Do You See Me? How Systems of Care Can Wrap Around Youth and Families Impacted by Gang and Gun Violence (NTTAC)

Meet the Facilitator

Evelyn Clark, CPC, is a Mexican-Native American woman specializing in Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI), youth leadership development, and peer support. She is a change consultant and JEDI trainer for Change Matrix and partners with NTTAC. She has nearly 15 years of experience serving young people and their families within systems of care impacted by gang and gun violence. Evelyn has served on several initiatives on gang and violence prevention and intervention. She represented lived experience and mental health care to support youth and families. Evelyn is a justice-impacted professional and has dedicated her career to dismantling racism within systems of care to serve BIPOC youth and families better.

Meet the Panelists | August 1

Yvonne Elmendorf, SUDP, BAS is a Latin American wife and mother of 4 from Los Angeles California who currently resides in Washington State. She practices in Pierce County, Washington as a Bi-lingual Licensed Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP). She currently serves as the Integrated Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs Manger for the Tacoma Clinic Outpatient programs at Consejo Counseling and Referral Service. Yvonne has worked at Consejo Counseling and Referral Service for the past 17 years in both Pierce and King Counties. Working as a SUDP in the substance use outpatient department with youth and families for the first part of her career, has encouraged her passion for behavioral health services. Yvonne currently overseas substance use outpatient programs for youth and adults provided in both Spanish and English, as well as the High School based Co-occurring outpatient program in the Tacoma Public School & Gang and Gun Violence Prevention Intervention services. One the of the most important parts of the work Yvonne Does at Consejo is participates in all drug free community coalitions across Pierce County & Community outreach and violence prevention are other passions she stays in active participation with in the communities she serves.

Vince Valelua joins our teams with a wide range of experiences in working to serve young people and their families and has served the community of Tacoma for 17 years. Vince founded Project 253 & Tuff Love Intervention – an organization that focuses on youth development and building thriving vibrant communities. Much of his work has been dedicated to interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, working countless hours in juvenile reform to develop and implement programs that redirect young people towards positive self-sustaining outcomes. He has dedicated his life to ensuring that marginalized youth and families have the means and resources to attain a healthy, successful, and sustainable way of living, and is a committed advocate for youth and families in my community.

“I enjoy time with my family and friends, but above all serving my community,” says Vaielua.

Vince is originally from American Samoa. His father is retired SSG First Class Rev Suipi Vaielua from the village of Amanave, American Samoa who currently pastors Ft. Lewis Christian Church. His late mother is Milovale Salave’a Vaielua from the village of Onenoa, American Samoa. Vince and his wife Judy have seven children, six girls, and one boy. Their faith in Jesus Christ and strong Polynesian Heritage stand at the center of their everyday existence. His family mantra is “God First”, which is present in everything he and his family do.

Candace Wesley – affectionately known as ” Tacoma’s Leader of Leader’s. She’s a grandmother, an ordained Pastor, Social Activist, Philanthropist and native of Tacoma. Candace is the founder of Tacoma Cease Fire, a grassroots initiative to protect Tacoma’s youth and community. Under her leadership TCF has partnered with the City of Tacoma to implement the city’s first Community Trauma Response Team. In addition to Tacoma Cease Fire, Candace has been instrumental with the birth of several other city-wide initiatives. Candace’s strong suit is family reunification, violence abatement, and consulting, bridging cities, leaders, and organizations.

Kam Williams, PhD, M.A., LMSW, is a Researcher IV at Evident Change and CEO/Founder of Interventionology, LLC. She currently manages the research implementation for the current Girls and Gangs II study, including qualitative coding, analysis, training, and providing consultations specific to the expertise of race, equity, and gangs. In addition, Kam provides continued coordination of assessing statewide funding strategies that prioritize community violence reduction. Kam also aids Evident Change’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team in developing evaluation and data-driven strategies related to the agency’s vision for internal and external DEI efforts. Her previous nonprofit work includes motivating the educational potential of disadvantaged youth by serving as a mentor at the University of Southern California Summer Youth Extravaganza and by supporting the Save Black Boys Los Angeles program as an advisory board member. Kam’s dissertation focused on understanding the making and unmaking of Black gangs as they (re)formed through new political, economic, and socio-cultural processes, historically blocked by the more extensive underlying process of systemic and institutional racism.