Meet The Team

In 1995, Dr. Cummins founded New Visions Foundation with the mission of bringing quality education to more diverse students. New Visions birthed New Roads School to offer Engaged Education in a private-school setting to a socio-economically diverse student body. He then started three charter schools in low-income communities, as well as programs for foster youth and incarcerated youth.

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Roberta has held C-Suite positions in various industries. Today, while seeking her desire to give back and give thanks, she is able to apply her cultivated skill set as Executive Director. She is a former film industry executive with over 25 years of operational and financial expertise where she managed multi-million dollar budgets.

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Ja'Murl started as a C/Forward youth, and later joined as a Youth Navigator while attending Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC).  After graduating  from community college, he returned to the Coalition, and now works to help youth with similar circumstances he once had. As the Program Administrator, he enjoys working with social media, the company website, office admin related tasks, and in overseeing our Youth Navigator Program.

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Justan has been involved in community activism all throughout Los Angeles County for more than a decade. Growing up taking the bus all over to attend workshops, protests, and backyard Punk Rock shows, he began to build relationships with likeminded individuals and groups that believed under represented communities were entitled to a higher quality of life.

Ana comes with over a decade of experience working with formerly incarcerated and gang-involved youth. She was born in Mexico and raised in South Central Los Angeles where she experienced challenges similar those of our young people first-hand. Ana’s love for working with system-impacted youth comes from her aspiration to be the help she needed when she was their age. 

Bertha was born and raised in the city of Los Angeles and has been working with foster and justice system impacted youth for 16 years. Having personal lived experience with the foster and justice system, she is driven by making a difference in the lives of youth that have experienced challenges similar to her own. Bertha is dedicated to building strong relationships with youth and advocate for them. In her free time, Bertha enjoys spending time with her six children and grandson and going to car shows and concerts.

Bryan’s interest in the Criminal Justice field began after his final release from probation camp at the age of 15, when he had the opportunity to receive a full scholarship to attend a UCLA mock trial summer institute program. There he developed his interest in law. Bryan received his Bachelor's Degree from Cal State LA, majoring in Social Work with a minor in Criminal Justice.

Before joining the Coalition, Christine, a mother of two daughters, worked as a Court Appointment Special Advocate (CASA) for seven years on vital tasks like appropriate placements, health care and educational rights. While advocating on behalf of foster youth in court, along with her bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Juvenile Delinquency, she developed hope and understanding of pathways to positively impact underserved youth.

Amanda is a Los Angeles native and graduated from UCLA’s MSW program in June 2020. She has internship experience working in both school and community center environments followed by direct clinical experience working with TAY and older adults.

​Amanda joined the Coalition because it’s unique intersection of her interest and background in the foster youth community, arts and life skills programming, and data entry/evaluation.

Christina joins the Coalition as our newest case manager. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and began her career in case management at the age of 19. Christina has earned her certificate as a gang intervention specialist from Cal State LA and has served youth in the community with passion and drive. Her 11 years served as a paralegal in the juvenile court system and having lived as a justice-impacted individual,  allowed her to gain much insight into the lives of struggling youth. A mother of three, Christina loves to watch documentaries and explore music genres in her spare time.

Michelle, the Coalition’s Bookkeeper and Grant Coordinator is no stranger to nonprofits. After years of unfulfilling work as a production manager in the film industry, she became interested in doing work that would do some good for those who were overlooked in society. 

Christian has been with the C/HOPE program since 2011. He joined the Coalition because he wanted to get involved in assisting youth who have been impacted by the justice system. Working with youth and counselors and making a difference in others' lives is what motivated Chris to become a youth navigator.

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Jackie joined the Coalition because of her strong desire to help other youth like herself, to visualize that success is an option.

She wants to continue to learn how she can help others. In Jackies' free time, shes loves to play basketball and entertain her small cousins.

Nataly has an inate desire to help youth affected by the foster care and justice systems. She wants to find resources that can help youth be successful and strive for greatness. Seeing her mom help youth and young adults and putting a smiles on their faces is what motivated her to be an intern.​​ In her free time she enjoy playing sports and hanging out with my family.

Yahir joined the Coalition because he saw, at a young age,  how bad decisions can affect one's life tremendously. He does not want youth to have to learn through repeated bad decisions.  

Yahir plans to go to school for computer engineering. In his free time he likes to listen to music, play video games, and exercise.