OUR ROOTS

SIMONE RUSKAMP | FOUNDER

Simone Akila (she/her/her) is a Black woman who loves Black people. She is a co-founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara as well as Healing Justice Santa Barbara. She has led successful campaigns to center de-escalation and affirmation of life in Santa Barbara police use of force policies, secure monies for mental health positions instead of additional funding for law enforcement, establish city and county institutional support for Black cultural events, and to designate sites of Black Santa Barbara history as historical landmarks to protect them from gentrification. She currently is one of the driving forces behind the forming police oversight commission in Santa Barbara, an organizing effort spanning over 4 years.

Simone Akila is a Masters of Social Work Student at Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington DC. She studies Afrocentric approaches to healing and therapy; and is the Vice President of Howard University's School of Social Work Student Council Association.

As the parent of a young child, Simone Akila affirms the radical work of mothering and believes that all are needed to create the communities we deserve.

CHIANY DRI | FOUNDER

Chiany Dri (she/her/hers) is a mixed race Black Latina, born and raised on Tongva land in Los Angeles, California. She is a mother of three, an organizer, justice worker and the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. Chiany lived on Chumash land in Ventura County for 10 years, leading movement work for Black and brown communities in both Ventura County and Santa Barbara County. Her focus has been on engaging her communities in community-centered accountability practice, trauma informed practice, advocacy for mothers and caretakers, and campaigns against local hate crimes. She has served her communities as an anti-racism consultant and as a curriculum developer and educator with The Girls Empowerment Workshop, where she has trained and taught hundreds of educators and youth on anti-racism concepts and advocacy since 2017. Chiany is the co-founder of the Ojai Alliance for Education Equity and a co-founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara. In 2020, Chiany self-published her first book, The Little Guide to Anti Racism.

JORDAN KILLEBREW | FOUNDER

Jordan Killebrew (he, him, his) is a Queer Black person with an abnormal love of community. As the Director of Communications at the Santa Barbara Foundation he and his team promote and enhance the Foundation’s identity through marketing and communications strategy, social media, publications, public relations, advertising, and events.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Jordan was a marketing & graphic design consultant, working with companies, nonprofits, and government in Santa Barbara County. Jordan also founded Project IV Love, the inspiration that helped raise over $50k for the Love and Remembrance Garden in Isla Vista in its inaugural year. This garden is a community effort that honors the students that lost their lives in the Isla Vista shootings in 2014.

Jordan serves several communities via his engagement with local organizations, most recently he is a fervent supporter of Healing Justice Santa Barbara. He is also a co-founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara, on the board of Endowment for Youth Committee, and appointed to the Community Formation Commission to provide structure to build a civilian oversight of the Santa Barbara Police Department. He formerly served on Santa Barbara Dance Institute’s Board and Pacific Pride Festival Committee.

Jordan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he served as a Resident Assistant and Associated Students Program Board member. When Jordan is not working, you may find him out in Santa Barbara at the beach remaining socially distant or volunteering.