Jaiya John is the founder of Soul Water Rising, a global human mission based in Silver Spring, Maryland. He serves as a professional speaker; poet; author; and youth mentor and advocate. Jaiya has addressed hundreds of thousands of youth and adults nationally and internationally, always with the intent of stirring the soul to remember itself. This work is truly his mission, ministry, and life. Jaiya is a doctor of psychology, and previously was a professor of social psychology at Howard University from 1995 to 1998, and associate director for the National Center on Permanency for African American Children from 1999 to 2001. Jaiya was born into foster care in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and earned his doctorate from the University of California, Santa Cruz in social psychology, focusing on identity development and intergroup relations. In 1988 he lived in the Himalayan nation of Nepal, where his study of Tibetan medicine gave him insight into holistic concepts of physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Being of not only African (including Balanta, Mende, and Kru) but also Blackfeet and Cherokee descent; and having grown up immersed in New Mexico’s American Indian and Latino cultures, Jaiya has a deep appreciation for the spiritual and communal passions that spring from these worlds. This spirit he ingrains in his messages about our social world. Through the Young Life Drumbeat program, Jaiya offers youth mentoring, leadership, and heritage projects; along with creative literacy contests and projects. Jaiya’s work with youth centers on positive, productive identity as a root for life success and achieving purpose. Globally, Jaiya is invested in healing and treating our human spirit for its fundamental ailment: failure to recognize our inescapable oneness in the web of life. This same web offers our way out of suffering. From work on global and local social disparities; to conflict and trauma between and within groups; to the fragile life arc from childhood through adulthood, Jaiya reaches for our personal and collective giftedness to release human beauty from its self-imposed cage of misunderstanding.

Police Chief Eric Hopley started his law enforcement career with the Ontario Police Department in February 1985. Prior to coming to Ontario, he served as a police officer with the Upland Police Department for two years. During his 20 years with the Ontario Police Department, Chief Hopley rose steadily through the ranks working every major division within the department. He was promoted to Captain in December 2003, to Deputy Chief in October 2005, and to Chief of Police on July 5th, 2009. Chief Hopley has a bachelor’s degree from the University of La Verne. He is a graduate from the prestigious Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations Southwest Command College.

Since being elected to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in November 2010, Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford has led efforts to reign in costly public pensions, balance the County budget, and restore public confidence in County Government. During her 10 years on the Fontana City Council, Janice worked with her colleagues to provide quality amenities to improve residents’ quality of life, including new parks, community centers, and 93,000-square-foot regional library. She also championed the creation of the Fontana Community Assistance Program to connect needy residents with various faith-based and nonprofit groups that offer free and low-cost services in the community. Never one to shy away from hard work, Janice jumped at the chance to join fellow Fontana Rotary Club members in helping victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuildtheir Gulf Coast community. She also volunteered her time on various boards and commissions, including the Fontana Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, the Chaffey College Foundation Board, the Junior State Foundation and the Fontana Art Association. In addition to her daily duties as a member of the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Rutherford is the Vice-President of the San Bernardino Associated Governments Board of Directors. She also serves on the boards of the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association, Inland Empire Economic Partnership, Local Agency Formation Commission, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Joint Conference Committee, Omnitrans, and the Sam & Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts. Janice has also worked as a motivational speaker and trainer, and has provided consulting services to private sector businesses, government agencies, and educational organizations. She served as Chief of Staff to State Assemblyman and Senator Bill Leonard, as well as representing him as a taxpayer advocate when he served on the state Board of Equalization. Janice and her husband, Steve Lim, are the proud parents of two young boys, Ethan and Noah. As a family they enjoy camping and hiking. Janice is also an avid reader and scrapbooker. Janice holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from U.C. Riverside and a master’s degree in American Politics from Claremont Graduate University. At Claremont she did doctoral coursework in economics and public policy. San Bernardino County’s Second District includes the cities of Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, and Upland north of Foothill Boulevard, as well as the unincorporated communities of Mt. Baldy, San Antonio Heights, Lytle Creek, Devore, and the Rim of the World mountain communities.

