Staff
Gena Castro Rodriguez, MA MFTI is the founder and co-executive director of Youth Justice Institute. Ms. Castro Rodriguez has worked in non-profit organizations with youth in the dependency and delinquency systems for 18 years and has developed and implemented several successful prevention and intervention programs to meet the needs of at-risk youth or those in the juvenile justice system. Ms. Castro Rodriguez holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Sacramento State University and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of San Francisco. In addition, she is currently completing her Psy.D at the California Institute for Integral Studies where she is also an adjunct faculty in the community mental health program.
Georgiana Hernández is a co-executive director of Youth Justice Institute. Dr. Hernández founded and served as executive director for the organization Planning for Change (PFC), which merged with YJI on September 1st, 2010. She brings substantial experience providing capacity-building and organizational-effectiveness services to small and grassroots nonprofit organizations based in communities of color. Prior to founding PFC, Dr. Hernández worked as an independent consultant providing management assistance, research and evaluation, and capacity-building services for community-based nonprofit organizations, public agencies and community foundations. During the early and mid 1990s, she served as executive director of Arriba Juntos, one of San Francisco’s premiere workforce development organizations. She also served as the first administrator of Levi Strauss & Co.’s Red Tab Foundation, which provides emergency grants and loans to L.S. & Co. employees nationwide. Dr. Hernández is a strong advocate of community service and direct action and has served on the boards of directors of many nonprofit organizations, including The Women’s Foundation, the Data Center, the Association for Community Based Education, LatinoNet, and Friends of the Urban Forest. She also served on the Advisory Board of The Rockefeller Foundation’s JOBS Initiative and on San Francisco’s Welfare Reform Task Force. Dr. Hernández received her doctorate in organization and leadership from University of San Francisco, her masters in nonprofit administration from the same institution, and her bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University. She is a senior research fellow with the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at San Francisco State University.
Kaina Terrazas Walker is the mentoring program manager for Youth Justice Institute, and has been with YJI since 2003. Mrs. Walker has worked with youth at Juvenile Justice Center since 1998 and is the founder of the Inside Mentoring Program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in criminal justice from San Francisco State University.
Laila Khan Winter is the operations manager for the Youth Justice Institute. Prior to joining YJI, Ms. Khan Winter worked in a variety of youth-oriented settings in underserved urban communities as a mentor, tutor, after-school program instructor and non-profit director. She has also worked in the for-profit sector in business administration and operations management. She holds a bachelor's degree in cognitive science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Robin Noel Morales is the youth advocate coordinator for Youth Justice Institute. Ms. Morales has been working with system-involved girls in the Bay Area for the past five years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social justice from New College of California. She is currently completing her master’s degree in counseling psychology from the Wright Institute.
Karen Moore is a youth advocate at Youth Justice Institute. Ms. Moore has worked with dependent and delinquency youth in placement prior to her position with YJI. She holds a degree in psychology from California State University, Fresno.
Isaac Reed is a youth advocate for the Youth Justice Institute. Mr. Reed has worked with detained youth through the YJI mentoring program. He is currently a student at San Francisco State University pursuing a double major in criminal justice and finance. After completing his undergraduate work at SFSU, he plans to attend law school at UC Hastings and become a defense attorney.
Maria Reynoso is a youth advocate at Youth Justice Institute. Ms. Reynoso has worked with detained youth through the YJI Mentoring Program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from San Francisco State University and plans to obtain a master’s degree in counseling.
Willie Gray is a youth advocate and mentoring program assistant for Youth Justice Institute. Mr. Gray previously worked with detained youth through the YJI mentoring program. He is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice at San Francisco State University and plans to enter the juvenile probation department.
Dara Goosby, PsyD is the clinical supervisor of the mental health program at Youth Justice Institute. Dr. Goosby has diverse experience working with youth and families in the Bay Area and in New York City, including developing and implementing creative prevention strategies, providing clinic and community based therapeutic services to young people in foster care and transitional aged youth, and managing training programs for clinicians-in-training. She received her doctorate from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California.
Alexis Aragon is a registered marriage and family therapy intern at Youth Justice Institute. She holds a BS in Psychology from Northeastern University and an MA in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco. Her experience has been with community based organizations in San Francisco and the South Bay. She has worked with children, adolescents, families and couples.
Christian Henricksen is a marriage and family therapy intern at Youth Justice Institute. Mr. Henricksen began working with YJI in 2008 as an MFT Trainee where he provided individual counseling to incarcerated and at-risk youth. Mr. Henricksen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Framingham State College in Massachusetts and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of San Francisco.
William M. Alexander is a marriage and family therapy trainee at Youth Justice Institute. Mr. Alexander has worked with at-risk youth for three years in various mentoring programs in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Clark Atlanta University. He is currently completing his master's degree in counseling psychology from the University of San Francisco.
Encian Pastel is a program associate and the communications coordinator at Youth Justice Institute. He formerly worked at Planning for Change, and was excited to join YJI when the two organizations merged in September, 2010. A transgender writer, performer and activist, Encian is passionate about art, social justice, and intergenerational movement building. He currently organizes with the Bay Area Childcare Collective, a local group that offers childcare resources to grassroots organizations composed of and led by m/others who face multiple oppressions, primarily by providing competent and politicized childcare to low/no income immigrant m/others and m/others of color. Encian holds a bachelor's degree in visual anthropology and cultural studies from Boston University.