Jimmie Woods-Gray
Jimmie Woods Gray is the president of the City of Los Angeles’ Fire Commission, the civilian board charged with overseeing and making policy for the City of Los Angeles’ Fire Department. Jimmie moved from Tyler, TX to attend college at Compton Community College. She went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Los Angeles and later earned a Master’s of Science degree from Pepperdine University, Los Angeles.
In 1963, Jimmie began her journey as an early childhood teacher in the LAUSD Children’s Center and in the 1970’s began teaching at the 24th Street Elementary School, where she worked for 32-plus years. At 24th Street School, Jimmie worked as a teacher, mentor teacher, SB65 Outreach Consultant and a SRLDP teacher.
The teaching profession led Jimmie to her involvement with UTLA, the teachers’ union. She was on strike in 1970 and 1989. She held various offices at the Local, State and National levels representing the teachers of Los Angeles and California. Jimmie was a UTLA Chapter Chair, Member of the UTLA House of Representative, Member of CTA State Council, a Member of the National Education Association’s (NEA) Board of Directors for 8 years, and a delegate to CFT and AFT/AFL/CIO Conventions. Jimmie is a past delegate to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the LACOPE/AFL-CIO Board. Presently, Jimmie was a member of the NEA Standing Committee on Legislation and the UTLA PACE Chairperson for 6 years.
While being a union activist, Jimmie continued to work in the community. She was elected in 1994, Chairperson of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, 47th AD Delegate to the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, elected Member of the California State Democratic Central Committee and an elected member to the California Democratic Party Executive Committee. Jimmie was the first person of color ever elected Chairperson of the LA County Democratic Central Committee and only the second woman ever elected. Jimmie has attended the Democratic National Convention in an official capacity for 4 times. She attended the inauguration of President Clinton and President Obama.
In 2001, Jimmie was appointed to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment as a Commissioner by then Mayor James Hahn. She was elected Vice President and served as Acting President under Mayor Villaraigosa. She served 5 years as a Commissioner. In 2011, Jimmie was appointed the LA City Council President Eric Garcetti to the LAUSD Redistricting Commission.
Jimmie has been the recipient of numerous honors, awards, and recognitions, including 2005 Los Angeles Pioneer Women of the Year, 2004 CTA Ted Bass Teacher in State Politics Award, 1989 and 1998 CTA/UTLA Who Award, 2002 A&E Biography Community Heroes Exhibit, 2006 UTLA Women’s Committee Woman of the Year, 2006 LAAAWPAC Power PAC Award, 2007 New Frontier Democratic Club Outstanding Leadership Award, National Council of Negro Women, Inc. Distinguished Educator Award and the 2010 California Friends Of African American Caucus’ Inola Henry Memorial Award. Jimmie was honored by the Los Angeles City Council members Eric Garcetti and Herb Wesson, President of LA City Council on June 24, 2011 and the LA City Council and the Mayor signed the Resolution.
Jimmie Woods Gray retired from LAUSD on July 1, 2011.
Jimmie attended the 2012 Democratic National Convention as a delegate in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2012, Jimmie was reelected to the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee. She continues to be an activist in the community.
Jimmy H. Hara, M.D.
Jimmy H. Hara, MD, FAAFP, is the vice-president of the City of Los Angeles’ Fire Commission, the civilian board charged with overseeing and making policy for the City of Los Angeles’ Fire Department. He is a Professor of Family Medicine and Interim Associate Dean for the College of Medicine of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. He is Professor of Clinical Family Medicine for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Family Medicine Director Emeritus for the Kaiser Los Angeles Center for Medical Education. He previously served as the Director of Graduate Medical Education for the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region (for five Kaiser hospitals and twenty residency programs). He served as Lead Physician for Community Benefit for Southern California Kaiser Permanente; in that role he was the Permanente liaison to the public hospitals, free clinics, health centers, and health advocacy organizations in Southern California. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the UCLA PRIME (dual-degree MD) Program.
He served for twelve years on the Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission (Song-Brown Commission) for the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), including four years as Commission Chair. The Commission is the federal designee to determine health professional shortage areas and also funds family medicine residencies, nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs, and nursing schools. He serves on the Council of Advisors for the California Health Professions Education Foundation which provides scholarships and loan repayments for health professionals providing health services to medically under-served vulnerable populations. He served as District 3 Director on the Board of Directors for the California Academy of Family Physicians and is Immediate Past President of the California Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Board of Trustees.
