The recent governor’s appointee talks about leadership, diversity and second chances.

Leslye Tinson grew up knowing what it was like to be a high achiever, excelling at school and winning positions on student government. So when she couldn’t hack it her first year at New York University, it came as a shock to her system. She moved back home to Compton, then to San Francisco for a second attempt – this one successful – at college.

She became a family therapist, and in February, moved to Salinas to start a new job as a clinician at the San Benito County Behavioral Health Department. She’s a self-identified “city girl,” but says Salinas feels like it’s on the upswing: “I saw the development happening on Main Street, and thought I would give it a try.”

If there were any doubt that Tinson, 33, has reclaimed her high-achieving status, in April, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed her to serve as a member of the Northern California Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee. That means she attends meetings in Oakland and Sacramento to hear appeals from would-be security guards who have applied for a license, been denied, and are appealing those denials.

Getting appointed to a state-level board wasn’t magic; Tinson heard a presentation at her sorority by a representative of the governor’s appointments division, and put her name on a list three years ago.

Weekly: The Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee sounds a little esoteric. What do you do there?

Tinson: We say, come tell us what happened, and why now you should have the public’s trust.

We probably come in contact with at least one private security guard a day. They are the people outside the bank, watching your car at a parking lot or standing outside the public library. The guards at the NBA finals, working Oracle Arena right now, are all supposed to be licensed. We are engaging with them all the time, but they are invisible to some extent.

Why did you to serve on this board?

Being a mental health professional, I do believe people can change. We are not rehashing the past and trying their cases again. I’m more interested in, how have they changed? What about their life is different than the crime they committed when they were 17? Can I make a good-faith decision about this person being able to keep others safe?

It’s also about giving back, which is a main tenet of my sorority’s mission.

Your sorority sounds like an important force in your life. Tell me about that.

I joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, or AKA, at San Francisco State. We are the world’s oldest sorority for black women, and we have long lineage: Rosa Parks and Maya Angelou were members. I can credit AKA with a lot of my professional development as it relates to public policy. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known about the governor’s appointment list.

Do you have any future political aspirations, or plans to run for office?

I’ve considered it. I’ve been running for student council since the second grade! I think public service is a way to interact with people who you might not interact with on a social level, and to hear unique perspectives.

Tell me why it’s important to have diverse representation on something like the Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee.

Most often it’s an older white male submitting an application, versus someone who looks like you or me. It’s sad. But my name didn’t fall out of the sky: I had to pursue it.

We could be reading a different story about my life, but I was able to take advantage of certain things offered to me to take a different path. Some kids I grew up with, on the same block, didn’t have that chance. We just have to have a greater understanding of what it is to be human. Everything else follows after that.

What’s it like living and working in a largely Latino community?

It was important for me to work in a community health clinic in a community of color. There was a large Latino community in Compton. To me, Salinas is not very different; it feels comfortable.

To me, “community of color” does not equal unsafe. But I know that’s what they’re saying to me when they say, “Oh, you live in Salinas?” It’s the same way they say, “Oh, you grew up in Compton?” As if to say nothing successful can come out of an impoverished place.