About us

Brionna Nomi (she/her, Board Chair) was born, and spent half of her childhood, in southern California, but moved to the east coast, Northern Virginia specifically, during elementary school. She and her siblings attended and graduated from Fairfax County Public Schools, and in 2001, Brionna moved to Richmond to attend college at the University of Richmond where she received her teacher licensure. She taught in Richmond Public Schools for a decade, during which time she established strong relationships in the community and across school buildings and began developing her skills as a teacher activist. Ultimately, her advocacy led to her being bullied out of the profession by the district and building administrators. Brionna left teaching and entered a doctoral program at Virginia Commonwealth University where she reinvigorated Richmond Teachers for Social Justice by taking on Mayor Stoney’s Education Compact, endorsing in local elections, and organizing among RPS teachers and VCU faculty. Brionna’s academic research focused on challenging privatization in public schools and exploring teacher professionalism in democratic spaces. She continues to engage with these issues as co-chair of Richmond For All’s Public Education Campaign Committee and in both local and statewide coalitions. Brionna is proud to have served as the Chair of RFA’s Interim Governing Board for the past six months. In her time outside of organizing, Brionna is most likely watching random YouTube videos with her almost-five-year-old son, Maverick, or planning a getaway beach vacation with her husband, Mickael.

Ben Himmelfarb (he/him) was born and raised outside of Albany in upstate New York. He is a public librarian, historian, and musician, as well as an animal and nature lover. He has been part of various campaigns, including Bernie Sanders for President (2016 and 2020) and the ongoing fight for Medicare For All (NNU and DSA). He was Team Lead on Stephanie Rizzi’s successful school board campaign. He was a Shop Steward in the NYS Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), a public sector union. Some of his first political experiences were in fights for trans rights and sexual health advocacy. He is committed to justice and liberation for all, and enjoys working in multiracial, multigenerational, working class-based organizing projects that have strong, critical analyses of class, race, power, gender, capitalism, and imperialism. He strongly believes in the dignity, agency, intellectual capacity and political power of all people. As a public librarian and public historian, he believes it is important to communicate big ideas and important stories in a simple way that brings together as many folks as possible into solidarity and collective action. He lives in the Museum District with his partner, Carolyn, and two cats, Leo and Lily. He grows some vegetables and flowers on his porch. He reads novels, mysteries, historical fictions and lots of non-fiction about politics, history, and spirituality. He likes to go hiking and camping in the woods and learning about edible plants you can forage.

Emily Robinson (she/they) is an organizer and musician with a background in youth empowerment, working class organizing, and arts-based political education. She is Development and Outreach Coordinator for the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, serves on the Caucus Advisory Council of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance (representing the Poor and Working Class Caucus), and is a member of the Richmond branches of IWW and DSA in addition to Richmond For All.

Laura McCann (she/they) is a nonfiction film producer and political organizer who grew up in Bedford County, Virginia and found home in Richmond in 2010. She previously served in leadership as a founding member and co-chair of the Richmond chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. She met the team that would become the founders of Richmond For All while volunteering on Gary Broderick’s school board campaign, and joined RFA as a volunteer staff member in 2019 after being inspired by the strong leadership and strategy behind Gary’s campaign. She was one of the team leads for Joseph Rogers’ 2020 campaign for City Council, and she has been serving on the RFA Interim Governing Board and as co-chair of the Shared Governance committee since September 2020. Laura lives in Richmond’s 3rd district with her partner Dave and their 3 cats.

Quinton Robbins (he/him) grew up in central Virginia, is an 8th district resident, and currently serves as the Political Director for Richmond for All. His background is in running analytics for state level Democratic campaigns where primarily he analyzed campaign finance data to improve fundraising outcomes for progressive candidates. He joined Richmond for All in 2019 to aid in the fight against the “Navy Hill” redevelopment because he has repeatedly seen our city’s leadership attempt to sell our city to corporate interests.