We center the needs of local social service partners and churches by letting their voices drive our decisions. We don’t assume we know what’s best, but rather, enter into partnerships with a spirit of humility and trust.
We make space for a diversity of voices, backgrounds, and beliefs and seek to bring our faith proximate to immediate local needs. It is in that intersection where we can wrestle with being uncomfortably informed and mature in our faith.
The more we connect, the more we can creatively problem-solve through cultivated relationships and shared resources.
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Project Peace East Bay has been active in Berkeley and Oakland since 2006, and was officially incorporated as a 501(c)3 California nonprofit in December 2007.
Jen McKillips is the Director of Partnerships and Board Member of Project Peace East Bay. She has over 20 years of experience as a community organizer and non-profit leader playing key roles in growing and managing organizations. Jen is an expert in mobilizing the faith community to serve and deeply engage in their communities, and is a thought leader on pressing issues facing the East Bay including education systems and eliminating structural inequity. Jen and her husband, Brian, have 3 children and have lived in Oakland since 2006.
Sarah Park is the Director of Communications, capturing the stories of the Project Peace community and creating ways to walk alongside volunteers and churches in their journey of integrating their faith with justice work. Sarah is also a freelance writer & editor, focusing on cultivating cross-racial conversation about theology and identity politics playing out in the church and society at large. She currently lives in the South Bay and attends Bethel Community Church.
Linda is the Director of Operations and has over 15 years of experience in strategic planning, operations, and marketing. Her passion is to design systems and execute strategies for growth, using her learnings from investment banking and tech industries to make a social impact - starting here, locally in the East Bay. She supports financial literacy, access to higher education, and issues impacting older adults. Linda lives with her husband in Oakland and attends Christian Layman Church, where she serves on the worship team.
Katie Allen has spent nearly 20 years in nonprofit development working in leadership capacities at nonprofits including World Vision, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, and Community Presbyterian Church. She believes that as we serve others, we experience mutual transformation: both the server and those whom we serve grow in the process. Katie sits on the boards of the San Ramon Valley Christian Academy and Impact Diablo Valley. She and her husband, Brent, have two children and reside in the East Bay.
Amy moved to the Bay Area from Washington, DC in 2005 with her husband, Alex, who attended UC Berkeley's MBA program. Having lived east of the Mississippi River all of her life except a stint in London, Amy is grateful to now call the Bay Area home with her husband and two children, Celia and William. A fundraiser for over a decade, she now enjoys building infrastructure for non-profit organizations and doing what she can to engage with the community in Oakland.
Joel Kim was born and raised in Los Angeles. He came to the East Bay for college in 2005 and has developed a deep appreciation for the vibrancy and history of the region. After three harsh winters in Chicago for law school, he came back to the beauty and warmth of the East Bay in 2016. He currently works as a lawyer for the California Department of Social Services, protecting the safety of clients in community care facilities throughout the state.
Ashly Nation is an Oakland native who is passionate about coming alongside Bay Area organizations and churches to help them reveal the love of God to their communities. She holds a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and is the Bay Area Director for the Fuller Center for Spiritual Formation. In 2018 Ashly became a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God Fellowship and currently serves as the Communities Pastor at Encounter Church in San Leandro. In her spare time, Ashly enjoys board games, playing basketball, dining with friends, and reading and journaling by the water at Jack London Square in Oakland.
Devona Brazier moved from Akron, Ohio to the Bay Area in 2013. Project Peace became the primary avenue for Devona and her family of five to connect with the broader community through service. Devona has a BS in Religious Studies from King University and currently serves as the Director of Outreach for Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church. She finds great joy in helping her congregation connect with mercy and justice partners throughout Contra Costa County. Her hobbies include gardening, hiking with her kids, and watching and coaching acrobatic gymnastics.
Calvin Ho served as a pastor at First Covenant Church of Oakland from 2011 - 2018. During his tenure at FCC, he championed volunteer service and a tighter partnership with its neighborhood public schools and pioneered an ESL program for immigrants. He also served as a member on the OUSD Quality School Development Policy Administrative Regulations committee in 2015 to advocate for the students in Oakland.
Calvin and his wife cofounded Compassion Pet Hospice in 2016 to support pets and pets parents through the most difficult journey in life. He is currently the Board President for Project Peace and is developing a new communication platform at his startup Restvo that aims to empower non-profits and faith communities by creating deeper and more meaningful relationships among its members and volunteers. Calvin is married to Tiffany and has two young children.
Bart Garrett is one of the founders of Project Peace, co-planted Christ Church East Bay, and now pastors Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church while directing City-to-City Bay Area.
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