The 2026 Julie Wright Changemaker Awards celebration was a mix of gratitude and grief, as the West Contra Costa County education community celebrated two educators who have shaped countless lives even as many carried the weight of a recent, tragic loss.
The Chamberlin Education Foundation (CEF) honored Alton Nelson, CEO of Making Waves Academy, and Michael Heath, 8th-grade math teacher at Caliber Beta Academy, as the 2026 recipients of the Julie Wright Changemaker Award.
The gathering, held in CEF’s office in Richmond, brought together educators, community leaders, and family members to recognize two individuals whose life’s work embodies the courageous, student-focused advocacy that defined Chamberlin’s founding Executive Director Julie Wright’s legacy.
The evening also carried weight for the Caliber Beta Academy community, which was mourning the recent death of Latetia Bobo, a beloved eighth-grade English language arts teacher at the school.
Dr. Caroline Damon, Executive Director of the Chamberlin Education Foundation, opened the evening by acknowledging the range of emotions in the room. Now in its fifth year, the award honors Wright, who passed away in 2020.
Damon held a moment of silence in Bobo’s honor and shared how much she personally misses Wright, a mentor who hired Damon to the foundation team in 2015.
“It’s really a privilege to get to be here together every year and honor her memory and celebrate incredible leaders like Michael Heath and Alton Nelson, and still, I would rather that she were here to celebrate them and see their impact in person,” Damon said. “I want you both to know that she would be so proud of you.”
Mike Wright, Julie’s husband, spoke about the high standards both men bring to their work. “Michael and Alton, you’ve been selected as Changemaker Award recipients because you each model and set a high bar of excellence for yourselves and others.”
Maribel Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Contra Costa County Charter Coalition (5C), recalled that Julie Wright told her that Alton Nelson was “someone to know and follow,” she said. “He’s a really good person who really cares about kids.”
Nelson thanked his family and colleagues and recognized the three organizations he directed his grant funds to support: the RYSE Center, the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, and the 5C Coalition.
“Great schools don’t exist in isolation,” he told the audience. “Communities are anchored by an ecosystem of organizations to serve young people in ways no single school can.”
Nelson also reflected on sharing the award with Michael Heath. “To be a Black male educator is rare, not unicorn rare, but pretty rare,” he said. “Nonetheless, Michael and I share a deep belief that Black and African American students benefit from seeing teachers who look like them in the classroom.”
Terence Johnson, CEO of Caliber Public Schools, noted that Latetia Bobo was “critical to Michael’s success.” He also described walking into Heath’s classroom, where “the room vibrates with energy and deep focus.” He noted that Heath has consistently outperformed the California state average in eighth-grade math. “Mr. Heath not only teaches students mathematics, but he teaches students to believe in themselves,” he said.
Heath spoke of being placed in foster care and aging out of the system at 18, undereducated and unprepared, and how he adopted a former student, Andre, who became his son.
“That collection of the bitter and the sweet is what made me the uniquely passionate, a never-give-up educator that Julie would have been proud of,” he said.
After the program, colleagues of the award winners and past honorees reflected on what the evening meant.
Elizabeth Martinez, Interim Executive Director at Making Waves, spoke about working alongside Nelson for eight years. She recalled something Nelson told her long ago that she has repeated countless times: “There’s a soft bigotry of low expectations,” she said. “He’s never said, ‘Let’s do less.’ He’s only said, ‘Our kids can do it, and then some.’”
Mariela Labrada, a parent organizer with Making Waves and 5C, noted Nelson’s leadership in forming the coalition. “He has been such a leader in the formation of 5C and the vision of what we do,” she said.
Armond Corshawn Lee, the 2025 award recipient, said he was sure the winners felt seen for their work, which often goes unrecognized. “I’m sure that they’re a little nervous, but I also know they feel seen for the work that they’ve been doing,” he said.
Rob Kirker, also a 2025 awardee, noted that both honorees were recognized not just for their character but for their results. “The impetus of the award was looking at the data of my students,” he said. “It wasn’t just that, ‘This guy seems like a nice guy, or he’s been teaching a long time. It was ‘The students in his class move in the right direction,’ and so that made it important.”
Guadalupe Enllana, Board President for Trustee Area 2, spoke about the importance of celebrations like this one. “I’m always impressed by the dedication of the educators in our community,” she added.
Nolan Highbaugh, Board Chair of Caliber Public Schools, spoke about Heath’s ability to see beyond the surface of what students are going through. “We just need somebody to see them, and bring that talent to the surface,” he said. “(Michael) is a guy who could do that.”
Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus, a 2024 Julie Wright Changemaker Awardee and Associate Superintendent of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, closed the program with a toast, recalling hallway conversations with Julie Wright when she was a teacher.
“In those conversations, Julie made something very clear to me,” she said. “Expecting more for my students and for my community wasn’t just allowed, it was necessary.”
