The Board
Wayne Crooks is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 35 years of experience in the field of mental health and social services. His tenure in the field includes work with children and adolescents, adults and couples. His experience includes working in correctional institutions, outpatient clinics, inpatient hospital, school based health programs, therapeutic foster care, residential treatment and the corporate setting. In his role as a health educator Mr. Crooks was instrumental in shaping the efficient delivery of health care services to students in the Dallas public school system. As a therapist Mr. Crooks has focused primarily on treating depression, anxiety, adjustment disorders and ADD/ADHD.Mr. Crooks’ experience is supported by a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. He also completed a clinical internship through the nationally recognized Dallas Child and Family Guidance Center. As a graduate student Mr. Crooks was a recipient of the Advanced Opportunity Fellowship.
Currently Mr. Crooks is a facilitator for the Alternatives to Violence Project, a member of the Board of Directors for the Chico Peace & Justice Center and an activist living in Chico, California.
Michael J. Coyle, Ph.D. moved to the US in his early twenties from Mykonos, Greece. He joined the Chico community in 2007 with his partner Anne, when he accepted a faculty position at California State University, Chico in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice. He has a scholarly background in the Humanities and Justice Studies (Harvard University & Arizona State University) and an activist background in human rights for people in prison. In all his work he engages the social construction of the excluded and discarded persons of our community (people of color, the underclass, the homeless, the imprisoned, and those identified for their difference from promoted norms –characterized as “unlike us,” “dangerous,” or “punishment-worthy”). His teaching and research center on penal abolition, transformative/restorative justice, the “criminal” system, and ethics. His activism – on campus, in Chico, and in national & international community contexts – has centered on leading or participating in groups engaging white supremacy, racial capitalism, and violence in everyday life, labor abuses, and a continuously shifting array of justice topics as they emerge (“criminal justice” system abuses, community justice projects, indigenous persons’ rights, governing abuses, and more). He maintains an active publishing schedule, with recent books including, Talking Criminal Justice: Language and the Just Society (Routledge 2013) and Seeing Crime: Penal Abolition as the End of Utopian Criminal Justice (forthcoming).
Peter Hoffman, board secretary, is a current resident of Quincy, CA and a resident of Chico for eight years. Grew-up in the South Bay and was an Americorp, City Year participant in Chicago. Really enthused about being a Chico community member – the most welcoming, large community he’s ever lived in.
Julia Murphy has lived in Chico for over twenty years and has participated in many community events and groups. She is a teacher, artist, community advocate, and co-founder of Pedal Press.
Max uses he/they pronouns and has been a CPJC volunteer since January 2018. They grew up in Chico, CA, and goes to school at Chico State where they are majoring in mechatronic engineering. Max is passionate about animal rights as well as other social justice issues.