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CFRA's 17-member Board of Directors reflects the diversity of California families and the broad array of organizations and individuals that are committed to helping families succeed. The founding board was selected from a statewide applicant group of highly motivated and talented leaders and visionaries through a rigorous review process conducted under the auspices of the Foundation Consortium for California's Children & Youth. Board of DirectorsCharles Chambers, Kinship Center-Family Ties, Salinas Karen Derry, Happy Camp Family Resource Center, Happy Camp Mai-Mai Ho, Asian Perinatal Advocates, San Francisco Susan Kaplan, Friends of the Family, Van Nuys Linda Joy Landry, Family Resource Centers Network of California, Los Angeles Larry Leaman, Orange County Social Services Agency (Ret.), Santa Ana Leilani Luia, Low-Income Families' Empowerment Through Education (LIFETIME), Stockton Alex Morales, Children's Bureau of Southern California, Los Angeles Josefina Olarita-Dhungana, Carson Family Resource Center, Carson Anita Rees, Low-Income Families' Empowerment Through Education (LIFETIME), Oakland Wendy Rowan, First 5 Humboldt, Eureka Rita Saenz, Academy for Coaching Excellence (former Director, California Department of Social Services), Sacramento Moisés Soria, Nuestra Casa Family Resource Center, Ukiah Yoland Trevino, Transformative Collaborations International, Altadena Stewart Wakeling, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, San Francisco Board Committees and Workgroups:Executive CommitteeSusan Kaplan, Board President Finance CommitteeLarry Leaman, Chair Membership CommitteeAlex Morales, Co-Chair Communications WorkgroupAlex Morales, Chair Fund Development WorkgroupSusan KaplanAlex Morales Josefina Olarita-Dhungana Yoland Trevino Personnel WorkgroupRita Saenz, Chair Public Policy WorkgroupStewart Wakeling, Chair Board Member biosCharles Chambers is the program director of Family Ties in Monterey County, a joint program of the Kinship Center and the Monterey County Department of Social and Employment Services. Since 1999, he has worked actively on behalf of caregivers, such as grandparents who are serving as the primary caregivers for their grandchildren. Mr. Chambers previously served as the social services coordinator for the Salvation Army in Salinas and worked with the Medi-Cal Managed Care programs in Monterey and San Mateo Counties. As a past president of the Salinas branch of the NAACP, Mr. Chambers advocated for the African-American community regarding employment, education, and racial intimidation and conflicts. He also served on the boards for two different group homes for boys, a church, Hartnell Community College and the Salinas Downtown Redevelopment Board. Mr. Chambers was a foster parent to five children in addition to raising three children of his own. Karen Derry was born and raised in northern Siskiyou County, California and has been a single mom of three children for 12 years. She is currently the executive director of the Scott Valley and Happy Camp Family Resource Centers and was instrumental in starting a Family Resource Center Network in Siskiyou County, which now includes eight FRCs. Her past employment includes working in a plywood mill "pulling green chain," driving a school bus for Head Start and elementary schools, and serving as executive assistant for the Karuk Tribe and for the Karuk Community Development Corporation. She has coached youth sports teams for 10 years, including coaching high school girls basketball for four years. A strong advocate for drug-free communities, Ms. Derry is the president of the Happy Camp Community Coalition Against Alcohol and Other Drugs. She was elected for two separate four-year terms to the Happy Camp Elementary School Board and served two four-year terms on the Karuk Tribal Council. Mai-Mai Ho is the executive director for Asian Perinatal Advocates in San Francisco. For the past 15 years, she has promoted family-centered support services to prevent child abuse and domestic violence in Asian/Pacific Islander (API) communities. Ms. Ho is also the founder and architect of the Asian Pacific Islander Family Resources Network in San Francisco, a large collaboration of 27 private and public agencies serving eight Asian groups in six San Francisco neighborhoods. She has experience as a medical social worker, a psychiatric social worker and a child welfare worker. Ms. Ho has served on numerous community councils in the Bay Area, including the Safe Start Initiative Advisory Council, the Mayor's Task Force on Welfare Reform and the San Francisco Starting Points Initiative Early Childhood Interagency Council. She holds a master's in social work from the University of California, Berkeley and is a licensed clinical social worker. Susan Kaplan is the executive director of Friends of the Family, a renowned Los Angeles-based family resource center, which she first joined in 1974. Ms. Kaplan received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA in 1979. She now provides overall vision and leadership to Friends of the Family in fulfillment of its mission, identifies emerging community needs, and