Management Team
Roque J. Barros
Officer
Roque's career spans 25 years with roles in community organizing and community building. Prior to joining JCNI in 1997, Roque served as executive director of Los Niños, an international grassroots organization doing work in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. His work with both organizations has focused on developing and directing sustainable programs that assist communities in addressing their needs and developing solutions.
In his role, he has created and led many of the innovative resident engagement programs for which the Center is known, including the Neighborhood Coordinators and Writerz Blok graffiti arts programs, and Project VOCAL (Voices of Community at All Levels). Barros is a sought-after trainer and expert in resident engagement and assists other communities and organizations in leading change where they live. He is also a resident of the Diamond Neighborhoods, which is the focus of the Jacobs Center’s work.
Roque has received awards and commendations from the San Diego Center for Mediation and the City of San Diego 4th District Councilman's office, and he was honored as an Hispanic leader by President Bill Clinton.
He has served on the board of directors of the National Community Building Network, the Boys and Girls Club of Chula Vista, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Roque is a founding member of "Friends of The Good Samaritan" Retirement Center and served on the San Diego Citizens Revenue Review and Economic Competitiveness Commission.
Roque holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Redlands.
Charles "Chip" Buttner
Charles "Chip" Buttner joined JCNI in 1997 to help guide the development of Market Creek Plaza. He currently serves as the President and CEO of Diamond Management, Inc. and oversees the physical development and property management of all properties in The Village at Market Creek.
Chip has nearly 40 years of property development and property management experience. His career has been devoted to the entire development spectrum, including site acquisition, planning, permitting, leasing, construction, and property management. He has worked on various projects, including free-standing fast food restaurants, large neighborhood centers, casinos, office buildings, and emergency care units.
Prior to joining JCNI, Chip was a partner of Warburton & Buttner Development Company, a San Diego-based professional development firm integrating the disciplines of planning, finance, governmental relations, real estate, construction, and property management to provide a total service approach to commercial real estate development. Warburton & Buttner successfully completed a comprehensive spectrum of commercial real estate developments exceeding $100,000,000 in construction costs.
Chip holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Principia College and is a licensed general contractor.
Charles Davis
Charles Davis is Director of Project Development for activities undertaken by Jacobs Family Foundation — entities that relate to planning, building, operating and maintaining the emerging cultural Village at Market Creek as an inclusive, sustainable community.
He is working closely with resident teams, local community groups, and public and private sector partners to plan & develop more than a dozen new projects that will transform the Diamond Neighborhoods in southeast San Diego for the benefit of existing and future residents. These efforts include designing and constructing a green, walkable, livable transit village that will create 1,000 units of quality affordable housing; produce 530,000 square feet of new retail, office, and light industrial space; enhance over 3,000 linear feet of urban wetlands; and redevelop numerous brownfields. He is also helping to build a network of community resources to enhance capacity-building for long-term resident investment and ownership, generate social enterprises and provide livable-wage jobs and skills training for those who live there.
Before joining the Jacobs Center in 2006, Mr. Davis had over 25 years of community development and construction experience. He has managed the development and construction of over 50 projects valued at 850 million dollars for numerous for profit and non-profit organizations. He served as the Community Development Officer of the Gaslamp Quarter Association in San Diego and Director of Development for Landgrant Development.
He attended the University of California at Los Angeles School of Engineering, received a Business degree from the University of Redlands and has completed the Community Economics Development program at San Diego State University.
Lisette Islas
Lisette Islas is the Director of Community Organizing for the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. Lisette has more than 15 years of experience in community development and action research organizations. The focus of Lisette’s work is creating community- and capacity-building strategies. She co-developed and manages the Neighborhood Coordinators Program, an innovative approach to equip residents of a community with the tools they need to strengthen and improve their neighborhoods. For these efforts, she received an official commendation from the City of San Diego in 2004. Lisette also worked with residents to establish the Neighborhood Unity Foundation (NUF), the first foundation in the country designed and governed by residents to serve and support philanthropic efforts in their community.
Lisette also leads the community arts program, which brings residents, artists, and arts professionals together to design and create a collection of public art works for the neighborhoods of southeastern San Diego. She led the development of the Center for Community & Cultural Arts, a unique partnership between the residents and arts community of southeastern San Diego and the arts institutions of Balboa Park. Lisette graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California at Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, and completed her master’s studies in Urban Planning at the University of California at Los Angeles.
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