The Community Alliance for CLAS has assembled a highly accomplished and highly diverse pool of consultants.
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Roberto Almanzan, MS
Mr. Almanzan is the Cultural Competency Coordinator at the Contra Costa Crisis Center. Roberto began his work at the Crisis Center in 2003 as a consultant co-facilitating a strategic plan to increase delivery of culturally appropriate services to underserved diverse communities. As part of the strategic plan, Roberto has delivered an ongoing training program on diversity and cultural competency for the staff, volunteers, and board members. Mr. Almanzan was born in Calexico, a California town on the border with Mexico. He grew up and graduated from high school in Los Angeles. Roberto earned a Bachelor of Science in International Relations from Stanford University and a Master of Science in Counseling with an emphasis on Cross-Cultural Issues from California State University, East Bay. He has facilitated groups for more than 25 years. This work has led to television appearances on People Are Talking in San Francisco and nationally on the Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey shows.
Richard Ayala
Mr. Ayala has provided program development, training, on-site recovery coaching, interventions, addiction assessment, evaluations, case management, and client-centered treatment planning to all chemically dependent populations. He specializes in working with resistant clients and criminal offenders. Mr. Ayala is the former clinical director of Smith and Jones Inc., the first full-service abstinence-based substance abuse and non-chemical addictions clinic in Amsterdam, Netherlands, which serves both adult and adolescent populations.
Ruth Beaglehole, MA
Ms. Beaglehole is the founder and executive director of the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting parents and teachers to break the cycle of early family violence by learning nonviolent communication and discipline. She has been a preschool/parent educator for over 40 years. She is the author of “Mama, Listen! Raising a Child Without Violence – A Handbook for Teen Parents” and has co-authored curricula for school readiness and mental health programs.
Darnell Bell, MS
Mr. Bell is the director of Prevention Services for Avalon Carver Community Center and has been with the organization since 1973. He was prevention program director for SHIELDS’ Families’ Heros & Sheros Program from 1992 – 2006 and is now their director of evaluation & research. He authored the “Winners Culture Based Intervention,” which is listed in the California Institute for Mental Health (CIMH) “Values-Driven, Evidence-Based Practices Resource Guide.”
Peter Bell, BA
Mr. Bell was the co-founder and executive director of the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse from 1975 to 1990 and the keynote speaker at the White House Conference on a Drug-Free America in 1990. From 1991 to 2001, he was executive vice president for new ventures development at Hazelden. Additionally, he has written numerous books on chemical dependency and served on the board of directors for many local and national social and civic organizations.
John Black, BS
Mr. Black received his undergraduate degree from Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas. He has over 15 years of community program development experience including serving as program director for St. Hope Academy, and Roberts Family Development Center, assistant director for Salvation Army specializing in organizational management and assistant director for the Salvation Army. John specializes in non-profit infrastructure development and program design, with an emphasis on working with start-up and faith-based programs.
Christina Borbely, PhD
Dr. Borbely is a senior research and technical assistance analyst at Center for Applied Research Solutions with extensive experience evaluating AOD prevention programs for underserved and vulnerable youth, including youth in foster care, Native American youth, gang-affiliated youth and youth living in poverty. She is a core contributor to training and technical assistance services in California’s Governor’s Program for Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities, recently co-authoring the cross-site Statewide Evaluation Project. Dr. Borbely received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology with a focus on adolescence at Columbia University.
Jerry Bowers, PhD
Dr. Bowers is the general manager of Advent Consulting Associates, a firm that specializes in business management and human resources consulting. Mr. Bowers has over 20 years of experience in evaluation and human resource consulting and management of both the public and private sectors. Dr. Bowers received his Doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida, and has been an adjunct professor for the University of San Francisco, and the Keller Graduate School of Management.
Craig Bowman, BA
Mr. Bowman has worked on issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people for over a decade, first as the director of a local direct services program, and then as the director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. He has developed and managed strategic collaborations and actively participated in national coalitions and associations for at-risk youth.
Michael Browning, BA
Michael Browning is a trainer and coach working at local, state and national levels. Browning has over 20 years of experience providing capacity building, training and day-to-day technical assistance across a variety of issues, including substance abuse, violence prevention, cultural proficiency development, program planning, development and evaluation.
