Dr. Medria Connolly is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Santa Monica, California. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Connolly worked for many years as a consultant to a Los Angeles-based treatment program for adolescents in the juvenile justice system and in a high school-based health clinic in Watts. Her long-time work in these community contributed to her recognition that individual, family and small group interventions are too limited in scope to alter the structural inequities confronting historically victimized groups, especially African Americans. This recognition led to the embrace of a prospective national intervention, i.e., reparations, to address the underlying psychosocial challenges and promote racial healing. Dr. Connolly also trained in the Tavistock model of group relations work and works as an organizational consultant to facilitate leadership, team building, communication and collaboration within diverse groups.

Dr. Bryan Nichols is a Los Angeles based Clinical Psychologist with a practice focusing on teens, families, adults & couples. He was also a long-time consultant with a Community Based
Organization where he was the Supervising Psychologist for an L. A. City gang prevention and intervention program. His work in both his practice and the community has led to the recent development of societal, “macro level” ideas about how to remediate persistent issues of bias that infect and undermine interracial relationships and the multi-disciplinary collaborations required to effectively implement community based psycho-educational interventions.

Representative Jamila Taylor (D)  is an attorney, youth advocate and small business owner with a passion for community service and a commitment to serving the public good. After moving to King County in 2007, Rep Taylor worked as the central area network coordinator for the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, where she oversaw community interventions and supported young people facing family, peer or gang conflict; court involvement; school suspension or expulsion; homelessness or other risk factors for youth violence. She launched a legal practice and nonprofit consulting business in 2014, before later joining Northwest Justice Project in 2017. As NJP’s statewide advocacy counsel, she managed a network of attorneys representing domestic violence survivors and other crime victims. She currently works for Purpose. Dignity. Action. (PDA – formerly known as the Public Defender Association) providing civil legal aid to individuals emerging from homelessness. A Federal Way resident, Rep Taylor was elected to the Legislature in 2020. She serves as Chair of the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee and serves on the Housing Committee and the Human Services, Youth, and Early Learning Committee. She chairs the Developmental Advocacy Caucus and is the First Vice Chair of the Members of Color Caucus. Rep Taylor is also the immediate past chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.