability Group and the Trans Women and Trans Femmes’ Support Circle. In her free time, she studies decolonized herbalism at Oakland’s Ancestral Apothecary, snuggles her cats, and cooks, dreams, laughs, and dances the revolution into being with her chosen family.

20230103_144439.jpg
Jose Perez
He/Him

Wellness Services Director

Jose Perez was born in the “eternal spring land” of Guatemala and raised in Oakland California. After working for over 10 years in the financial services industry, helping clients attain the best financial future possible, Jose decided to seek opportunities to use his skills to help members of the LGBTQ Community. His search led him to the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, in 2018, where he offered volunteer personal financial management workshops. Jose has now proudly joined the staff as a Wellness Services Coordinator, to fully devote himself to community service work. In his new role, he will primarily assist community members by helping them navigate a variety of psychosocial, educational, financial, and healthcare service systems, in order to access the support that they need. Jose's services at the Center also include community outreach, support group facilitation and health awareness presentations, to meet the holistic needs of our LGBTQ+ community. Jose’s favorite quote: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world “ ~Mahatma Gandhi. ln his free time, Jose enjoys the gym, trying new foods, nature hikes, writing and interior design.

Power X is a Latino/Latinx Affinity group 

Learn more about our group, click here 

20240103_123619.jpg

Julian is a proud Bay Area native, born in Hayward, California and raised by hardworking Filipinx immigrant parents, grandparents, and aunties. As a queer non-binary person and one of the first in their family to grow up in the United States, Julian naturally found a passion for advancing the social justice, visibility, and welfare of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC folx. After obtaining their B.A. in History from the University of California, Davis, Julian worked in a variety of human/social services positions throughout the Bay Area, ranging from educational support services, local elections, child welfare, family caregiver support, and now as a social services professional for the LGBTQ+ and senior community. Julian is delighted to work at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center to help LGBTQ+ seniors get connected with vital services and support, such as food assistance, housing and relocation, mental health support, sexual health services, and more. In their free time, Julian enjoys cooking recipes from different cuisines, traveling, attending concerts and music festivals, collecting crystals, reading Tarot, visiting the ocean, spending time with friends and family, and cuddling with their Beagle, Rover.

Julian Leus
They/Them
Elder Services Coordinator
Josiliyn_edited.jpg
Josilyn Green
She/Her
Youth Advocate
K
20201104_153055_edited.jpg

When Kayla was a little girl, she would dream of one day becoming a doctor. "I always had a passion for helping people in any capacity." Although her life took a different path, she grew into a stronger, wiser individual in ways many are not. While surviving on the streets and engaging in sex work, Kayla says she remembered asking GOD "Was this the plan you have for me, is this the only thing that I am good for?" Then a second later, she received a phone call from a friend who offered her an opportunity that would change her life forever. "I felt as if my dreams were really coming true." ​ Kayla started volunteering as a peer advocate at Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, and was eventually offered a full-time position for one of their programs called Transvision. The program was created to offer medical services to include hormone therapy, labs, linkage to care & treatment, mental health support, and substance abuse counseling, to people of trans-experience. After 5 years, Kayla was blessed with another opportunity at an organization called CalPep in Oakland. While there, she learned to strengthen her case management skills, conduct street outreach and HIV testing to people who are among the most marginalized and often overlooked, simply because of the color of there skin or how they identify. Kayla believes that the fight for a seat at the table for gender equality and inclusivity amongst black and brown people of trans-experience in the workplace is just getting started and said "I’m strapped up ready for war." Kayla currently works as a Wellness Services Coordinator, helping LGBTQ people learn how to access and utilize the support that they need in order to live healthier lives.

Kayla Moore
She/Her
Wellness  Services Coordinator
L
20231122_140336.jpg
Lamar Coke
He/Him
Outreach worker-Recovery Services
Sandy_edited_edited.jpg
Lasandra Williams
She/Her
Youth Services Director
1000020000.jpg
Lulu Rossbacher
She/Her
Clinic Admin Coordinator
Mauri_2021.png

Maurice Tobin is the Center's Director of Prevention Services and has worked with non-profits in Oakland for over 14 years. He is a licensed phlebotomist, certified sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing counselor and community health educator. Maurice came to the Center from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, where he worked as a Disease Control Investigator. His commitment to helping reduce the spread of HIV, Hepatitis C and STI’s, allowed him to work with organizations both locally and nationwide.

No More Hiding & Beautifully Imperfect

Visit his website here to learn more

R
Rosalind Peppers.jpg
Rosalind Peppers
She/Her
Office Manager
1000020002.jpg
Sam Claude
They/Them
Recovery Services Specialist
20231121_114056.jpg
Stephanie Wilborn
She/Her
Youth Education & Training Manager
Tim_1_edited.jpg
Tim Nguyen, PA,MPH, CAQ-Psychiatry, AAHIVS
He/Him

Lifelong Medical Care Provider

Tim Nguyen is a practicing Physicians Assistant (PA) at the Glenn Burke Wellness Clinic (GBWC), a project of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center. He has an undergraduate background in molecular and cell biology and health sciences from the University of California Berkeley. Tim completed his masters degree in kinesiology at SF State University, studying the effects of exercise on the immune system. He went on to complete his graduate training, obtaining a double masters in physician assistant studies and public health at Touro University California. While practicing primary care, he completed additional specialty certifications in HIV medicine with the AAHIVM and psychiatry, with the National PA Board. Clinically, Tim has been practicing primary care for the past eight years, with a clinical focus on psychiatry, HIV medicine, and LGBTQ health. Tim's hobbies include reading, drumming, gardening, hiking, and traveling.

T
Q
1000019997 (1).jpg
Quinn Fowler
They/Them/She
Clinic Lab Technician 
W
WinterO_2021.png
Winter Oxford
She/her
Executive Assistant 

Winter is a California native with familial Georgia roots who grew up in a large predominately Latin family in Salinas, CA. While attending CSU Sacramento in pursuit of a degree in Journalism with a minor in Ethnic Studies, she developed an awareness to the privileges of some, while also being confronted with the realities and disadvantages of under-served communities. Spending her teenage years to mid 20’s experiencing all the culture the Bay Area has to offer, Winter decided to plant roots in Oakland in 2014. Since then, she has worked with the LGBTQ community, the service industry and in the health and wellness sector. She has over 10 plus years of customer service experience and has managed and been an integral part of various team efforts and has a knack for aiding businesses to move more efficiently and increase productivity. She brings her knowledge and love of the community to the Center and works to help people access the resources that they need, in order to thrive. She attributes her strong work ethic, empathy, and desire for learning new cultures to her mother who has constantly supported every personal endeavor. In her downtime she is in school and studying to obtain her real estate license, learning about holistic wellness including herbalism, voicing her strong stance in regards to current and past social unrest and economic disparities to those who need to hear it, bartending private parties/events, and of course binge shopping the most adorable sweaters for her four-legged child (a small terrier mix with the attitude of a grumpy elderly socialite) Marvin.

Administrative Volunteer

20191218_180200.jpg

Eric Hsu

Volunteer Web Admin

FB_IMG_1663560947191_edited.jpg

Nicholas D. Clemente 

Peer Group Facilitators

Dawn Edwards

Marisa Musso 

Paul Bolduc

bottom of page