Community Coordinators
Rahmo Abdi
Rahmo Abdi is a community coordinator with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI). As a native of Somalia, she plays a critical role in connecting other members of the Somali community to the innovative, resident-led development work transforming blight into a vibrant cultural "village" in the Diamond Neighborhoods of San Diego. She conducts outreach within her culture, as well as promoting cross-cultural learning and understanding in San Diego's most culturally diverse community.
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, Rahmo came to the U.S. as a refugee, and she understands the challenges of acclimating to life in a new country while preserving her cultural heritage. She began working with young women from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa and founded the International Refugee Girls Association to connect first generate immigrants with their native cultures, as well as learn about sexual health issues, financial literacy and planning, self-esteem, and the importance of education. She also works with Somali Youth United.
Rahmo's efforts to serve her community led to her honor as Young Woman of the Year from the Refugee Women's Network. She was also recently honored as an "Unsung Hero" during Black History Month and was featured in a television program for KSWB.
Rahmo is married to Abdisalam Farah and has three children, two girls and one boy.
Bevelynn Bravo
As a Community Coordinator for the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, Bevelynn is committed to neighborhood improvement and community pride. She has been recognized both within and outside the neighborhoods where she lives and works. Through her work, Bevelynn labors to create a safer, healthier place to live for her four children. She successfully advocated getting more streetlights placed on her block, helped remove the gun show billboards in the community, and is working to bring unity between all of the ethnic groups that live there.
Bevelynn also does regular tours for school age kids to help them learn at an early age the importance of valuing community. She has been recognized for her service to the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Council and the projects she has coordinated.
Martha Aguilar Chavez
Martha has been a Community Coordinator for the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation for over 10 years. She has had an active part in the strengthening of her community advocating for needed improvements like new stop signs, street sweeping, tree planting, and street lighting. She also help build the residents capacity by coordinating health workshops, nutrition classes, immigration workshops, money management classes, and CPR classes. She has lived in Southeastern San Diego now for more than 20 years.
Martha got involved in community work after she attended a livingroom meeting facilitated by the Jacobs Center. She has been involved with the Fiestas Patrias Committee and has helped in the planning and implementing of the celebration of their Mexican Independence Day. Martha also co-leads the Art Competition for the annual Arts & Culture Fest at Market Creek Plaza. Her role is key in connecting the Jacobs Center not only to the artists here in the community, but especially to artists outside of this community. She believes that her multicultural community can set aside their differences and work together to build a stronger and more vibrant community.
Martha is a mother of four wonderful boys and has been married for over 22 years.
Lefaua Leilua
Lefaua Leilua is a mother of five from South Encanto. She is a Community Coordinator at the Jacobs Center whose duties are to outreach to the community she lives in as well as to the Samoan and Pacific Islander communities. Her passion for arts and culture drives her desire to connect other cultures to the work being done by the Jacobs Center. She has been instrumental in the start-up of the Neighborhood Unity Foundation, a Community Foundation in the Fourth District that is for and ran by community residents, and was President for its first five years.
Aside from the work she does for the Jacobs Center, she is involved in many Samoan community groups as well as with her church, St. Rita's. She is passionate about the work that she is involved in and wants to see change in her community. She feels strongly that the only way we can make a positive change is to work together to make it happen.
Easter Leasau
Easter Leasau first got involved in her community when she was invited to a living room meeting; there, she learned a lot about her neighborhood and grew interested in community change. Since then, she has enjoyed working to bring unity among all cultures in southeastern San Diego.
Before joining the Community Coordinators, Easter was part of one of JCNI’s first survey teams that asked residents what they would like to see in their community. She continues her work on what is now called the JCNI Listening Team in a variety of survey projects, including one that helped establish the Neighborhood Unity Foundation and another that worked closely with the first investors in Market Creek’s community development IPO.
Easter also participates on a variety of planning teams, such as the annual Celebrating Families Summer Series, and co-leads the live art demos for Arts & Culture Fest. Since 2006, she has been a member of the Samoan Festival Committee, which organizes a cultural celebration each August.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Easter has lived in southeastern San Diego for over twenty years and calls the neighborhood of Valencia Park her home. She is a mother of six and has been happily married for nineteen years. In her spare time, she enjoys volleyball and dancing.
Mariana Martinez
Mariana Martinez has worked as a JCNI Community Coordinator for over ten years. She is a lead organizer of a resident group in the community of Mountain View, which meets monthly to work on shared concerns together and bring resources to the neighborhood. Their efforts over the years have focused on community beautification drives, educational workshops on a variety of health topics and social justice issues, and cultural traditions such as the annual Mountain View community posadas.
Mariana is a member of the Fiestas Patrias Mexicanas Committee, which has organized a Mexican-American heritage celebration at Market Creek Plaza each September for the past three years. She also manages JCNI’s Community Room, a gathering place for cultural and educational activities and events that are open to all.
A long-time resident of Mountain View, Mariana is the proud mother of two daughters and a son.
