Melanin, Money, and Mentorship:
"Getting access to the bag and finding a mentor."
Meet the Panelist
Moderator
Arielle Brown, ESQ.
Arielle Brown is an attorney at Fisher Phillips, where she defends businesses in labor and employment disputes including against claims of discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful discharge. She also advises clients on compliance with a variety of federal and state employment laws and agency regulations and counsels on various aspects of the employment relationship.
Arielle has also defended and litigated a broad range of civil cases with an emphasis on commercial, ADA compliance, bankruptcy, healthcare, and privacy law litigation. She also gained extensive courtroom and trial experience as a deputy public defender.
Tinisch Hollins
Tinisch Hollins is the Executive Director of Californians for Safety and Justice, Co-Founder of San Francisco Black Wallstreet, and the Vice Chair of the San Francisco Reparations Advisory Committee. She has been an entrepreneur, advocate, and organizer building power for Black and marginalized people for more than two decades. She has dedicated her life to creating opportunities and driving resources to communities closest to the harm. Tinisch's leadership has led to historic changes in local and state laws and policies and has increased funding related to criminal justice reform, violence prevention, support for victims, and public safety. Through SF Black Wallstreet, Tinisch has been on the frontlines working to demand justice, create paths for entrepreneurship, increase ownership, and protect cultural space for Black San Franciscans
KeShawn Brumfield, MA
Keshawn’s Bio KeShawn Brumfield, born and raised in Inglewood, Ca, is an Associate Marriage & Family Therapist. She also has her own business as a Financial Consultant. Before diving into entrepreneurship, it has always been a passion of hers to help improve the lives of others. She received a BS in Human Service and Consumer Science with a concentration in Child and Family Development from Texas Southern University in 2015. In 2016, she moved back to California where she became a teacher for the Long Beach Unified School District for 6 years. During her tenure at LBUSD, she developed higher insight on the importance of mental health. Later in 2020, she applied to Pepperdine University GSEP program, where she pursued her education in Clinical Psychology. Her journey of entrepreneurship shortly began in 2021 as
she was introduced to financial planning by an old friend, now business partner who educated her on ways to become financially independent. From that moment on she knew she could not pass on an opportunity to not only change her financial situation, but also share this information along others because education institutions were not teaching people how to be financially free. Not only did she discover a new interest, but she also knew that with a teaching background she can now use her expertise to teach mental health and financial literacy. She’s now had her own finance business for over a year all while pursuing her degree. As a financial consultant, she has helped over 160 families and has put back over 12 million dollars of life insurance protection to create generational wealth her first year in business. Recently graduated from Pepperdine University in December 2022, she realized helping others reach their full potential is something that she always regarded as her personal responsibility. She has dedicated her life to redefine possibilities for herself and people of color through education and financial literacy.
Pia Harris
Ms.Harris is a founding member of the Fillmore Merchants and Neighborhood Collaborative, and the Fillmore and Japantown for Justice Coalition. Ms. Harris has served small businesses in her community for over a decade, both as a subcontractor with the City and County of San Francisco, and on a pro bono basis. Ms. Harris is currently contracted as the Corridor Manager by OEWD for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Ms.Harris has supported merchants along the corridor like Bruno's Pizzeria, Sheba Piano Lounge, Miyako Old Fashion Ice Cream Shop, and Jazz’z Salon with marketing, loan and grant applications, one-on-one business consultations, credit card and POS set up, and advocacy. Ms.Harris was previously contracted by OEWD to create and implement qualitative and quantitative surveys for Lower Fillmore merchants for the previous Merchants Association
over 10 years ago. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pia launched the Heritage Market, an online delivery platform to support Fillmore merchants with sales during this difficult time, and the Fillmore Marketplace, a bi-weekly market on O'Farrell and Fillmore Streets. The Fillmore Marketplace provided a location and sales opportunities for eight (8) Fillmore businesses.
Anita Russell joined Working Solutions in early 2020. As a Community Development Manager, Anita is responsible for developing new partner relationships and supporting outreach efforts. Anita brings a strong ability to lead and communicate as a vibrant visionary who has produced a diversity of informationally robust symposiums on topics ranging from financial literacy and women's empowerment to youth engagement.
In her past corporate career track, she served in capacities as a job developer who procured new employer relationships with local and corporate business owners, and also as a career coach responsible for onboarding and training hundreds of marginalized Bay Area youth from underserved communities.
Anita Russell
She has also worked in diverse capacities with helping to co-manage sprawling, high-end commercial office properties in the South Bay, San Francisco, and East Bay.
Anita's acumen for advocacy, communication, and partnership building has been solid for more than 25 years.
Dorenda Haynes
Dorenda Haynes has over 20 years of extensive experience within the accounting community, working with multiple Fortune 500 companies, start-up companies, the University of California at San Francisco, and San Francisco State University. Dorenda has also provided accounting instruction at a local college. Her background in accounting has afforded her a plethora of opportunities in financial & relationship management, team building, and managerial experience.
Ms.Haynes grew up in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point Neighborhood, an area plagued by adversity. However, Dorenda was determined to be successful by any means necessary. After successfully graduating with a B.S. in Accounting from San Francisco State University, Dorenda knew she was destined to fulfill her dreams.
Known to never shy away from a new challenge, Dorenda decided to migrate to the south bay and expand her accounting career in the land of the Fortune 500 companies (Silicon Valley). Dorenda was successful in Silicon Valley and had the opportunity to work with Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, and numerous start-ups. Dorenda really enjoyed the corporate life. In 2005, she created her own Financial Management Service named the ”Group of Faith, Inc.“Today, Dorenda partners with small business owners to develop robust financial solutions. Successfully delivering comprehensive financial services that combine solid accounting and business systems that promote financial success. Her expertise and commitment help each client create a business that is built to last. While providing accounting support in various industries, Dorenda has learned the pitfalls of poor financial management. Dorenda understands that the key to any business’ success is a solid financial foundation. She honed her innate sense of order and financial acumen by designing office systems for businesses that lacked organization. She quickly recognized that full-cycle financial management services as a logical next step which then became the catalyst for starting Group of Faith, IncDorenda strives to provide small and medium-sized businesses with tailor-made solutions for their accounting and bookkeeping needs. She adheres to the highest standards, quality, integrity, professionalism, affordability, and timely service. Dorenda is also Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certified and Minority BusinessEnterprise (MBE) certified.
Jameel has worked in social services for 30 years following the footsteps of his mother fed and ministered to the homeless for 20 years. She would bring him with her when she prepared the food on Saturdays and served it later in the evening. This gave him experience on a variety of levels closely working with community members and homeless volunteers. Jameel worked closely with the religious community because of his mother’s organization, the United Council of Services, a Christian-based organization. Furthermore, he’s engaged with local city departments and officials to secure services for his community. Today, he continues to work as a counselor helping people navigate bureaucratic institutions to access social benefits such as housing, mental health care, education, and immigration services. He attended City College where he studied administration of justice, political science, and theology.
Jameel Patterson
