SF Healing Roots Collaborative Series P4: Community Knows What Community Needs

This is the 4th episode of our six-part SF Healing Roots Collaborative Series. It features a discussion from Ivy Lee & Bobbi Lopez and their preliminary findings from a recent needs assessment, The focus of which was on violence intervention, prevention, and service strategies. Figuring out the ways that institutions and organizations that service the community, can be clear on the directs thoughts and opinions from the community. 

Ivy Lee is an attorney whose practice has focused on defending and advancing the rights of survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault. She currently serves as San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed’s Policy Advisor in the areas of public safety and victims’ rights – developing alternatives to a police response, strengthening the effectiveness and accessibility of victim services, and preventing stranger and community violence are priority issues.

Prior, Ivy served as the legislative director for San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ President Norman Yee and as Supervisor Jane Kim’s chief of staff. During that tenure, she staffed legislation designed to expand opportunities for marginalized communities, such as the Fair Chance Act to remove unnecessary barriers to stable employment and housing for individuals with criminal convictions; Eviction Protections 2.0 to provide tenants with a chance to resolve petty nuisances with their landlords prior to any eviction action; the Free City College program which established San Francisco’s City College as the first free institution of higher learning in the U.S.; and legislation to fund affordable early care and education for all San Francisco families, including a wage increase for providers. 

Barbara "Bobbi" Lopez is a Deputy Director of Violence Prevention in the City and County of San Francisco. She also served Chief of Staff for Oakland Vice-Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and was the former Policy Director for San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim. Throughout her tenure, Mrs. Lopez has spearheaded significant policy initiatives, including the creation of an Oakland charter amendment establishing the Office of Inspector General for police department oversight; the implementation of a civilian response system for non-violent, non-emergency 911 calls; and vigorous advocacy for substantial budgetary allocations towards violence prevention in Oakland. Additionally, she played a pioneering role in establishing the nation's first transgender cultural district and initiated one of the nation’s first governmental task forces aimed at alleviating the disproportionate impact of fees and fines on marginalized communities, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Prior to her governmental career, Mrs. Lopez dedicated herself to advocating for youth with disabilities and those facing suspensions and expulsions within the San Francisco public school system. She was also instrumental in community development efforts in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, where she founded La Voz Latina, a program fostering leadership and organizing skills among monolingual low-income Latinas. Moreover, she co-founded the Safe Passage program, dedicated to ensuring the safety of children and elders during their journeys to and from schools, after-school programs, and senior centers. Mrs. Lopez also represented unionized civilian employees within police departments in the cities of Emeryville, Fremont, and Oakland, with a focus on enhancing their working conditions. She has previously spoken on panels including a two-day workshop with the Working Families Party, providing policy overviews to newly elected California representatives as well as at a national conference in Washington D.C. on the impacts of homelessness.