Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation at Home

Speaker Biographies

Michael Lezak

Michael Lezak is the Rabbi at GLIDE in San Francisco, a radically inclusive, just, and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization. He works in GLIDE’S Center for Social Justice, aiming to magnify the impact of GLIDE’s justice machinery and to forge covenantal bonds between GLIDE and communities throughout the Bay Area.

Rabbi Lezak brings 100+ civic, tech, and health care leaders on Glide’s annual Alabama Justice Pilgrimage. He spearheads groundbreaking work with law enforcement and district attorneys from around the country to help them understand the challenges faced by people living in extreme poverty.

In his previous position as a congregational rabbi in Marin County, he founded programs to love and support families and inmates at Pelican Bay, San Quentin, and Vacaville State Prisons. Rabbi Lezak is on the national board of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. He is married to Rabbi Noa Kushner and is the proud father of three daughters.
 

Judy Young

Judy Young, MPH is the Executive Director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (CoE) and the Co-Director of the UCSF Black Women’s Health & Livelihood Initiative. As an educator, mentor, activist, and advocate, she brings a personal passion and multi-dimensional lens to her work addressing health inequities, disparities, and social change. Ms. Young has worked in women’s health and community health for more than 25 years addressing issues including sexual health, HIV/AIDS, leadership development, and health disparities. She led the CoE’s Fostering Excellence in Women’s Health, a multi-year, multi-million dollar initiative enhancing academic-community partnerships across the national network of Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health. Under her leadership, the CoE’s Young Women’s Health and Leadership Programs in partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and other community organizations received a commendation from SFUSD and the UCSF University Community Partnerships Annual Excellence in Partnership Award.

Ms. Young’s current work with the Black Women’s Health & Livelihood Initiative focuses on addressing the health inequities of Black women in the Bay Area which includes developing programs and addressing policies so that Black women can lead, thrive, and contribute their optimal potential at work, home and in their communities.

Ms. Young is the inaugural co-chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences’ Diversity Committee and a member of the UCSF Chancellor’s Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion. She is a co-lead of the inaugural San Francisco Reproductive Justice Summit: Black Women Know, organized in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, health plans, and community organizations. Ms. Young is a member of the California Health Care Foundation’s Birth Equity Advisory Group.

Ms. Young received the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for the Advancement of Women (2010) and the UCSF Chancellor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award (2017). Ms. Young received her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Welfare from U.C Berkeley and her Master’s Degree in Public Health from San Jose State University.
 

Isoke Femi

Isoke Femi is the Maven of Transformative Learning in GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice. A co-founder and director of the Todos Institute, Isoke co-authored No Boundaries, a manual for intercultural alliance-building, and developed Leading With Soul, a curriculum for cultural leadership. For over 25 years, Isoke has worked with hundreds of groups throughout the United States, supporting them to appreciate and engage difference. In her work, Isoke draws on indigenous African concepts such as soul force, personalism, and vitalism, as ways of engaging and integrating learning.

 

London Breed

Mayor London Breed is a native San Franciscan, raised by her grandmother in Plaza East Public Housing in the Western Addition neighborhood. In June 2018, Mayor Breed was elected to be the first African American woman and second woman in San Francisco history to serve as Mayor. She was re-elected for her first full four-year term in November 2019.

She led San Francisco’s emergency response to COVID-19 and is currently guiding the City’s phased reopening and economic recovery. Recently, Mayor Breed announced her vision to fundamentally change the nature of policing in San Francisco and issued a set of policies to address structural inequities. Since becoming Mayor, she has focused on helping the City’s homeless population into care and shelter; adding more housing for residents of all income levels; helping those suffering from mental health and substance use disorder on San Francisco’s streets; ensuring that all San Franciscans have access to a thriving economy; making San Francisco a cleaner and safer city; and furthering San Francisco’s leadership in combating climate change.

Prior to public service, Mayor Breed served as Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex in the Western Addition for over a decade. She also served as a San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commissioner and in 2010 was appointed by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to be a San Francisco Fire Commissioner, where she served until her election to the Board of Supervisors.

In 2013, Mayor Breed was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 5 for six years, including three years as President of the Board.