Venice Brigham, BA
Since 2006, Ms. Brigham has served as secretary of the African American Constituent Committee supporting the development of culturally-competent alcohol and other drug abuse, prevention, and recovery services with specific emphasis on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards to improve and expand alcohol and drug services for California’s diverse populations. Ms. Brigham is co-founder/operations director of Empowerment Project-Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization serving homeless veterans with co-occurring disorders.
J. Alton Byrd, BA
J. Alton Byrd is an organizational and leadership development coach, specializing in assisting agencies with networking to build alliances and strategic partnerships. With 20+ years of experience, Mr. Byrd has served as the international ambassador for Prince Charles Youth Trust Charity and the Community Liaison for Sacramento’s Maloof Sports and Entertainment.
Roderick Campbell, MS
Mr. Campbell is the principal consultant at Capitol Intercession Group where he advises clients on intergovernmental affairs, non-profit management and strategic planning and public affairs. Mr. Campbell holds a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Urban and Public Affairs, and an undergraduate degree in Social Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Lynne Cannady, MS
Lynne Cannady has been conducting evaluation research since 1978. Her experience includes both survey and evaluation research, needs assessment, and strategic planning for government agencies, community based organizations, and private foundations. Her work has focused on evaluations of prevention and innovative program initiatives that address child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, tobacco use, foster care and adoptions, teen pregnancy, high risk youth, juvenile delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, HIV/AIDS service needs, community based collaborations, and systems change.
Ricardo Carrillo, PhD
Dr. Carrillo is a forensic psychologist. He conducts policy research for the California Endowment on disparities in Latino mental health. He served as executive director of Primer Paso Institute, Inc., a Latino Behavioral Health Organization serving rural communities in the areas of substance abuse, mental health and domestic violence. He is the director of training and technical assistance for the National Latino Alliance on Domestic Violence (Alianza) in the Latino Community and the National Compadres Network, Inc.
Bartholomew Casimir, MA, MFTI
Bartholomew Casimir is an experienced program manager and clinician in non-profit social service and health care settings, with special expertise in developing and managing affordable, supportive housing for people living with HIV/AIDS, people in recovery, and veterans. Widely respected as a tenacious and knowledgeable problem solver and motivator, Mr. Casimir has helped numerous agencies manage and evaluate social services case management programs, identify critical infrastructure issues, develop and implement operational policies and procedures, intervene in crisis situations, and develop written materials for training, education, presentations, grants and reports. His management experience in San Francisco includes work with Cecil Williams Glide Community Housing, Swords to Plowshares, Ark of Refuge, Conard House, Shanti Project, the National HIV Prevention Task Force, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Indiana State Department of Public Health, HIV Prevention, and the San Francisco Black Coalition on AIDS’ Rafiki House (co-founder). Mr. Casimir received his Master’s degree in Social Clinical Psychology from the New College of California in San Francisco, and his Bachelor’s degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis. He also served in the US Air Force Medical Corps as a Personnel Affairs Specialist.
Katherine Kit Yu Chun, PhD, MPH, MSW
Dr. Chun is deputy director at Asian Community Mental Health Services in Oakland where she has worked for more than ten years on integrative family services, including primary health care, and mental health promotion. She received a Doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley with an emphasis on assessment of bilingual student populations. Dr. Chun served as a technical assistance trainer for Asian and Pacific Islander populations and community organizations regarding alcohol and other drug prevention. Dr. Chun provided consultation and technical assistance to Asian community-based youth serving agencies on the San Francisco Asian Youth Substance Abuse Project. She is bilingual in English and Cantonese.
Alona Clifton, BA
Alona has a lifelong commitment to social justice. She has been an elected public trustee for a community college, chief of staff to a county supervisor, and grants director for a public foundation. Through Alona’s professional and community work, she has earned a measure of respect for her relentless advocacy in behalf of historically underserved communities.
Rosalind Corbett, MS
Rosalind Corbett is a Registered Addiction Specialist who provides technical assistance, supervision, training, and coaching in alcohol and other drug education, Motivational Interviewing, integrated treatment, and co-occurring disorders. She uses her knowledge and expertise to train others to provide culturally sensitive and competent services to a varied client population including ethnic minority, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients. She is member of Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).
Angela Da Re
Ms. Da Re is a senior manager at the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, Sacramento, and has worked with large and small prevention and early intervention agencies statewide. Ms. Da Re has been trained in multiple evidence-based programs and has worked extensively with schools and local agencies. Angela is a certified substance abuse prevention specialist by the Western Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies.