Herb K. Schultz was appointed by President Barack Obama on April 6, 2010 to serve as Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Region IX. Region IX includes the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, the territories of American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and Guam, as well as the island nations of the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. In this role, he serves as HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ key representative in the Region, ensuring that close contact is maintained by the federal government with state, local, tribal, and territorial governmental officials on a wide range of health and social service issues.  Additionally, he also works extensively with external, non-governmental individuals and organizations. The HHS Secretary’s 10 Regional Directors and Regional Offices work actively to address the needs of communities and individuals served through HHS programs and policies. HHS Secretary Sebelius, in announcing Mr. Schultz’s appointment, said: “Herb Schultz brings an extensive, working-level knowledge of our department’s most important issues, as well as a knowledge of the people and institutions in Region IX. His experience and talents will be invaluable as our department works to effectively implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” In addition to serving as Regional Director, Mr. Schultz serves as Chair of the Federal Regional Council, the only regional consortium of its kind, composed of nineteen separate federal Departments and Agencies representing thirty different program offices in Region IX. The work between these federal partners serves to make federal programs more efficient and effective in serving the public. Previously, Mr. Schultz was Senior Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and was the Director of the California Recovery Task Force. In that role, he was responsible for the oversight and implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As Senior Advisor to the Governor from 2008-2010, he represented the Governor on major domestic policy issues, which included serving as a principal advisor on health care reform. Previously, he served as the Senior Health Policy Advisor to the Governor during California’s 2006-2008 state debate on comprehensive health care reform. From 2005-2006, he served as Vice President of Government Programs for McKesson Health Solutions, where he oversaw the company’s disease management and nurse advice programs for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries. During the first year of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Administration, Mr. Schultz served as Acting Director of the California Employment Development Department. Mr. Schultz also previously served as a member of former Governor Gray Davis’ Cabinet as Acting Secretary for the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. He served as the Agency’s Undersecretary before his Cabinet-Level appointment, and remained in both roles until the end of the Davis Administration. Prior to that, he was Deputy Director of External Affairs for the California Department of Managed Health Care, and served as Director of the Advisory Committee on Managed Health Care. Mr. Schultz received his BA in Political Science and International Studies from The American University in Washington, DC and has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University, also in Washington, DC.

OnJanuary 4, 2011, Michael A. Ramos was sworn in as District Attorne of the County of San Bernardino for a third term. In his address, noted the importance of continuing his mission to fight violent crime and corruption and make victims’ rights a priorty. After attending local schools in Redlands and graduation from Redlands High School in 1976, Ramos entered his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of California in Riverside in 1980 and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Citrus Belt Law School in Riverside in 1988. Ramos’ government service began in 1980, where he started as a group counselor wth the Probation Department and then later became a Probation Officer. He started his career with the District Attorney’s Office in June 1989, as a Deputy District Attorney. In addition to his work in general prosecution andthe narcotics unit, he served with the Major Crimes Unit for four years, until 200, when he was elected District Attorney of San Bernardino County. Recently, Ramos was elected to represent the State of California on the National District Attorney’s Association Board of Directors and serve as co-chair  the NDAA’s committee for corrections and prison re-entry. A firm believer in serving his commuity, Ramos has been recognized with such awards as the Inland Empire Hispanic Image Awards recipient for Influential Latino of the Year (2005); the Victim Service Award San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office Victim/Witness Assistance Program (2000); and M.A.D.D. Prosecutor of the Year Award (1998).

Working on drug policy issues for more than eighteen years, Kevin Abraham Sabet is a policy consultant to numerous domestic and international organizations through Kevinsabet.com. His current clients include the United Nations, where he holds a senior advisor position at the Italy-based United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), and other governmental and non-govenmental organizations. From 2009-2011, he served in the Obama Administration as the senior Advisory to Director Kerlikowske at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Representing his non-partisan commitment to drug policy, he previously worked on research, policy and speech writing at ONDCP in 2000 and from 2003-2004 in the Clinton and Bush Administrations, respectively. He remains the only staff member at ONDCP to hold a political appointment to both the Bush and Obama Administrations. Dr. Sabet is a staff columnist at TheFix.com and a regular contributor to opinion-editorial pages worldwide, including the Washington Post, Huffington Post, New York Times, Vancouver Sun, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, CNN, CNBC, and more than a dozen other media outlet. His first editorial since leaving ONDCP, published in the Los Angeles Times in September of 2011, earned him a “Five Best Columns” distinction by The Atlantic. In his most recent senior position at ONDCP, Dr. Sabet advised Director Kerlikowske on matters affecting priorities, policies, and programs of the National Drug Control Strategy. He was one of three main writers of the President Obama’s first National Drug Control Strategy, and his portfolio included leading the office’s effort on marijuana policy, legalization issues, international demand reduction, drugged driving, and synthetic drug (e.g. “Spice” and “Bath Salts”) policy. Dr. Sabet represented ONDCP in numerous meetings and conferences, and play a key role in the Administration’s international drug legislation and diplomatic efforts at the Unite Nations.