2021 DangerMan Hero Award Honorees

Rev. Dawnesha K. Beaver, MPH, MAT

Rev. Dawnesha K. Beaver, MPH, MAT, is an experienced and successful non-profit leader with more than 10 years of experience driving superior operations and overall performance, she possesses a wide range of knowledge and experience that will support your work in addressing the long-standing discriminatory practices in underserved communities in education, housing, transportation, employment, and community planning and investment.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from California State University, Los Angeles. In 2007, she graduated from Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, summa cum laude, with a master’s degree in urban public health. In June 2015, Dawnesha graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary with a master’s degree in theology with an emphasis in youth, family and culture. She also is a fellow of the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement. In addition, she is a proud member of the Los Angeles Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Currently, Dawnesha works as Program Coordinator for Kedren Vaccines: A Division of Kedren Community Health Center through the Bloomberg Foundation with Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science as well as Executive Minister at New Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of Los Angeles. Her motto is “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

Alberta Brinson Moore

Alberta Brinson Moore, resident of Leimert Park, within the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles. BA in Urban Studies, a minor in Business Management, Loyola Marymount University 1984. Masters in Behavior Science: Negotiation and Conflict Management, California State Dominguez Hills 1994. Retired from State Farm Insurance Company after 28 years in Claims and Suit Negotiations. Currently, Randal Simmons Outreach Foundation Board of Directors, South Central Regional Center, Self Determination Advisory Committee, LAUSD Parent advocate. Started Blog African Americans-understanding the real cost of college. Community Response System of South Los Angeles- Leadership Team/ Education Co-Chair/ Health Committee. Founding member of NAAPY- National Association of African American Parent & Youth- Current Vice President. Founding member of LMU African American Alumni Association, the current president. Founding member of The Independent Black Families Education Coalition of Los Angeles. BSAP engagement specialist – LMU/Urban League/Speak-Up project Cultivating Young Black Excellence and UCLA Parent Empowerment Project (PAL).

John Smith

President and founder of Neighbors Empowering Youth Inc. (NEY)

As founding President and CEO of NEY, Mr. Smith envisions a time when every child and low-income family in the Pasadena/ Altadena and Los Angeles County, will have a computer, internet access and the technology skills necessary to succeed in school and work. John has taken an active role in developing innovative initiatives and pro-active programs which brings the use of technology to life. Under his leadership, Neighbors Empowering Youth Inc.; has grown ten-fold since its establishment in 1998 and has been recognized and awarded many times for its in-home computer placements, robotics and after-school programs. John has helped numerous non-profits in the community implement technology programs and has received support and donations from corporations and elected officials.

He has over 30 years of citizen service to his country and community. Seven years in the United States Army as a Non-Commissioned Officer and Twenty-six years with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a Response and Recovery Logistics Section Chief. For John Smith, public service has not been just something to do on occasion; it has been the driving doctrines of his life. “God, Family and Country” drive his passions and goals.

Cheryl Branch

Executive Director of Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches

Cheryl is the Executive Director of Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches (LAM). LAM is not a church. LAM is a faith-based organization. LAM  imagines a future in which all workers can rapidly attain new and more relevant skills to their current workplace – and their next one. Novel solutions developed by LAM workforce teams uplift the local labor market and close the widening skills gap. LAM provides tailored solutions to incredibly challenging, complicated workforce development situations.

We are reimagining the entire work process from education to employment. We are an urban lab that improves public goods and services by harnessing unique information and resources in small businesses and local communities. We work at the intersection of health, equity, and justice. We do this by:

• Reimagining workforce development for the 21st Century
• Shaping compelling narratives and messages
• Leverage existing infrastructure and relational networks of African American neighborhood churches in South LA
• Building the capacity of licensed cannabis social equity business owners to implement transitional worker requirements
• Engaging with policy experts, system leaders, artists, creatives, business, and black culture makers as powerful storytellers to shift the public discourse towards access to capital, business development, compliant real estate, legal services, job creation, diversity, and inclusion.

Corrine Paige and Candida Centieo

Queue Up Horseback Riding Club

Our focus is to provide an all-around social integration for members with PTSD, emotional behavioral, social, mental, physical, Autism, learning or languages disabilities. The escort for the Special Needs Riders AND Veterans is the Royal Riders At- Risk Youth and A Royal At-Risk Youth and Adult Riders Horseback Riding environment is geared to help inner city youths and adults become well rounded and productive citizens.

