Our Governing Board
Tracy Pepper, Founding Executive Director
As Founder and Executive Director of Color Me Human, Tracy passionately advocates for positive change and social impact. With a deep commitment to Color Me Human's mission and a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector, Tracy drives meaningful change within our communities.
Tracy brings a diverse community development and social justice background and over 25 years of experience in non-profit, training, and governmental leadership roles. She earned a master's degree in public administration, equipping her with the knowledge and skills to address pressing social issues effectively.
Tracy's commitment to equity, inclusion, and outreach is unwavering. She has played a pivotal role in forging partnerships with community organizations, appointed and elected officials, and business and community leaders, amplifying the organization's reach and influence. She continues to advocate for social causes, including racial and gender equity, economic equality, and the dismantling of white supremacy culture. Tracy has been instrumental in raising awareness about these critical issues.
In addition to her professional role, Tracy is deeply engaged in community initiatives, generously contributing her time to various organizations. She is a respected and influential figure in the community, working tirelessly to promote collaboration, diversity, and inclusion.
Tracy has been a Nevada County resident for nine years and enjoys hiking, dancing, pickleball, e-biking, family time, and all things garden.
Reverend Kevin Tarsa
Rev. Kevin Tarsa serves as the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains in Grass Valley, where a commitment to dismantle white supremacy "in ourselves and in our institutions" aligns strongly with Color Me Human's mission. A white, gay man of eastern European ancestry and a lifelong musician from Michigan, Kevin identifies as a non-theistic religious naturalist. He has held just enough "otherness" to know the importance of dismantling oppressions and holds enough privilege to want to leverage it to good ends. Informed by his interim ministry in Beaufort, South Carolina during the August 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and the June 2015 massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, Rev. Kevin brings a personal commitment to addressing racism, to learning and growing, and to bringing his vocational skills and gifts to the board work of Color Me Human.
Daryl Grigsby
A native of Washington DC, Daryl completed his career in local government, retiring as Public Works Director of San Luis Obispo. He and his wife Leslie moved to Nevada City in 2019. Prior to arriving here Daryl was a member of the tutoring program of the Inland Valley Faith Consortium in Pomona, volunteered for Get On The Bus; connecting children with their incarcerated parents, and was founder of Ride Around Pomona (RAP), a monthly event to promote health, community awareness and camaraderie among Pomona residents.
Daryl was founder of the Black Writers and Artists of San Diego, and has published four books, including ‘In Their Footsteps: Inspirational Reflections on Back History for Every Day of the Year’, ‘For The People: Black Socialists in the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean’ and ’Celebrating Ourselves: African-Americans and the Promise of Baseball’. He also has published articles in local and national newspapers and journals.
In 2009 Daryl received the Top Ten Public Works Official of the year from the American Public Works Association. He has also served on the Superintendent’s Faith-Based Roundtable in Pomona, and was a Board Member of the Grassroots Cultural Center in San Diego. He also has a Master’s in Pastoral Studies from Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry and has been active in parishes in Washington DC, Chicago, California and Washington state.
Donn K. harris
Donn has been a Nevada County resident since October 2019. He served as Director of Creativity and Principal of the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in SF, and as Executive Director of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Oakland School for the Arts. He chaired the California Arts Council from 2015-2017, completing his second term in 2020. Under his leadership, innovative recruitment programs helped to diversify both Bay Area arts schools, and was instrumental in the Arts Council’s equity-focused 2020 strategic framework, Creative Impact, as well as initiating the Arts Leaders of Color Fellowship whose 10-member cohort was selected in 2020. He writes for medium.com on equity and other issues, and serves on the Nevada County Arts Council and the SF African-American Shakespeare Company’s Advisory Board. He is the father of two daughters and served in the U.S. Air Force as an Air Traffic Defense Specialist. He serves as Chief Financial Officer for Color Me Human.
Rick Partridge
Rick Partridge is a retired Human Resources professional who relocated full-time to Nevada City from San Jose in April 2021 after living here part-time since 2017. His 30 year career in HR included senior roles in Tech, Consumer Products and Non-profits. He spent the most recent 12 years teaching in the HR Management concentration at San Jose State. Throughout his HR career, he also contributed in a variety of roles in the community, including Ronald McDonald House at Stanford Board, Chair of the City of San Jose’s Diversity Committee and led the search committee for the Executive Director for San Jose’s DeFrank LGBT Community Center.
Currently, he serves as Board Chair of Nevada County Pride, and as Nevada County Coordinator for NorCal Golden Retriever Rescue. He is a graduate of Nevada County Citizen's Academy (2021) and Sheriff's Community Academy (2022). He started as a volunteer with Color Me Human in May 2021, assisting with DEI Training design and delivery and events. He joined the Board in 2022.
Donna Levitt
Donna Levitt has always been a fighter for justice. As a teen in the 1970’s she worked for school desegregation in her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. She was a pioneering tradeswoman when she started a carpenter apprenticeship in San Francisco in 1980. After working with her tools for 10 years, she was hired as a union organizer and became the only woman to head a major construction local in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.
Donna led San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, ensuring compliance with the country’s first local minimum wage and paid sick leave laws. She led enforcement of groundbreaking laws, including a requirement that employers provide health care benefits and a paid parental leave law that provides employees with 100% of their wages. She built partnerships with community based organizations to empower marginalized workers to assert their rights under the city’s labor laws.
Donna moved to Nevada County with her husband Jim and their dog Penny in 2016. She has worked with Creating Communities Beyond Bias and volunteered on campaigns of progressive candidates running for office. Donna has been a volunteer for Color Me Human, and joined the Board in 2023. She is an avid gardener and potter.
Lori Stone
Lori Stone has over 20 years of experience as a nonprofit leader with expertise in external relations, resource mobilization, and big-picture strategy development. She is dedicated to driving strategic change for justice and creating real impact, with a focus on equity-centered community engagement, fund development, storytelling, and collaboration. Her contributions have been instrumental in various social justice and human rights sectors, especially in criminal justice and immigration legal advocacy and reform. Lori holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership. She is a nature lover and adventure seeker and lives in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California with her partner and three dogs. She joined the Board in 2023.
Callum Hancock
Callum is on the Nevada County Pride Board, Habitat for Humanity Board, and Nevada County Public Health Committee. They is a volunteer for Color Me Human and was elected to the Board in 2023. In 2023, they went back to school to work on their Bachelor in Social Work. Their passion is social justice and working hard to ensure each marginalized person is valued, seen, and heard. Their interests are music, spending time with friends, reading, movies, relaxing, and connecting with spirit.