John de Miranda
John de Miranda served until recently as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Stepping Stone of San Diego, an addiction treatment and recovery program that serves primarily, but not exclusively, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. He is also the pro bono Executive Director of the National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disabilities, Inc., a network of individuals and organizations dedicated to improving access to substance abuse prevention and treatment services for people with disabilities. In this capacity he directed the National Access Project, funded by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, the JM Foundation and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Previous executive leadership positions have been with the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center, American Red Cross, Bay Area Chapter, Youth Power, formerly “Just Say No” International, and Join Together/Boston University School of Public Health. Mr. de Miranda has been certified as a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor by the California Certification Board of Alcohol and Drug Counselors, as well as a Recovery Coach by Friends of Recovery Vermont.
Rosa C. Della Casa, MA
Ms. Della Casa specializes in using innovative approaches in creating successful partnerships between multicultural and diverse associations, education, government, for-profit and private businesses. She was the division director for EMQ Families First for seven years; senior human resources manager for a Bay Area corporation; and special projects director at ONTRACK overseeing training for staff at businesses creating a drug-free workplace.
Stephanie Edwards, MPA, CAMF
Ms. Edwards has earned two master’s degrees, one in public administration and the other in hospital administration from the University of Southern California. She earned her Bachelor of Science from California State University, Northridge. She has 25 years experience in fund development within the nonprofit environments of community and faith-based organizations.
Matt Eich, BA
Mr. Eich has worked closely and consistently with the Center for Applied Research Solutions since October of 2004 on a variety of website builds, each requiring a wide range of skill sets. Established in 2001, Bravefish Design specializes in custom website design, server-side programming and database development.
Maggie Escobedo-Steele
Ms. Steele is a mediator and founder of Seventh Generation Warriors for Peace, an organizational team made up elders, adults and youth dedicated to peacemaking, violence prevention, mentoring, and wellness. Along with her mother, she developed bilingual curricula for migrant workers and has traveled from San Diego to Alturas to deliver bilingual presentations on wellness, alcohol and other drugs and mentoring.
Heriberto Escamilla, PhD
Dr. Escamilla is a professor of Chicano History, Developmental Psychology at the United States University and a senior associate for Philliber Research Associates. His projects cover several content areas including evaluation design and implementation, logic modeling, community engagement, coalition development and functioning, cultural competency, teen pregnancy, violence and substance abuse prevention. He has a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. He has a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Houston, Summa Cum Laude. He has published many articles and technical reports and made numerous presentations.
Vaka Faletau, MS
Mr. Faletau is a lead social worker for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Bureau of Specialized Programs/Asian Pacific Program. Prior to coming to Los Angeles, he provided crisis counseling, group counseling, and substance abuse treatment for nine years in Honolulu, Hawaii, to diverse populations, including court-ordered clients and at-risk youth. Mr. Faletau is the founder of the Tongan American Youth Foundation; and vice-president for the Pacific Islander Health Partnership Board of Directors. He is fluent in English and Tongan.
Yvette G. Flores, PhD
Professor Flores obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at U.C. Berkeley in 1982. Her postdoctoral work focused on health psychology and the treatment of addictions. Her recent research and publications address the prevalence of intimate partner violence among Mexican nationals and Mexicans in the United States, the relationship between depression and IPV in rural Mexican women, and caregiving patterns of spouses and adult children of elderly with dementia. Professor Flores is part of several collaborative, binational research teams. She is co-investigator of a USDA grant to prevent childhood obesity among Mexican American children. A Fulbright (Panama 1994) and Fogarty fellow (Mexico 1998), she has taught at the Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua, in Panama City. Doctor Flores is an international consultant and trainer in the areas of illness prevention, treatment of addictions, program development and cultural competency. She has maintained a private practice since 1986.
Angela Gallegos-Castillo, PhD
Dr. Gallegos-Castillo has over 25 years of experience as a researcher, evaluator, trainer, and program developer and is an expert in developing socially, culturally and linguistically relevant curriculum, programs, and evaluations targeting Latina/o populations. She has provided extensive technical assistance to leaders building culturally and linguistically responsive systems and staff.
Kevin Gogin, MFT
Kevin Gogin has been a licensed marriage and family therapist for over twenty years. His work has focused on prevention and intervention services with adolescent youth. In addition, he has been on the staff of the School Health Programs Department, working in various programs, most notably support services for LGBTQ youth.
