About Maryssa Hall
[Pronouns: she / they / ella] 

As a project director of Pro-Black Programming and Power Building, Maryssa brings her experience as an organizational strategist, community organizer, and transformational capacity builder to lead (and co-lead) several kinds of offerings for CompassPoint program participants, including cohort leadership programs, contract trainings, and public workshops.

Maryssa is fueled by a deep love of community and first got her start in youth organizing and advocacy, building power with young adults at the local, state, and national level. Her practice bridges community organizing principles, organization development methodologies, and transformative capacity-building practices. She envisions a world of collective liberation, where all people and communities can thrive, realize their full power, and create transformative change in their communities.

Ella has over a decade of experience leading grassroots leadership development trainings across the US and supporting individuals and organizations with operationalizing their social justice work in their communities. Their approach is rooted in Black Queer Feminist thought and they employ an intersectional and transformative justice lens in their work. As a life-long learner (and unlearner) ella’s greatest lessons have come from working in and with community outside of formal academic environments. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of working with a wide breadth of communities and organizations, including coalitions, non-profits, community-based organizations, unions, educational institutions, political campaigns, and startups.

Maryssa is a proud Black and Indigenous-Mexican Queer femme. She currently resides on the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people (aka the East Bay Area, CA), with her loving partner and their Yorkie, Nala.