He has been a volunteer physician at the Venice Family Clinic for four decades and was a member of the Venice Family Clinic Board of Directors for thirty years , including a recent stint as Board Chair. He spearheaded the Venice Family Clinic in their recent transition from a free clinic to a Federally Qualified Health Center. He now serves on the Board of Trustees of the Venice Family Clinic Foundation. He has also volunteered regularly for three decades at the Saban Free Clinic (formerly the Los Angeles Free Clinic) and for two decades at the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture. He is the Founding Director and Advisory Board Chair of the Los Angeles Albert Schweitzer Fellowship that affords opportunities for health professional graduate students to provide community service. He is currently on the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship National Board of Directors.
He served to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was the Medical Officer for the Cruiser Destroyer Force of the Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam War. He is an active supporter of the Soldier Project and the Wounded Warrior Project to aid returning veterans in dealing with their mental health and medical issues. He is an active member of Physicians for Human Rights, which was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for their International Campaign to Ban Landmines. He is Past President and currently Vice President of the Los Angeles Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and has served on their National Board of Directors. Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is the United States affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. His wife and two sons were start- to-finish marchers in the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament in 1986 starting in Los Angeles and finishing in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
In 2000 he was awarded the California Academy of Family Physicians “Barbara Harris Award for Educational Excellence” in medical student, residency, and continuing medical education. In 2002, he was the recipient of the UCLA School of Medicine “Award for Excellence in Education” and also won the USC Department of Family Medicine “Teacher of the Year” award. He was recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians as the 2006 “National Outstanding Residency Program Director” in recognition of his leadership, teaching, and community service. In 2006, he was the recipient of the inaugural “David Lawrence Award for Community Service” from the Kaiser Foundation National Board of Directors. He was recognized in 2009 by the Medical Board of California as the “Physician Humanitarian of the Year.” He currently serves as an At-Large Director on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Family Medicine, the national Board-certification agency for family physicians.
Delia Ibarra, Esq. was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti in September of 2013. She is also a partner at Lara & Ibarra LLP, a Downtown Los Angeles law firm. She is a seasoned litigator whose practice focuses on complex commercial cases in state, federal and appellate courts. She is licensed to practice before all California courts.
Prior to her service on the Fire Commission, Ms. Ibarra had an extensive history of, and commitment to, public service. During the presidential administration of President William J. Clinton, Ms. Ibarra was a “schedule C” political appointee who served as a speechwriter to Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. As a speechwriter, Ms. Ibarra helped the Secretary communicate with the American people about many of the major public policy issues of our time, including: AIDS, welfare reform, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as health care quality and access. During the early part of her professional career, Ms. Ibarra also served as a legislative and press aide to several prominent Democratic, Los Angeles-area, elected officials. She is currently a member of the Latina Lawyers and the Mexican American Bar Associations and remains committed to addressing and resolving issues of poverty and inequality. She is also deeply committed to protecting civil rights and civil liberties.
Ms. Ibarra is a graduate of Stanford University (B.A., 1991) and Stanford Law School (J.D., 2002). She clerked at the ACLU of Southern California after her first summer at Stanford Law School. She wrote a weekly column for the Stanford Daily while studying history as an undergraduate student at Stanford University. Her Stanford Daily column was nationally syndicated by Hispanic Link News Wire Service during her senior year at Stanford and was subsequently republished in a number of national and local publications.
Ms. Ibarra currently resides in the Echo Park neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, but she was raised in unincorporated East Los Angeles and in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.
Corinne Tapia Babcock
Corinne Tapia Babcock is the latest appointee by Mayor Eric Garcetti. She has served on the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension board of commissioners since 2014. From 2017 to 2018 she was elected by her peers to serve as board Vice President, and from 2018 to 2019 served as the board’s President. Corinne has been dedicated to her fiduciary responsibility of ensuring the $24B pension fund is one of the of the soundest and highest performing pensions in the United States.
