KARRAH LOMPA
CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Karrah is the Managing Director of the UCLA Luskin Social Justice Research Partnership, a community-based participatory research, policy, and evaluation center within the School of Public Affairs. Karrah is WLI’s Executive Director. With experience in community capacity building, nonprofit leadership, and operations and administration, she understands what it takes to engage community members and stakeholders to lead and grow very small nonprofit organizations. Karrah has been the project director on countless studies and evaluations – several highlights include: The White House Community Violence Intervention Collaborative (CVIC), a five-year study of Homeboy Industries, documenting the training and technical assistance strategies of The Community Based Public Safety Collective, implementing the first rigorous study of the Newark Community Street Team, and a comparative study of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Community Safety Partnership.
JORJA LEAP
CO-FOUNDER
Jorja Leap has been a member of the faculty of the Department of Social Welfare in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs since 1992 and serves as the Executive Director of the UCLA Social Justice Research Partnership. As an anthropologist and recognized expert in gangs, violence, and systems change, she develops, coordinates, and directs real-life scholarly efforts that involve research, evaluation, and policy recommendations. She served as the lead researcher for the White House Community Violence Intervention Collaborative (CVIC), and is currently conducting a longitudinal evaluation of Homeboy Industries, a multi-year evaluation of the Newark Community Street Team. She has long been actively engaged with the community leaders and residents in Watts as well as its nonprofit network. Dr. Leap has authored numerous reports, chapters, and books. Dr. Leap has been recipient of numerous awards, honors, and recognitions including receiving the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award in 2019 and inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction in 2023.
SUSANA BONIS
WLI COACH + SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT
Susana Bonis has two decades of experience working in the public and nonprofit sectors in California, Washington State, and Washington, DC, in the areas of strategic planning, fund development, program and curriculum design, training, research, and evaluation. She has worked with The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative in Boyle Heights, UCLA’s Watts Leadership Institute, and organizations such as the Alliance for a Better Community, the Latino Media Collaborative, SBCC Thrive LA, and the Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas/COFEM, among many others. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and has an M.A. in Education and a Ph.D. in Psychology, specializing in organizational behavior and evaluation and applied research.
REBECCA DENNY
COMMUNITY LIAISON
Rebecca is WLI’S Community Liaison, where she collaborates with cohort members and staff to develop, coordinate, and execute curriculum, meetings, and trainings, participates in community events, and liaises with community stakeholders and funders. Throughout college and since graduating from Chapman University, she has held positions with community-based organizations, a fundraising firm for nonprofit organizations and elected officials, and, most recently, the GRoW @ Annenberg initiative at the Annenberg Foundation. These roles have engaged Rebecca in wide-ranging capacities, including culturally competent and trauma-informed community building, program development, fundraising, event planning, and public relations. Rebecca is passionate about gun violence prevention, poverty reduction, racial equity, and developing people-centered interventions to address these systemic issues.
Dr. Rosina Becerra
Professor Emerita of Social Welfare, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Desiree Edwards
Owner, Watts Coffee House
Dr. Annalisa Enrile
Clinical Professor of Social Work, USC School of Social Work
Livier Gutierrez, MSW
PhD Candidate Social Welfare, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Dr. Sergio Rizzo-Fontanesi
Executive Director Beit T’Shuvah
Aqeela Sherrills
Co-Founder, The Community Based Public Safety Collective
