Welcoming Sam Prater & Chris Ko as our 2024 Board Co-Chairs

SJPLA is excited to announce Sam Prater and Chris Ko as our Board co-chairs for 2024. Sam and Chris reflect the breadth of our SJP community which spans from our nonprofit and philanthropic partners to our justice-centered community members. Sam is the Founder and Executive Director of LA Room & Board and an alum of our Systems Change Accelerator program. Chris is the Vice President of Impact & Strategy at United Way of Greater LA, and he has an extensive background in community engagement and philanthropy. 

Sam and Chris are a dream team to lead our Board, not just in their backgrounds, but in the ways that they bring such a depth of reflection and insight. Chris is adept at facilitating a group through deep reflection processes, and Sam brings such sharp insights and perspective. As we focus this year on deepening our liberatory workplace practices and our community engagement work, Sam and Chris are the perfect partners for this work. 

We also want to appreciate the contributions of our departing board members, Kaci Patterson and Carolyn Rojo, after six years of dedicated service. Kaci has been an invaluable partner and mentor at every step as we have become a justice-centered organization, and Carolyn's generosity in time, heart, and wise counsel, as we have grown our programs, has been critical to our expansion. 

We’re so excited to partner with Sam and Chris this year, and we can’t wait to see what we create together.