Board of Directors and Staff

Board of Directors

Eugene Smith, Chair

Eugene has been the International Delegate for SEIU Local 1000 since 2007, the former President of SEIU District Labor Council 744, former President CPAAA, and is currently a research analyst for the Department of Transportation. His experiences in the community include being a storyteller at Head Start, volunteering at the California Historical Society, membership in the Crime Prevention Council of Beat 20X and Community Builder with the San Antonio Neighborhood Network.

David J. Ritchie

David is a licensed attorney, and has been a Commissioner for both the Fair Campaign Practices and Open Government Commissions. He has also served for ten years on Berkeley’s Police Review Commission (PRC, being elected Chair three times. He researched, wrote, and presented Report On Drugs, the Drug War, and Public Health, policy paper and recommendations to Commission and to City Council. David is self-employed, involved in business projects and active in political, organizational, and educational activities with local political and community groups.

Grover C. Dye

Grover has a long history of community activism on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised, beginning on the East Coast, before and including the Civil Rights movement. Most recent activities have included: twice Chair, Paul Robeson Chapter of the A.C.L.U., Vice Chair, Local 1021, SEIU Alameda County Retirees Employees' Union and is a member several other non-profit organizations. Grover has been a member of PUEBLO for over twenty years, served as Chair for two terms and is currently PUEBLO's Vice-Chair of the Board.

Mary Vail, Esq.

Mary Vail first worked for over 25 years with the Bar Association of San Francisco, the ACLU and other community organizations in San Francisco, to create and strengthen the Office of Citizens Complaints and has continued this work in Oakland. Most recently, she has served as a member of Mayor Dellums Police Issues Task Force, working with Rashidah Grinage and other members of Pueblo. Mary is a former Chair of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women and former President of the Barristers Club of San Francisco. She has also served on the State and San Francisco County Democratic Party Central Committees and the Board of Directors of the SF Chapter of the NWPC. A retired federal employee since October 2009, Mary is a former member of SEIU and NLRBU Local's 20 and 32 and an active member of the East Bay Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and the Northern Alameda chapter of the N.W.P.C.

Don Macleay

Don was born in La Jolla, CA 1958. He has been a resident of Oakland CA since 1989 and has two sons. He was a general machinist for 19 years and has been self- employed as a computer tech since 1998. Don was a trade union organizer, shop steward and is a long time environmentalist. He has been active with various political and solidarity groups and is a Green Party activist. He has a background as an alternative energy specialist in small scale hydro and on the job training in watershed management and reforestation.

Don is a strong advocate for restorative justice and community policing. He is a Spanish speaker with a long history of involvement in 3rd world solidarity and alternative development. International citizen and polyglot, Don is a former long term resident of Quebec, English Canada and former long term resident of Quebec, English Canada and Nicaragua and has also worked in Italy, Germany and China.

Staff

Rashidah Grinage, Director

PUEBLO's Director is Rashidah Grinage. Rashidah has a background as a middle school teacher and earned her M.A. in Education from Holy Names College. She has been a resident of Oakland since 1976 and is the mother of four sons.

Rashidah joined PUEBLO in 1994 and has been active in PUEBLO's Campaign for Public Safety and Accountability. She has served on the City of Oakland's Community Policing Task Force, two task forces established to improve the Citizens' Police Review Board and, most recently, on Mayor Dellums' Task Force for Police Issues. Three years ago, Rashidah initiated an innovative program called Urban Youth Harvest which offers jobs to young people to harvest the excess fruit grown in Oakland and deliver it to low-income seniors who lack access to fresh produce. The program has grown and now includes job skills training, leadership development and political education components, as well as information about the relationship between good health and nutrition and fitness.

Grey Kolevzon, Development

Grey has spent over fifteen years in program development and implementation; administration; fundraising; staff/volunteer recruitment and training; and curriculum development. He is the co-founder/co-director of Cycles of Change, an Oakland non-profit that teaches young people bike repair, safety and riding skills. He has worked with over 9,000 Oakland, Berkeley, and Union City students over twelve-year period, played key role in developing over 15 school-based programs and recruiting/training 80+ staff and youth interns. Grey has raised over $1,000,000 in funds for direct service programs, and designed/installed 12 school and community gardens in collaboration with OUSD K-12 schools, OPR, and neighborhood-based CBO's. Grey has served on the Steering Committee/Action Team co-chair - HOPE Collaborative, the USDA Grants Review Panel, Oakland Bicycle Plan Advisory Committee and the OUSD Gardens Committee.

Rana Halpern, Finance Director

With over 15 years of experience in non-profit management, education and community development, Rana Halpern turned her focus to empowering non-profits, small businesses and start-ups with the tools and resources to manage and sustain successful business models. Inspired by her long history in various social justice movements in the Bay Area and nationally, and her investment in the communities she is a part of, Rana consults with a network of organizations and businesses to assist in starting businesses or non-profit organization.