_edited_edited.png)
LEADERSHIP
CRSSLA is a collaborative network organized by individuals and representatives from various public and private entities. We are a project of our fiscal sponsor, Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches (LAM), a nonprofit organization. CRSSLA partners from faith and community-based agencies, educational institutions, businesses, government offices, and more are the heart and soul of our mission to provide critical response services for the South Los Angeles area.
Get to know the key leaders among our partners working together to provide a wealth of expertise and resources for our neighborhoods.
Go to Contact to email our Network Leader Cheryl Branch and other LAM staff, or call them at (323) 238-0446.
Go to ACH for info on our Accountable Communities for Health model.
Cheryl A. Branch
CRSSLA Co-Founder/Network Leader
Affiliation: Executive Director, LA Metropolitan Churches (LAM)/ACH Backbone Organization
Cheryl Branch is a seasoned community leader with over three decades of experience in urban development, social advocacy, and community empowerment in Southern California. She has been a driving force behind transformative initiatives, working with organizations such as Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches (LAM), Special Services for Groups, Homeless Outreach Program/Integrated Care System, Upward Bound House, LA County Office of Violence Prevention/Public Health Department, Community Action for Peace, FB/CB Homeless Task Force, and Green Believers. Her leadership focuses on housing equity, violence prevention, and grassroots mobilization, forging impactful partnerships across corporate, faith-based, and community sectors. Cheryl’s global perspective, shaped by her studies at Cambridge University in England, enhances her ability to address complex local and national challenges with strategic solutions.
Robert M. Sausedo
CRSSLA Co-Founder/Past Network Co-Leader
Affiliation: President/CEO, Community Build, Inc. (CBI)
Robert Sausedo has served more than 30 years addressing issues related to youth, economic development, justice, literacy, financial services, energy efficiency, and more on the local, state, and national levels, including his work with colleagues rebuilding and expanding the Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library in L.A.’s Jefferson Park community after the city’s 1992 civil unrest. Prior to joining CBI in 2019, Robert served as Deputy for Agency and Review for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. His responsibilities included economic development, community engagement, commission appointments, and more. At CBI, Robert manages a staff of more than 60 people at two sites in Leimert Park and Westmont/West Athens, providing leadership in developing and expanding the agency’s housing, employment, education, gang and health interventions, and more, building its capacity as an established community development corporation serving the South Los Angeles area and beyond.
Cheryl A. Branch
CRSSLA Co-Founder/Network Leader
Affiliation: Executive Director, LA Metropolitan Churches (LAM)/ACH Backbone Organization
Cheryl Branch is a seasoned community leader with over three decades of experience in urban development, social advocacy, and community empowerment in Southern California. She has been a driving force behind transformative initiatives, working with organizations such as Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches (LAM), Special Services for Groups, Homeless Outreach Program/Integrated Care System, Upward Bound House, LA County Office of Violence Prevention/Public Health Department, Community Action for Peace, FB/CB Homeless Task Force, and Green Believers. Her leadership focuses on housing equity, violence prevention, and grassroots mobilization, forging impactful partnerships across corporate, faith-based, and community sectors. Cheryl’s global perspective, shaped by her studies at Cambridge University in England, enhances her ability to address complex local and national challenges with strategic solutions.
LAM Staff
Tracey Branch, Operations Manager
Candy Centieo, Community Health Worker
Contractors
Kenneth Carter, Technology Specialist
Joshua Gray, Graphic Designer
Naomi McSwain, Communications Consultant
Timothy Morris, Website Specialist
Key Team Leaders
Jerry Abraham, MD, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Physician/Medical Advisor
Affiliation: Kedren Community Health Center, Integrated Services and Public Health, Director
Vincent Anthony, MD, MPH, SCH, FASN, CPE, CHCQM, ACH Steering Committee Leader
Affiliation: LA Metropolitan Churches; Kidney Care Institute, Medical Director
Nichole Banks, ACH Steering Committee Leader and Project Support
Affiliation: Abundant Birth Project, Abundance Coach for LA County
Rev. Dawnesha Beaver, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Liaison to Kedren Health and CDU Street Medicine Team
Affiliation: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Mobile Health Outreach Program (MoHOP), Program Manager
Yolanda Beckles, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Education Committee Member
Affiliation: The Knowledge Shop, Executive Director; National Association of African American Parents and Youth (NAAAPY), President/Co-Founder
Tracey Branch, ACH Steering Committee Leader and Backbone Operations Support
Affiliation: LA Metropolitan Churches, Operations Manager
Carrie Broadus, ACH Steering Committee Member and Backbone Support; Public Health Committee Member
Affiliation: LA Metropolitan Churches, Virtual Organizer and Culture Historian
Michael Browning, ACH Steering Committee Leader, Data Committee Chair, and Backbone Support; Public Health Committee Member
Affiliation: Black Women Rally for Action, Board Member
Candy Centieo, Public Health Committee Member; Backbone Support
Affiliation: LA Metropolitan Churches, Community Health Worker, Certified Mental Health Peer Specialist
Britney Chine, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Partner
Affiliation: Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), Manager of Community Involvement and Workforce Development; Watts WorkSource Center, Director
Coach Ron Crockett, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Public Health Committee Member
Affiliation: Fun Zone Reading Club 4 Homeless Kids, CEO
Dr. Suzanne Cutter, Partner
Affiliation: CUREtology Surgical Oncology and Associates, Meet the Black Doctors, Senior Advisor
Lauren Espy, MPH, Partner
Affiliation: Martin Luther King Jr. Community Healthcare, Director of Equity and Community Programs
Cedric Farmer, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Backbone Support; Community Health Worker
Affiliation: Urban Recovery Los Angeles, Founder and CEO; LA Metropolitan Churches
Laura Hernandez, MSW, ACH Direct Supervisor of Student Interns
Affiliation: Nuna Behavioral Healthcare, Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Sylvia Drew Ivey, JD, ACH Steering Committee Leader
Affiliation: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Community Affairs, Special Assistant to the President
Adjoa Jones, MBA, ACH Steering Committee Leader
Affiliation: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Director of the African American Infant/Maternal Mortality (AAIMM) Prevention Initiative
Miyume McKinley, LCSW, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Partner
Affiliation: Epiphany Counseling Mental Health Services, Owner
Gabriela Mitchell, ACH Steering Committee Leader
Affiliation: The Knowledge Shop, Director of Special Projects
Alberta Moore, ACH Steering Committee Leader, Education Committee Co-Chair
Affiliation: Randal D. Simmons Outreach Foundation, Board Member
Cedric Nelms, Education Committee Co-Chair
Affiliation: Innovate Public Schools, Community Organizer
Qwendolyn Price, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Backbone Support; Advisory Board Member
Affiliation: LA Metropolitan Churches, Community Member
Coretta Rolfe, Partner
Affiliation: Covered California, Enroller
Joanne Russel, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Public Health Committee Member
Affiliation: Let’s Make it Happen, Founder/Director
Roger “DangerMan” Tinsley, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Education Committee Member; Backbone Support
Affiliation: DangerMan Educational Foundation, President/CEO
Bernita Walker, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Justice Committee Chair
Affiliation: Project Peacemakers, Inc., Chief Executive Officer/Co-Founder, Violence Prevention Practitioner
Akim Watts, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Public Health Committee Member
Affiliation: Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), Project Coordinator
Brenda Wiewel, DSW, LCSW, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Senior Advisor
Affiliation: University of Southern California, School of Public Health, Graduate Field Placement Supervisor
Andrea Williams, MPA, ACH Steering Committee Leader; Public Health Committee Member
Affiliation: Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers, Executive Director