Community Committee

• CB Smith-Dahl

  Community Bridge Video

   

  CB Smith-Dahl is an artist who has always put the community at the center of her work. CB teaches video and photography. Her specialty is working with at-risk youth, using visual arts as a tool for intervention, reflection, and community building. Some of the programs she’s taught for are Inner City Filmmakers, Streetside Productions/The East Bay Asian Youth Center, and the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. In 1997, she founded Community Bridge Video, which produces educational and promotional films in partnership with nonprofits and community based organizations. Her client list includes the California Council for the Humanities, Alameda County Health Department, and the City of Beverly Hills. She has an MFA in film & video production from the University of Southern California and a BA in Spanish and education from Spelman College.

  
  

• Penina Ava Taesali

  Family & Community Office, OUSD

   

  Penina Ava Taesali is a parent advisory specialist with the Oakland Unified School District’s Family & Community Office. Previously, she was cofounder and artistic director (1998-2008) for Asian Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership, Talking Root Art Collective (AYPAL TRAC), which provided afterschool arts programming for youth in Oakland. She also cofounded the Pacific Islander Kie Association (PIKA), a volunteer organization that helps bring voice and platform to the Tongan and Samoan communities of Oakland. Her work has been published in anthologies and literary journals, and she was the featured poet on KPFA FM’s Best Spoken Word Millennium Series. She remains committed to stopping the criminalization of young people of color and she has nurtured and empowered many voices through education and the arts. She has a BA in English from UC Davis.

  
  

• Clifford Yee

  Asian Health Services

   

  Clifford Yee, MSW is an alumna of UC Santa Cruz and the University of Michigan, where he graduated with a degree in psychology and social work. In Michigan, he coordinated an intergroup relations (IGR) course at two high schools, where he facilitated dialogue among youth from various backgrounds to discuss local issues. He also trained IGR students to become assistant facilitators. Clifford led a similar IGR group with Southeast Asian youth to discuss issues regarding immigration, family dynamics/gender roles, community health, and school.

   

  Clifford is the youth program coordinator at Asian Health Services. AHS Youth Program provides free and confidential reproductive health education and services to youth, ages 12-19, throughout the Oakland metropolitan area. For more information on AHSYP, visit its website.