directs the agency's collaboration within the nonprofit community to further serve individuals and families. Ms. Kaplan is a recognized leader for the family support movement and is a strong advocate at both the local and national levels for providing universal access to helpful, responsive and effective services for all families. Ms. Kaplan is frequently asked by Family Support America, the Children's Planning Council of Los Angeles and the First 5 LA Commission to provide input, seminal thinking and guidance around issues such as the management of change, building collaborative relationships and community empowerment. She is committed to integrating best practices in management with best practices in human services. A member of a large extended family, Ms. Kaplan is the stepmother of two children and the proud grandmother of one grandson and one granddaughter. Linda Joy Landry is a native Los Angelino. She has been married to Pierre for 24 years; they have a 23-year-old son and are the proud grandparents of 9-year-old Ashley. Their 13-year-old daughter, Eveline, had a constellation of challenges: severe physical, medical and cognitive disabilities. Eveline was enrolled at the neighborhood school in a special day program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, was a consumer at Lanterman Regional Center and received medical services at the USC Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Eveline passed away in her sleep on December 26, 1999. Ms. Landry believes she now watches over her family and guides them. Ms. Landry is committed to ensuring that "the system" acknowledges families as equal partners and supporting families in addressing their concerns and needs. She has worked for 14 years with the Family Resource Centers Network of California, serving as a parent leader that represents the families of children with disabilities in healthcare, education, regional center and other service delivery settings. She also participates on several other advisory, policy and program development committees including the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles' University Affiliated Program, Family Voices of California Council, Lanterman Regional Center's Koch-Young Resource Center Advisory Committee and the Los Angeles Unified School District's Modified Consent Parent's Council. Larry Leaman has had a career in public service of over 40 years, including 23 years serving as the director of social services for Orange County, the 5th most populous county in the United States. In this capacity, he was responsible for the budgeting and expenditure of public funds in excess of $1 billion per year, managing more than 3,000 employees and administering social services programs that included child abuse intervention, foster care, adult protective services, in home services for the elderly, and disabled and welfare reform. He led the effort to develop a system of family resource centers in Orange County, which received statewide and national attention and helped lay the foundation for establishing the California Family Resource Association. Mr. Leaman served on the State Child Welfare Redesign Stakeholders Group that issued a report in 2003 that called for sweeping changes to California's child welfare and foster care systems, including prevention of child abuse and neglect by providing families with the help they need before they are in crisis. He also served twice as president of the California County Welfare Directors Association and spearheaded the Association's efforts to reduce social worker caseloads to manageable levels in the child welfare and foster care programs. After retirement from Orange County in 2003, he was called back to assist first with a financial crisis and an organizational overhaul of the County Planning Department, and he then served as special assistant to the County Executive Officer to help with a similar effort to restructure county government. In 2004, he joined the board of directors of Project Access, a nonprofit organization that provides family support services to at-risk children and families at centers operated in Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. He has also served as a First 5 Commissioner in Orange County. Leilani Luia brings an important perspective to the Board as a low-income mother currently receiving CalWORKs assistance in San Joaquin County. She is a mother of three girls, ages 15, 9 and 3. One of her daughters has disabilities that prevent Ms. Luia from participating in welfare-to-work activities. Since 1998, she has served as a board member for Low Income Families Empowerment through Education (LIFETIME), a community-based nonprofit organization in Stockton. She has actively worked to empower low-income CalWORKs families to advocate for themselves. Ms. Luia served as board chair for LIFETIME from 1998 to 2004. She has also served on the board of the San Francisco Bay Area Advocates for Environmental Rights. Alex Morales is the president and CEO of the Children's Bureau of Southern California, a nonprofit leader in the prevention and treatment of child abuse serving Los Angeles and Orange Counties for 100 years. The Bureau's