Meet the Cohort IV Fellows:
Patricia E. Martinez (she/her) is a highly motivated individual who has dedicated her career to promoting justice innovations that reduce the involvement of youth and young adults in the juvenile and criminal legal system. As Coordinator of the Young Adult Justice Initiative with the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, she engages stakeholders and analyzes key drivers of crime to inform policy recommendations under the auspices of the San Francisco Sentencing Commission. Patricia received her joint Master of Public Policy and Business Administration degree from Mills College in Oakland, CA and a Bachelor of Science degree in Community and Justice Studies from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. Her mission is to be a catalyst for social change by improving justice system performance through community-driven policy solutions. At her core, Patricia embodies restorative practices led by her values of courage, integrity, and stewardship.
Thanh Tran (he/him) is a mixed-race, Vietnamese and Black documentary filmmaker and organizer from Sacramento, California. He is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast Uncuffed. He is also the co-founder of the currently incarcerated film production team, ForwardThis Productions. Today he is the Director of the documentary Finding Ma and the Policy Associate at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, where he provides leadership and works in coalitions for state and local policy campaigns.
Sharon Tang is relentlessly dedicated to whole-person community healing. She is the co-founder of Underground GRIT, spearheading nonprofit reentry, in-reach, and holistic mental health initiatives for youth and adults returning from prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers, and immigration detention facilities. She earned her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Public Mental Health from the University of California, San Diego. Sharon co-founded Underground Panthers, a collaborative partnership with Chapman University that is creating an incarceration-to-college pipeline for formerly incarcerated youth and young adults. In addition, Sharon was elected as a Youth and Young Adult Advisor to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Aware Initiative. In this role, she has provided feedback and helped to shape the Initiative, which seeks to address the impact of childhood trauma and toxic stress. Sharon is also a regular guest speaker for universities and health care agencies, with a focus on juvenile justice reform and innovative care in the community. Most recently, she was invited to speak with youth in Ventura Youth Correctional Facility–one of two youth prisons in California–about the impacts of ACEs and the fundamental importance of community resilience factors. Sharon is a first-generation college graduate and child of refugees from the Vietnam War and Cambodian Genocide. She made it her personal mission to gain training to address the issues that she was too young to solve for her own family. Through her past experiences and her ongoing leadership of multiple initiatives, Sharon serves as a living example and a voice for youth who are breaking generational cycles perpetuated by trauma.
Branden Thomas is the Community Safety Program Administrator for the Health Education Council of Sacramento, where he leads the Safety, Health, Opportunity, and Practice Program (SHOP). Since August 2021, he has conducted over 16 cohorts and served 170 youths throughout the Sacramento region. Branden has experience with the implementation of major violence prevention and intervention programs for at-risk youth and young adults. He is also experienced in case management and has led numerous and wide-ranging partnerships to support care plans and resource navigation for justice-involved individuals. He has a proven track record of identifying and building stakeholder relationships across a wide range of organizations, including city departments and community-based organizations. As a young professional, Branden has focused his career on client health and wellness in both the nonprofit and government sectors. Most recently, he worked for the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team within the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, where he led a team of outreach specialists in the Bayview District to ensure homeless clients received supportive care. Branden is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and he holds a Bachelor of Sociology degree from Sacramento State University. He is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Direct Practice from Howard University. Branden is committed to advocating for social and economic justice and aims to work directly with the Black community in a greater capacity.
Sondra Santana (she/her/Ella) is a dedicated community advocate with over 20 years of experience advocating for youth justice and empowerment throughout California. Sondra has worked in many capacities at youth-serving organizations over the years and is currently the Program Manager for the Restorative Justice diversion program at Community Works West. In this role, she supports her team of eight staff as they hold restorative circles for young people engaged in the justice system. Through victim/offender dialogue, she hopes to create alternative pathways for young people in the Bay Area and ensure they remain in their communities and out of jails and prisons. Sondra is passionate and committed to working toward ending mass incarceration and restoring communities.
Jessica Aparicio is a dynamic and experienced professional with a passion for youth justice and social innovation. Currently, as the Director of Engagement and Social Impact at SBX Youth & Family Services, Jessica is responsible for developing and implementing programs and outreach strategies to engage stakeholders and build partnerships that advance the mission of the organization. Prior to this, Jessica was the organization’s Director of External Affairs, where she played a significant role on the County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council. She continues to co-lead the Inland Empire Coalition for Youth Justice, which advocates for alternatives to incarceration and for policies and programs that benefit youth involved in the justice system. She also facilitates leadership and advocacy training for youth to help them become effective agents of change in their communities. As a social justice activist and community organizer, Jessica helps empower her community to advocate on the issues that directly impact them. Her passion for social justice and equity is not only reflected in her actions, but also in her academic achievements. Jessica holds a Community Health Worker certification from Victor Valley College; a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside; and a Master of Arts degree in Social Innovation from the University of San Diego.
Nancy Juarez is empowered by witnessing her community heal. She strives to show the heart work of the movement through narrative building and archiving. Currently, Nancy serves as a Policy Analyst with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, an organization based in San Francisco’s Mission District. Within this role, Nancy uses a framework that centers the voice of the community to inform statewide efforts. She is passionate about equitable budgets that prioritize care and opportunity. She aims to shine a light on the immense potential and promise of communities, and the timely opportunity for reinvestment. Within her work, Nancy leads with imagination, love, and joy for a past, present, and future of collective liberation, remembering, and healing.
Darcell Harrison has more than 17 years of experience working on the frontlines of violence reduction, reentry, and youth development as a mentor, case manager, life coach, violence interrupter, and youth workshop facilitator. As NICJR’s Violence Reduction Program Coordinator, Darcell provides leadership, training, and technical assistance for organizations across the country. He also leads life coaching and violence intervention training as well as supervises a team of Life Coaches in the Bay Area. Darcell previously served as Program Supervisor at Community and Youth Outreach in Oakland. He has also spent several years as a Life Coach Supervisor in Oakland’s successful Gun Violence Reduction Strategy. Darcell has been directly impacted by violence and the criminal justice system, having been seriously injured as a victim of violence and having been formerly incarcerated. For nearly two decades, Darcell has been a source of inspiration for others through his personal transformation and his exceptional work as a mentor, violence intervention specialist, and supervisor.
