Connect with like-minded educators and community leaders committed to empowering Black boys.
Gain insights from distinguished keynote speakers and workshops, providing innovative approaches to education.
Leave the symposium with renewed enthusiasm and a sense of purpose to positively impact the lives of Black boys.
You will leave inspired, invigorated, and prepared with an action plan to install in your community by building with colleagues to implement collaboratively as regular practice which forms leaders.
Rahsaan Smith
Christopher Chatmon
Jonathan Piper II
Fiyah Abakah
Jordon Chatmon
Tony Smith, the former Superintendent of Oakland Unified School District, will share his journey of working with the School Board to create the Office of African American Male Achievement, the first-ever of its kind within a school district in America.
Kahlil Chatmon
Jonathan Piper II
Fiyah Abakah
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Anthony Shoecraft
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Rumi Smith
Rumi Smith
Rahsaan Smith
Akira’s Book Club Champions Literacy
Dr. K.O. Wilson
Brenden Anderson
EJ Walls
Staci Smith
Brenden Anderson
EJ Walls
Staci Smith
Various Presenters (see below)
Managing Director of Business Development
Shoecraft is the Business Development Managing Director. Previously, he served a number of roles at the City of Seattle, including Special Adviser to the Mayor in the Mayor's Office of Policy & Innovation and Strategic Adviser at the Department of Education & Early Learning following years of leadership in regional education organizing, policy and advocacy. Anthony was selected for the inaugural cohort of the Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Program and graduated from the University of Washington (MPA, MSW) and Hampton University. He is a south Seattle native, proud husband and father of two young children, and an enthusiast of all things cooking and chess.
Managing Director Media & Technology
Brenden Anderson is a mission-driven leader who works towards empowering and and vancing underserved communities by continuously expanding their opportunities for edication, skill development and career success. With a Masters in Ed Tech he is uniquely positioned at the convergence of education, journalism, multimedia production, and workforce development to support students of color in manifesting their life and career success. He strategically aligns and integrates his experiences, skills, and partnerships to close gaps and provide solutions to schools, youth organizations, educators, parents and students.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Flourish Agenda
Media, Communications, & Technology Assistant
Managing Director of Strategic Engagement and Initiatives at Casey Family Programs
Founder, CEO & Board Member
Christopher Chatmon is the Director and CEO of Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO). Chatmon founded KOO and served as the first Executive Director of the African American Male Achievement (“AAMA”) for the Oakland Unified School District (“OUSD”).
Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Education Policy at Berkeley’s School of Education
Media Coordinator
Jonathan Piper II is a Youth Speaker and Advocate for Kingmakers of Oakland. He also is apart of Kingmakers of Oakland Social Media Team that is housed in our Communications Department. Jonathan currently attends Chabot College with a major in Political Science and Government.
Director of Black Teacher Recruitment, Training & Retention
Dr. Kenderick O. Wilson (K.O.) manages the development and implementation of the KOO Department of Black Male Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Certification.
K.O. is the founding Program Manager of the Academy for Rising Educators (ARE) program – Seattle Public Schools' "homegrown" teacher talent initiative focused on assisting SPS high school students, Instructional Assistants and community members in entering the field of education as certificated teachers, with an emphasis on Black Males teachers.
Dr. K.O. has earned a Doctoral of Educational Leadership from the University of Washington, Tacoma. K.O. is a first-generation college graduate and master's recipient who graduated from Birmingham Southern College with a B.S. in Economics and Math and earned an M.S. in Educational Policy from University of Washington, Seattle. K.O.'s identity and experiences influence his commitment to behavioral economics and critical race research.
During the past couple years, K.O. has worked in the Seattle community in non-profits, Seattle Public Schools, King County Housing Authority, and an Academic Counselor at University of Washington, Seattle-Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D).
TFI Oakland Program Manager
An Oakland Native and advocate/activist for the lives and education of youth and people of color. Majoring in Anthropology at Sac State, coordinating Media for Kingmakers of Oakland, and teaching transitional kindergarten are the ways in which my passion aligned with purpose.
TFI Oakland Program Manager
An Oakland Native and advocate/activist for the lives and education of youth and people of color. Majoring in Anthropology at Sac State, coordinating Media for Kingmakers of Oakland, and teaching transitional kindergarten are the ways in which my passion aligned with purpose.
Chief Program Officer
Matin Abdel-Qawi has been an equity-centered educational leader in Oakland Unified School District for nearly thirty years. As a middle school teacher, he realized the need to bring Oakland’s legacy of social activism to the classroom. He advocated for every scholar to have access to algebra in the eighth grade ending a decades long practice of assigning Black and Brown scholars to general math while creating nearly all white Algebra classes.
In 2004 as the Founding Principal of East Oakland School of the Arts, he created a small autonomous school founded on the belief that any student will perform at high levels when given the love and support needed. After leading the school for seven years, he took his experience of advocating for Black male students and became the Director of OUSD’s African American Male Achievement’s Manhood Development Program and designed and started several programs at schools around the district.
In 2013, Matin became the Principal of Oakland High School where he created systems and programs that are rooted in equity, diversity and access for every student. In 2020 Matin was promoted to OUSD’s High School Network Superintendent. One of the first initiatives Matin led was to engage all of the high school principals in a learning and discovery experience focused on understanding and dismantling anti Blackness practices, policies, and procedures at schools and replacing them with ones that Engage, Empower, and Encourage all Black scholars.
After nearly three decades in the Oakland Unified School District Matin left OUSD to join Kingmakers of Oakland as its Chief Program Officer. In this new role Matin is responsible for making sure that all of our district partners receive best-in-class services. Matin holds a BA from Stockton State University, NJ and an MA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Finance Committee Chair
Experienced Project Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. Skilled in Operations Management, Agile Methodologies, Project Management, Scrum, and Agile Project Management. Strong professional with a Master of Business Administration - MBA focused in Finance, General from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