research and expertise has impacted children and families nationwide. The Bureau served as one of four Strategies regional programs in California, which provides technical assistance to more than 300 family resource centers in Southern California. Mr. Morales is experienced in public policy reform, family resource centers, school readiness centers, parent education, home-based services, mental health counseling, foster care and adoptions. He has written numerous articles and has presented at high-level policy conferences. He has also spoken on radio about the value of family resource centers and the family support movement. Mr. Morales has a master's degree in social work. Josefina Olarita-Dhungana is the director of the Carson Family Resource Center. Since 1999, her work at the Center has led to a significant expansion of services to the community, including a Grandparents/Relatives as Parents Support Group, a basic needs support program, a new School - Community Policing Partnership Program and numerous other support services for families. She has experience as a mental health professional and a certified sexual assault counselor. She earned a bachelor's degree in development communication, a master's degree in mass communication and a master's degree in counseling from California State University, Long Beach, which allowed her to become a pre-licensed marriage and family therapist. Ms. Olarita-Dhungana is a trilingual (Tagalog, Nepali and English) Asian-American who has lived in Africa, Nepal and the Philippines and worked with international agencies including the U.S. AID and The Asia Foundation. She served on the National Community Committee and the Collaborative Evaluation Design Team for the Center for Disease Control and is a founding board member of the Friends of Nepal Los Angeles. Anita Rees is a single parent of a 12-year old son, Alex. While on welfare, Ms. Rees completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as coordinator of the student-run family resource center at the University Village family housing development. As program director for LIFETIME in Oakland, Ms. Rees works closely with the executive director on program administration and directs LIFETIME's services including participation in Bay Area programs to promote family economic success, providing outreach to and case management for CalWORKs and other low-income parents, and providing leadership development of parents to advocate for policies that increase their access to education. Having experienced the challenges of juggling family, school and work responsibilities while on welfare, Ms. Rees is committed to LIFETIME's goal of helping low-income parents enroll in and successfully complete higher education and training programs. Ms. Rees is also part of the LIFETIME leadership team that won the Ford Foundation and Advocacy Institute's 2003 Leadership for a Changing World Award, and serves on the board of directors for the East Bay Area Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) and the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC). LIFETIME, Low-Income Families' Empowerment through Education, is a grassroots organization created by student mothers at the University of California, Berkeley who completed college degrees while raising their families on welfare and are committed to helping other low-income mothers and fathers accomplish the same. LIFETIME's mission is to empower low-income parents to determine, pursue and achieve their goals for education, employment and economic security. Wendy Rowan serves as the executive director of FIRST 5 Humboldt, providing leadership, technical assistance and resources to further the development of family resource centers in Humboldt County. She has been a member of the FIRST 5 Association for nearly five years, serving on the executive committee and as regional representative for the Northwest Region of Counties. Since 1998, Ms. Rowan has been a member of the board of trustees for Trinidad Union School District, serving as the president for three years. She is also a member of the local Family Resource Center Network, the Northern Association of Non-Profits and the local Funders Network. Prior to FIRST 5 Humboldt, Ms. Rowan was the director of the Art Academy for Humboldt State University. Rita Saenz is the chief executive officer of the Academy for Coaching Excellence, which offers consultation and training to develop coaching cultures in business and organizations, including health care providers. In 1999, Ms. Saenz was appointed by Governor Gray Davis as the director of the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and was responsible for a $21 billion budget, 4,700 employees and 51 offices across the state. CDSS managed the welfare-to work program, child welfare services, community care licensing (80,000 facilities), disability evaluation review, adult protective services and services for refugees. Prior to her appointment with CDSS, Ms. Saenz worked with alcohol and drug abuse programs, serving as director of the Office of Alcoholism and later working with the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs for California. She also worked in the office of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., where she oversaw the executive recruitment for gubernatorial appointments. During her years with community-based organizations, she worked for the International Institute of Los Angeles, the East Los Angeles Health Task Force, the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation and was an on-air moderator for the KCET program, AHORA!, which highlighted the ELA community and Hispanic culture. She has also been the CEO for several companies. Ms. Saenz serves on the board of directors of the Plexus Institute and the international nonprofit, Children Uniting Nations. