About Us

Diane is a half Midwesterner / half Californian, Black mixed-race, queer equity consultant and community organizer with a background in Sociology (CSULB) and Ethnic Studies (SFSU). Since 2016, her anti-oppression firm, The DB Approach, has provided strategic planning, facilitation, coaching, and training rooted in social justice to grassroots organizations, NPOs, universities, healthcare institutions, and arts organizations.

She co-founded the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition that modernized the state's HIV-criminalization laws, One Struggle KC, an anti-police brutality organization, and co-chaired the American Humanist Association's LGBTQ Alliance, focusing on secular activism and equity.

Since returning to Long Beach in 2020, she has collaborated on the Long Beach Community Health Needs Assessment Collaborative, LBDHHS’s Black and LGBTQIAIS+ Health Needs Assessments, and currently co-chairs the LB HIV Planning Commission. In 2023, she co-founded Queermunity LB, a space for 30+ Queer and Trans folks of color in Long Beach/South Bay.

When she’s not building coalitions or facilitating brave conversations, Diane is likely chasing sunsets—or living under the benevolent rule of her cat, Rosa (Parks).

Ish serves as the Health Department Liaison to the Long Beach HIV Planning Group (HPG), bringing 25 years of experience in HIV and STI awareness, prevention, education, and testing. A native bilingual public health leader, Ish has worked extensively in community-based and municipal settings to expand access to culturally responsive testing, linkage to care, and harm reduction services. He previously served as the City of Long Beach Representative on the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV, where he contributed to regional planning, funding priorities, and policy discussions aimed at reducing disparities and improving outcomes for people living with HIV, impacted by STIs, and those coping with substance use disorders seeking Harm Reduction Services in Long Beach.

In his current role with the City of Long Beach Health Department, Ish oversees the City’s opioid overdose prevention and awareness response while also supporting implementation of the HIV/STI Syndemic Strategic Plans. His work centers on integrating harm reduction, overdose prevention, and communicable disease strategies to address overlapping health challenges in Long Beach. As HPG Liaison, he supports the co-chairs, and the planning group align community input, epidemiological data, and programmatic priorities to strengthen coordinated HIV prevention and care efforts across the city.