Dr. Jonathan Butler, Chair is a research faculty member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Center for the Study of Adversity and Cardiovascular Disease (NURTURE Center), Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He is the associate director of UCSF’s Black Health Initiative. He is the 1st Vice-President and Health Committee Chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) San Francisco Branch. He is Young Professional Board member of the American Heart Association Greater Bay Area. He is a former appointed member and co-chair of the Sugary Drink Distributors Tax Advisory Committee (SDDTAC) of San Francisco representing the medical institution seat.
He is an associate minister at the historic Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, the executive director of the San Francisco African American Faith Based Coalition and San Francisco Students’ Back on Track Tutoring program.
Dr. Butler earned his Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Howard University. He earned his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He is also an avid reader, habitual gym-goer, and lover of music.
Bevan Dufty, Vice-Chair began a 40-year public service career in 1976 when he joined the staff of legendary Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (D-NY), the first African-American woman elected to Congress and 1972 Presidential candidate.
Bevan then became Chief Legislative Assistant to freshman Rep. Julian Dixon (D-CA) in 1979. Dixon served on the House Appropriations Committee and led the effort to fund the Metro Red Line, returning rail transit to Los Angeles.
Over the next eight years, Bevan coordinated the Southern California delegation’s efforts to appropriate Metro Rail funding and then served from 1989-1993 leading all federal affairs for the LA Metro agencies.
In 1993, Bevan returned to the Bay Area (he graduated from Menlo-Atherton H.S. and UC Berkeley) and helped his friend, Susan Leal, win appointment to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This began a 23-year City Hall career, including Legislative Aide to Supervisor Leal, Director of Neighborhood Services for Mayor Willie Brown, and his election to the Board of Supervisors for two terms (2002-2011) representing District 8.
From 2012-2015, Bevan served as Director of HOPE for the City and Mayor Lee, to innovate the City’s response to homelessness and he established the Navigation Center model and helped lead the effort that has housed over 500 formerly homeless veterans in San Francisco. Bevan partnered with Larkin Street Youth Services to open the Castro Young Adult Housing program that continues today at the Perramont Hotel. Bevan has worked extensively with families helping them to overcome hurdles and barriers in the below-market rent and SF Housing Authority housing placements.
In 2016, Bevan was elected to the BART Board of Directors representing the East Side of San Francisco and he was re-elected in 2020. Bevan has supported new approaches to engage with and help unhoused individuals such as the Ambassador program and addition of Crisis Intervention Specialists.
Bevan was born in New York City. His Father was a newspaperman and later co-authored “Lady Sings the Blues” with Bevan’s godmother, Billie Holiday. His Mother, Maely, managed Jazz musicians and worked in the Civil Rights Movement for A. Philip Randolph and the 1963 March on Washington.
Bevan is the proud parent to Sid Goldfader-Dufty along with co-parent, Rebecca Goldfader, NP.
Katie Albright is an attorney and children’s advocate with more than twenty-five years of legal and non-profit executive experience.
She served as the CEO and President of Safe & Sound for the past sixteen years, joining at the time it was called San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center. She now serves as Senior Advisor to focus on statewide policy to improve the well-being of children and families in California. Safe & Sound is a SF-based non-profit dedicated to improving the safety, health, and well-being of children and families through service, education, collaboration, and advocacy.
Katie’s prior experiences include SF Deputy City Attorney representing our public schools; SF Education Fund Policy Director leading a campaign to improve teacher quality and increase student retention; and, Preschool California Co-Director of Policy & Outreach campaigning statewide for universal preschool. Prior to serving as an associate at Latham & Watkins and clerking for the United States District Court in Maryland, she co-founded and taught in the Kayole-Gitau Nursery School & Community Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Katie earned her B.A. in History graduating with honors from Williams College and J.D. as a Public Interest Law Scholar graduating cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. She is an inaugural Ascend Fellow with The Aspen Institute, received a Social Entrepreneurship SEER Fellowship at Stanford University, and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of SF University High School. She was recently named as Commissioner to the SF Homeless Oversight Commission, and previously served on the boards of NARAL Pro-Choice America, NARAL Pro-Choice California, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, SF Board of Appeals, SF Juvenile Probation Commission, and SF Day School.
Christin Evans is a small business owner and homeless advocate. In 2018, Commissioner Evans served as a legal proponent for Our City Our Home (Proposition C) which raises approximately $300 million annually for housing, behavioral health, homeless prevention and shelter. She has been a volunteer with the Coalition on Homelessness and has observed over 100 encampment resolutions and sweeps. As owner of Booksmith and Alembic in the Haight-Ashbury, she has worked with local outreach workers to help homeless folks connect with appropriate resources in her community.
Joaquin Guerrero is a mediator, and housing justice advocate. Born in Mexico, Joaquin immigrated to Vancouver, BC before moving to San Francisco to work on gender and housing justice initiatives. As the Inaugural Director of Our Trans Home SF- a BIPOC led trans housing program- he led the opening of the first Transgender Navigation Center in the US and helped to envision the “End Trans Homelessness” initiative- the first “functional zero” initiative of it’s kind for trans and gender non-conforming people. Joaquin previously served on the Trans Advisory Committee of the Office of Trans Initiatives and the City and County’s Shelter Monitoring Committee. He currently is a Program Officer for the Arlene and Michael Rosen Foundation, a mediator in supportive housing for the San Francisco Bar Associations Conflict Intervention Services, and is a Capacity Coach for the Transgender Strategy Center with a focus on professional development for TGNC, BIPOC and formerly incarcerated people.
Sharky Laguana is an entrepreneur and musician with a diverse background and varied career path. As a youth he had foster parents and left home at an early age. He experienced homelessness, eventually securing a room in a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel on Market Street, where he also worked as the night clerk for several years while pursuing his passion for music. He started a band, Creeper Lagoon, which signed a major label recording agreement in the late 90s, but after a few rollercoaster years the band broke up in 2001. After working another series of entry level jobs, Sharky started a small business called Bandago in 2003, which rents passenger vans to touring musicians. He continues to run the company to this day. In 2019, he was appointed by Mayor Breed to the Small Business Commission, and was elected President of the commission by his fellow commissioners for each of the following three years 2020-2022. He also served on the Economic Recovery Task Force in 2020, and the Prop K committee in 2022. He was appointed by Mayor Breed to the Homeless Oversight Commission in 2023.