Corinne is the Managing Broker and Owner of Five Heights Realty Corp., an independent real estate brokerage company specializing in residential/commercial sales and acquisitions of real property. Additionally, she is the founder and Principal of Cova Partners, LLC, a certified women, minority, and small business enterprise, providing critical back-office support for companies interested in providing their trade, service, or product on construction projects in the greater Los Angeles area.
Corinne earned a B.A. from Georgetown University, and a certificate in real estate with a concentration in investments from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has also participated in the University of Southern California’s Ross Minority Real Estate Program and the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs.
Additionally, she serves as founding board member of REĀL – Real Estate Association of Latinx Professionals—the first organization of its kind focused on commercial real estate. Corinne is an avid golfer, and member of the Latina Golfers Association, who awarded her the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award for achievements in business on-and-off the golf course. Corinne lives in the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of El Sereno.
Roy Harvey, Retired Assistant Chief
Roy Harvey retired from the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 2020 after 42 years of distinguished service and at the rank of Assistant Chief. Just prior to retirement, Chief Harvey served as the Assistant Fire Marshall where he led and directed over 200 fire and civilian personnel to implement policies and procedures to strengthen all aspects of fire prevention and public safety and to transform the Bureau to a high performing culture delivering improvements in morale, efficiency, and productivity for the City of Los Angeles.
As a native of Los Angeles, Chief Harvey has always had a passion for public safety and service. Prior to joining the Fire Department as a firefighter at the age of 18, Harvey served as a Lifeguard for Los Angeles Parks and Recreation at Central Recreation Center in South Central Los Angeles. Harvey progressed from firefighter, becoming the youngest African-American to earn the rank of Captain I. He was well known as a mentor and inspirational leader throughout his career, and created opportunities for many to follow in his footsteps. He progressed further through the ranks as Captain II, Battalion Chief and ultimately Assistant Chief.
In his first year as a firefighter, Harvey joined the Stentorians (Association of African-Americans in the Fire Service). The guidance received from older African-Americans on the Department was particularly helpful in navigating the new environment and Harvey was passionate about creating a pathway for those who came behind him. His contribution as organizer and lead instructor of the Excel Officer Development Program led to the most successful infusion of African-American Fire Captains on one promotional list, and laid the foundation for many of the officers to promote into leadership roles on the Los Angeles Fire Department over the past 30 years. His contributions to the organization also include the Political Action Committee where he connected with City leaders to advocate for fire service issues, and the Upward Mobility Committee to insure competent and qualified lines of succession for African-American fire personnel. In addition to the Stentorians, Harvey served as a Union Advocate for firefighters.
Throughout his career Harvey was decorated with many awards that recognized his impact on the Fire Service and community. While Station Commander at Fire Station 64, Firehouse Magazine’s “Busiest Station in the Nation,” Harvey developed a strong relationship between the Fire Department and the community and was honored as the Watts Labor Community Action Committee Firefighter of the Year. Harvey is also recipient of the Los Angeles Firefighter’s Association Firefighter of the Year Award which is one of the most prestigious awards in fire service and is bestowed by peers. Harvey was the first African-American to receive this honor throughout the award’s 50+ year history. Harvey was also honored with the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for his many achievements, accolades and efforts throughout the LAFD organization, and was also granted the “Trailblazer Award” by the Los Angeles Association of Black Personnel.
Harvey currently serves on the Board as a Director for the Los Angeles Retired Fire and Police Association (LARFPA), an organization dedicated to advocating and benevolence on behalf of over 10,000 retirees and their families. He is also a board member of the Southern California Handball Association, a previous board member of the Simple Green U.S. Open of Handball, and was Commissioner of the Los Angeles Fire Department Handball Association which earned the 2011 Handball Magazine “Organization of the Year” under his leadership.
Ret. Chief Harvey is currently one of the instructors for the Los Angeles Fire Department Leadership Academy which gives him an opportunity to share the knowledge and experience gained during his long and successful career. He is a graduate of El Camino College, earned a Certification for Executive Leadership for the 21st Century from Harvard University in Cambridge MA; certifications in Unified Command from Texas A & M University; and a certification for Advanced Incident Command from the Center for Domestic Preparedness. Harvey continues to be in high demand to serve on interview boards for local Fire Departments.