Training includes fundamentals that all equestrians should know; such as stabling, feeding and proper grooming of horses, and saddling procedures as part of the general lesson plan. We also go out on various field trips with career-education in mind to expand their horizons.

We encourage the consumers to become involved with apprenticeships, job placement centers and entrepreneurial programs, which will introduce the youth to some of the more lucrative careers. Activities that the students participate in are Bull riding, Team Penning, Bull Dogging, Barrel Racing Competition and other programs. Education is stressed, our written work includes: Reading, Math, History, and most aspects of Animal Husbandry. We help with tutoring in an unofficial After School Program.

www.coreresponse.org

CORE

When a crisis strikes, CORE responds immediately to fill gaps, mobilize resources, and establish trust and collaboration from within communities to empower them to break perennial cycles of poverty and vulnerability. CORE focuses on equity by bringing relief directly to those who need it most. Our efforts are driven by a focus on equity, locally hired staff, and an investment that starts from within the community and adapts to its dynamic needs.

CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) is a non-profit organization founded by actor Sean Penn in response to the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The organization was founded in 2010 and changed its name in 2019 to receive contracts and donations to work globally.

CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) is a non-profit organization founded by actor Sean Penn in response to the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The organization was founded in 2010 and changed its name in 2019 to receive contracts and donations to work globally.

www.courageouswomanmag.com

Telishia Berry

Telishia Berry is the CEO of Strive Publishing and Editor-in-Chief of Courageous Woman Magazine and its spin-offs, Courageous Men Magazine and Author’s Who Launch Magazine, and an upcoming fitness magazine As an International Speaker, Telishia encourages women Worldwide to believe in themselves, start where they are, and use what they have to live their dreams, launch their products, services, and books. Telishia has deep roots in the arts. Her love for acting and performing has taken her around the country, performing as an actress in off-Broadway plays. She honed her skills in her first love, Theater. She has written, produced, and directed numerous stage productions. She is currently preparing to produce a web series and a movie she wrote based on her novel, The Baptist Junkie.

www.crssla.org

www.communitybuild.org

Robert Sausedo

Robert M. Sausedo is the new President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Build, a non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of South Los Angeles through human capital investment, community economic development, and commercial economic development.

A native Angeleno, Sausedo has been engaged and involved with civic matters that impact youth, economic development, social justice and literacy for over 30 years. He, along with several of his colleagues, led a post-1992 Civil Unrest effort to rebuild and expand the Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library in the Jefferson Park community of Los Angeles.

Most recently, Sausedo served as Deputy for Agency and Review for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. His responsibilities included a broad portfolio covering economic development, community engagement, commission appointments and development. Prior to joining Supervisor Ridley-Thomas’ staff, Sausedo held several local, statewide and national positions in the energy efficiency and financial services sectors.

As Community Build’s President and CEO, Sausedo will manage a staff of 68 in two, separate locations, the administrative offices in Leimert Park and the Youth and Community Center. One of Sausedo’s major responsibilities will be leading executive management in identifying new program services and growth opportunities that will enable Community Build to achieve its strategic objectives and ensure long-term viability as a key African-American community development corporation that meets the unique needs of underserved groups in South Los Angeles and adjacent service areas.

www.facebook.com/jerryabraham

Jerry P. Abraham, MD, MPH, CMQ

Director, Kedren Vaccines (A Division Of Kedren Community Health Center Inc)

Dr. Jerry P. Abraham serves as an advocate for equal access to public health and healthcare for allpeople across Los Angeles. Throughout his time working as the director of Kedren Vaccines, he hasfought for the rights of several minority groups such as black, Hispanic, Asian, and LGBTcommunities, specifically their right to reliable and nondiscriminatory care. Through a mixture ofavid social activism and an extensive history of medical experience, Dr. Abraham has spent hiscareer working to prioritize those who are often abused and neglected within the medical sector.
Dr. Abraham is a graduate of multiple medical institutions such as the Emory University RollinsSchool of Public Health, Harvard University School of Public Health, The University of Texas Schoolof Medicine, and the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

On top of hiseducational history, he is also a leader of several prestigious organizations such as Councilor of theAmerican Medical Association, member of the American Public Health Association, Delegate of theUnited States Pharmacopeia, Trustee of the California Medical Association, Treasurer of the LosAngeles County Medical Association, and many more.

He serves on the Faculty of the Charles DrewUniversity School of Medicine, the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and the USC Keck Schoolof Medicine.

During COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Abraham has taken admirable initiatives to ensure that as manymembers of the Los Angeles community as possible are properly vaccinated and protected fromcoronavirus. He has created a program in which residents of underprivileged neighborhoods, thosewithout reliable transportation, and people experiencing homelessness could not only be providedaccess to the vaccine itself but also a reliable patient education on vaccination safety. Dr. Abrahamand his team has vaccinated over 300,000 members of the South Los Angeles Community, savingcountless lives, and further keeping the community safe.

Dr. Abraham was awarded the 2021 Hero of Family Medicine Award for his passionate advocacy forpatients, colleagues, and the family medicine specialty. He also recently was awarded the 2021Compassionate Physician of the Year award by the California Medical Association.
He fought forequitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution in his community as well as the democratization of healthcare everywhere.

His passion for furthering the rights of underprivileged communities and expanding the bounds oftraditional medical care as well as his deep love for the people of Los Angeles has shaped hiscareer. Dr. Abraham will continue to be one of the driving forces in the overall efforts to improvethe public access to healthcare.

DGB-web-Project

David G. Brown

David G. Brown is an NAACP Image Award winning artist, educator and publisher. He conducts art workshops and produces award winning Political cartoons, graphics novels and comic books with positive messages for others. Brown is a former certified teacher of Arts, Media and Entertainment for the Los Angeles Unified School District and instructor of Cartoon Art for the California Institute for the Arts ArtSmart Program.

Since 2003 he has been the political cartoonist for the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper. Brown has been awarded multiple prestigious Merit Awards for “Best Editorial Cartoon” from the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA). His book, “Barack, Race and the Media: Drawing my own Conclusions” was awarded a NAACP Image Award in 2009. The book is a collection of satirical cartoons highlighting the historical Presidential run of Senator Barack Obama and other significant events affecting Americans.

Chairman of the Board of Directors: Museum of African American Art Los Angeles where his primary role is to contribute to the defining of the mission, governing and success of the Museum. He was a former Director for the American Association of Editorial Cartoonist.

When Brown is not busy putting together timely editorial cartoons to coincide with updated current events, he is teaching and producing award-winning comics. His versatility as a commercial artist and producer has produced excellence in other areas including photography and multi-media. His personal client roster boasts promotional work for Los Angeles International Airport, Automobile Club of Southern California, Warner Bros, City of Los Angeles, Wells Fargo Bank, California African American Museum, ABC-TV and others. In October of 2009 the U.S. State Department and Brazilian Consulate sponsored an art exhibit and cultural exchange visit for Mr. Brown to Brazil.

www.organicharvestgardens.com

Rod Dodd

Rod Dodd is the owner/Chef of Organic Harvest Gardens Farm. Located in North Long Beach California

A, UC Certified Master Gardener, Certified Animal Technologist, Culinary School Graduate, Private Estate and noted Celebrity Chef.
Rod is a retired Staff Research associate and Animal resource Manager for USC, UCLA, and the Veterans Administration.

Chef Rod uses his farm, to teach economically disadvantaged youth, conventional gardening and hydroponics, through a course he developed ” From Seed to Harvest to Table.”
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rod and his team, deliver over 300 fresh organic produce boxes, per week, to seniors throughout the Long Beach area, where seniors were housebound as a result of the pandemic. This earned him the title “California Hero” by many News outlets.

Rod continues to expand the Gardens to serve Veterans and seniors. Teaching them, gardening and healthy food choices, as a mechanism to reduce the effects of stress, PTSD and most common symptoms, that plague the urban community.

www.cryptoblockchainplug.com

Najah Roberts

Najah is the CEO and Chief Visionary Officer of the first African American owned brick and mortar cryptocurrency exchanges in the country -Crypto Blockchain Plug located in Inglewood, CA. She has spent 10+ years counseling thousands of inner-city youth, business professionals, athletes, and families in the cryptocurrency and financial education space.

Najah strives to live a life of relevancy and purpose through service to others, and has quickly become a revered figure in online communities like Clubhouse. She has now expanded her reach by Creating Crypto Kids Camp, Co-Founding The Black Wall Street Wallet alongside Hill Harper, as well as Co-Founding CENT (Crypto Entertainment News TV). A highly gifted motivational speaker, educator, philanthropist, and leader in her community, Najah has made it her personal goal through her social influence to change narratives, raise bars, and set standards.

She continues to remain fearlessly devoted to making a difference in communities across the nation through education and advocacy of generational wealth.