San Francisco, CA – Today, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that Monifa Willis, PMHNP-BC, has been appointed to serve as her Chief of Staff and that Karima Baptiste has been appointed to serve as Chief of the Victim Services Division.  Ms. Willis brings decades of clinical experience working with victims of crime and people impacted by the criminal justice system to the office.  Ms. Baptiste has been with the Victim Services Division for 19 years where she has been a powerful and dedicated advocate for victims of crime. 

“I am excited to appoint Monifa Willis to serve as my chief of staff and Karima Baptiste to serve as Chief of Victim Services,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.  “They each bring unique skills and talents that will serve this office well.  Monifa’s training and experience as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner are well suited to lead my office’s efforts to develop new initiatives and programs focused on preventing crime while advancing smart criminal justice system reforms without compromising public safety.  Karima’s tireless and unwavering advocacy on behalf of victims of crime will deepen our office’s unyielding commitment to seeking justice in the courtroom and healing for victims of crime.” 

Prior to serving as Chief of Staff, Ms. Willis was the Chief of the Victim Services Division where she transformed victim services policies and procedures and ensured that all of the District Attorney’s Office’s work was trauma-informed, and victim centered.  She re-vamped a 40-hour victim advocate training to include healing centered tenants that further hold the victim as the center of the work.  She also worked diligently to expand the community-based victim advocacy program and created an infrastructure to embed and support victim advocates in vulnerable communities. 

As part of her new role, Ms. Willis is continuing to oversee the Victim Services Division and working to launch new programs and initiatives designed to focus on prevention and intervention efforts that will improve public safety while advancing smart criminal justice reforms.  Ms. Willis also oversees policy, legislation, grants and special programs that drive smart criminal justice reform and focuses on healing communities impacted by the criminal justice system.  Ms. Willis’ work will be informed by and complement the traditional prosecution work being done in the office that falls under the Chief Assistant who reports directly to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. 

“I look forward to applying my mental health, public health lens and extensive program development experience to push forward meaningful criminal justice reform that is rooted in healing all parties involved in the justice system,” said Chief of Staff Monifa Willis. “It is important that the heart of this work acknowledges the dialectical nature of victim and justice involved person. I am humbled by this opportunity.”

Ms. Willis also serves as an assistant clinical professor for the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing where she trains students in trauma- and culturally-informed nursing practices.  In her capacity as an assistant clinical professor Ms. Willis teaches one class in the fall, winter and spring quarters in the evenings.  Clinical faculty at UCSF School of Nursing are a respected and diverse group of individuals whose faculty appointment requires professors to be actively engaged in careers that demonstrate the full scope of practice for a nurse practitioner.

Previously, she served as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital of Oakland’s Department of Psychiatry. She has spent a significant portion of her career working directly with patients and their families as a Psychiatric Registered Nurse at San Francisco General Hospital and a Family Facilitator I/Mental Health Clinician at EMQ Child and Family Services. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing with a specialty in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from University of California, San Francisco. She also holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University.

Appointed as the new Chief of Victim Services is Karima Baptiste.  She has been with the Victim Services Division for 19 years, tirelessly advocating for victims of crime.  She has deep community connections and as Chief of Victim Services will work to strengthen the division’s community partnerships to bolster collaboration to help survivors and victims of crime heal.

“I am committed to helping survivors and crime victims in the City and County of San Francisco,” said Chief of Victim Services Karima Baptiste.  “I will continue to stand in solidarity with victims to ensure that their voices are heard in upholding their MARSY Rights, ensure that services are accessible in our community to heal; as well as support my team to do the hard work.”

Chief Baptiste is a San Francisco native who began her career in non-profit settings serving teenagers in a pregnancy prevention and intervention setting.  She also has provided employment and training services in partnership with the Human Services Agency.  She first joined the District Attorney’s Office in November of 2005 as a victim advocate.