Delana Gbenekama is a communications professional with more than 16 years of experience working mostly in local government. She also has seven years of experience leading racial equity initiatives. Gbenekama currently serves as the equity and communications program manager for the City of Santa Monica, where her role includes spearheading citywide equity initiatives and training; planning, executing and facilitating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) events; and leading DEI-related communications and marketing efforts.

Gbenekama has been an active member of the California Association of Public Information Officials since 2015 and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity since 2018. Additionally, she is a certified instructor for ELI’s Civil Treatment Workplace course and is certified in event and meeting management fundamentals by the Event Leadership Institute.

She mentors African-American and Latinx Santa Monica College students through the NextGen Mentorship Program. She is also a board member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which oversees the NextGen Mentorship Program in partnership with Santa Monica College.

Gbenekama holds a master’s degree in journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College in Studies in the African Diaspora (Independent Pattern of Study).