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the Nation and the Hispanic Woman of the Year Award, 2001, and has been acknowledged for her support of tribal people in California. Moisés Soria was born in Mexico, moving to the United States in 1970 and living in Southern California, where he worked as a field worker. After getting married, he and his wife of now 28 years moved to Ukiah, California, where they raised three sons. While living in Ukiah, Mr. Soria saw the importance of being an active community member, which led him to his position as coordinator of a Latino Family Resource Center, Nuestra Casa, which he has held since 1997. During his time at Nuestra Casa, he developed valuable services that have benefited many in the community, including Plan Vacacional (cultural summer program for children), an after-school tutoring and cultural program, immigration clinics, legal clinics, English as a Second Language (E.S.L.) classes, Plazas Comunitarias (a Spanish adult literacy program) and Crianza Con Carino (Nurturing with Care) parenting classes. His other volunteer efforts include serving as a marriage counselor, coordinator of lectors and spiritual retreat assistant coordinator. He also served as a member of the Pastoral Advisory Board and New Church Fundraising Program for St. Mary's of the Angels Church, as well as vice president and president of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (M.E.S.A.) Parent Advisory Board for the Ukiah Unified School District. Yoland Trevino is a visionary educator and trainer who focuses on issues related to personal and organizational change. The former director of the Vaughn Family Center in Pacoima, California, which has been recognized nationally and internationally for its innovative programs, Ms. Trevino has trained diverse groups in the United States and abroad, including corporations, academia and community-based organizations. During her tenure at Vaughn, Ms. Trevino played a key role in helping the community mobilize toward economic and social change by nurturing the growth of a culture that emphasizes openness, collaborative leadership and the "art of the possible." In an article commissioned by National Center for Service Integration, "Unleashing the Human Capital," Ms. Trevino highlights her innovative work in the Vaughn Family Center. She has served on many educational committees including the Domestic Policy Council for the Clinton administration and the Latino Caucus for Family Support America. After 25 years working in the fields of education, health, psychology, family support and community development, Ms. Trevino founded Transformative Collaborations International in 1996. She now works nationally and internationally supporting educational efforts that unleash the talents of children, youth and families. She earned a master's degree in human behavior and a master's degree in psychology from Pacific Oaks College. Stewart Wakeling is a senior program officer for the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, where he directs the organization's multi-generational approach to strengthening families in the Bay Area, including helping parents and families advance economically and preparing children to succeed in school. Mr. Wakeling was previously the founding executive director of the Community Partnership for Families of San Joaquin, a county collaborative with over 100 partners including public and private social service agencies, schools, the business community, the faith community and residents. He directed the development and operation of six family resource centers, each featuring an integrated, multidisciplinary service team designed to improve health, economic, and education outcomes for low-income children and families. The Partnership also promoted inclusive governance models, community capacity building, a family economic success initiative and important roles in shaping local policies related to families, including child welfare redesign, juvenile justice initiatives and neighborhood revitalization. Mr. Wakeling previously served as a senior researcher for the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard University, a consultant for the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona, a program evaluator for the Innovations in State and Local Governments Program at Harvard and a legal analyst. He earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in developmental psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. |
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