PHILADELPHIA – Today, the City announced the thirteen members of the Policy Advisory Commission. The first meeting with the PAC’s new executive Director, Hans Menos, and the newly appointed Commission will take place on October 16, 2017. In accordance with the executive order signed by the Mayor in January, Commission members were chosen based on recommendations from civic, advocacy, legal and law enforcement organizations as well as City Council and relevant city agencies, including the Office of Black Male Engagement, the Office of LGBT Affairs and the Commission on Human Relations.

The Commission members and their self-described biographies are listed below.

Chair, Ronda Goldfein is the executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, the nation’s only independent public interest law firm dedicated exclusively to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Shawn Aleong is a young black man with an intellectual disability who strongly believes that justice for all means justice for all. Shawn is an advocate for civil rights and disability rights in his community and has made a great impact in many ways including speaking at Philadelphia City Hall and in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. Shawn is a Temple University Student Leader studying pre law and is involved in Temple Student Government, the Black Law Association, NAACP and various other organizations.

Erica D. Atwood is currently the CEO of First Degree Consulting, LLC where she assists organizations with youth development, grassroots communications, authentic community engagement, and strategic planning with a racial equity lens.  Erica is a public service leader with nearly two decades of experience in communications, project management, community outreach and advocacy. She is an experienced public speaker, trained mediator, and results based facilitator. She is a proud mentor, people lover, problem solver, and troublemaker. She’s an alum of Howard University, currently resides in West Philadelphia, and originally hails from Camden, New Jersey.

Mujeeb Chaudhary is a pharmacist by profession, serving Hunting Park area over 26 years. He’s currently serving as president of Ahmadiyyat Muslim community, Philadelphia chapter. A father of four, he is committed to motivating youth to peaceful endeavors in Philadelphia.

Ben Geffen has been a staff attorney at the Public Interest Law Center since 2010, where he works to protect access to voting, healthcare, and employment. Mr. Geffen also serves as a leader of the Philadelphia Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society. He lives in Center City with his wife and three children.

Marvin R. Lazenbury MHS, is a highly-regarded leader, advocate, speaker and overall change agent. Professionally, Marvin has over 15 years of human services experience, ranging from direct services to management. Marvin is currently the Interim Director of Community Engagement for CUA 1 NET Community CARE (NCC) where he is task with the implementation of the Strengthening Families Framework and subsequent programming

Michael Rahming currently serves as a Violence Intervention Counselor for the Anti Violence Partnership of Philadelphia. Previously, he served as a Youth Aid Panelist for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

George D. Mosee, Jr., retired from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office after 28 years of service on December 9, 2016, where he last served as First Assistant District Attorney. On January 3, 2017,  he was appointed Executive Director of the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network. Mosee is a 1973 Central High School graduate, a dual degree holder from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania with a B.A. Degree in 1977 and a Master’s Degree in 1981, and he earned his law degree in 1986 from Temple University School of Law.

Bilal Abdul Qayyum serves as the President and Executive Director of the Father’s Day Rally Committee, Inc. (FDRC).  Qayyum, an activist born out of the ‘60s civil rights movement, attended Tennessee State University where he majored in Business and Sociology.  Bilal emerged as an effective administrator and a fierce and vocal leader that led him to serve in Philadelphia’s city government under an unprecedented five administrations – spanning 31 years.  His passion for inclusion and economic opportunity led to the creation of Philadelphia’s African American Chamber of Commerce and Philadelphia’s first Minority Enterprise Development Conference – a weeklong of instructional and network meetings for minority owned businesses. To stop gun violence, Bilal in 2007 walked a hundred and six miles from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pa. under the banner “Jobs Not Guns”.  Qayyum and his wife reside in Philadelphia.

Naiymah Sanchez is a proud transgender Latina currently working with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. She has several years experience providing direct services and advocating for the LGBQ&T communities. In that time, she has worked with the Philadelphia prison system to assist with Prison Rape Elimination ACT (PREA) compliance and recently added her expertise to the LGBQ&T cultural competency training with the Philadelphia police training academy. Ms. Sanchez is excited to bring her diverse and positive voice to the commission to rebuild the trust and relationship with civilians and law enforcement.

Sonia E. Velazquez was born and raised in Philadelphia and currently resides in Northeast Philadelphia.  She retired from the Philadelphia Police Department in 2015, at the rank of Inspector, after 30 years of honorable service.  She has actively worked with the community in various assignments, which include Patrol, Investigative, Community Relations, Conflict Prevention and the Training Bureau. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Spanish American Law Enforcement Association (SALEA) and Concilio.

Michael M. Wehrman, Ph.D., is a Strategic Research Manager for The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has published peer reviewed articles in criminal justice publications in the areas of public-police relations and predictors of recidivism. A resident of Philadelphia since 2010, he currently live in Fishtown.

Sarah Yeung is the Director of Planning and Senior Project Manager at Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, a community-based non-profit organization where she manages community engagement efforts and affordable housing development. She lives in Brewerytown with her husband.