Leah Gold, MA
Ms. Gold is a senior instructional designer and curriculum developer with over 20 years experience. She has created courses for social workers, educators, and police officers, covering topics such as child abuse, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol prevention. In addition to instructor-led courses, she specializes in e-Learning solutions to deliver convenient and cost-effective training via the Web.
Michael Gonzales, BA
Michael Gonzales works with school districts and county offices of education to facilitate reform practices that lead to alignment of instructional practices with the California Department of Education’s framework. He serves on several School Assistance & Intervention Teams (SAIT) developing guidelines implementing and evaluating corrective actions for under-performing schools.
Gabriella Grant, MA
Ms. Grant earned a master’s degree in policy studies at the Johns Hopkins University, with an emphasis on criminal justice policy and women. She wrote and won a grant to fund DV advocates in probation offices, the first victim program in a community corrections setting. The program became a model, recognized for innovation on the local, state and national levels. Ms. Grant trains agencies on trauma-informed approaches to human service delivery systems.
Rivka Greenberg, PhD
Rivka Greenberg, PhD works in the areas of maternal/child/family education and health as a direct service provider, grant writer, evaluator, administrator and consultant/trainer. Her work encompasses trauma informed, gender specific, children and family centered substance abuse prevention and treatment, including implementation of Celebrating Families! This evidence based program is for families involved in substance use and in which there is a high risk for domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect. Her experience includes working with persons with disabilities and with culturally and economically diverse populations. She has published in the areas of substance abuse, incarceration and families.
Edward Grice, MBA
Edward Grice has been involved with the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) over the past 8 years, serving as the chair of the African American Constituency Committee. He is an organizational development consultant for the Southern California Center for Non-Profit Management and brings that expertise to TA and training projects, specializing in work with the faith community. Edward is the facilitator for the faith community training, Missionary Vision – Involving the Faith Community in Prevention.
Shawn Griffin
Mr. Griffin developed and facilitated staff trainings on topics including “Effective Communications Across Cultures” and “Understanding Diversity” for the Los Angeles Unified School District; “Methamphetamines” and “Hepatitis C” for the Social Model for Recovery Program; and “Social Marketing,” “Social Networking” and “Cultural Competency” for the AIDS Project Los Angeles. Mr. Griffin served as project coordinator of the Gay Men of Color Consortium in Los Angeles and has made numerous presentations and issues related to gay men of color in different regions of the country.
Valerie A. Gruber, PhD, MPH
Dr. Gruber’s work has focused on developing culturally competent, trauma-informed substance abuse and mental health services for low-income substance users with chronic medical illnesses. She is associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), faculty in the public service and minorities track of the UCSF Clinical Psychology Training Program, and director of the Stimulant Treatment Outpatient Program.
Rachel Guerrero, LCSW
Ms. Guerrero is a nationally recognized leader in the field of mental health and cultural competence. In 1998, she was appointed as the first chief of the California Department of Mental Health, Office of Multicultural Services. She served in this position for over 12 years. In this position she administered many programs to address the elimination of disparities in behavior health. Ms. Guerrero is a bilingual, bicultural licensed clinical social worker with over 33 years in the field of mental health. She is a first generation Latina, born and raised in California. She has held several positions around the state including working for a county, Department of Social Services and in child welfare services, juvenile justice, and as an out-patient mental health service provider where she worked for ten years as a child family therapist. She has consulted for many state and national projects and worked with several federal offices regarding multicultural behavioral issues. In 2002, she received the California statewide Cultural Competence Leadership Award for her work in mental health and cultural competency. In 1999 she was awarded a recognition award for her pioneer work in cultural competence, by Georgetown University. In 1996, she was awarded the California Mental Health Advocates for Children and Youth, Leadership Award.
Jamal A. Hasan, MA, MA, CADC II, *LAADC, IAADC
Mr. Hasan is foremost in his field with academic accomplishments, Licenses and Certifications National and International. These accomplishments come after having survived the street culture and its perils. Mr. Hasan has provided services within the criminal justice system and within the community. His contributions span three decades of much success with both clinical and managerial responsibilities. In 1999, Mr. Hasan founded and directed his own social services program (Imani Social Services Alliance) in Oakland, CA, until the year 2004. Presently Mr. Hasan is working in private practice, lecturing and consulting. He has also developed his own addictions treatment model, “Reclaiming the Self,” whose design is to accommodate the disenfranchised and under-represented people of color and African Americans in particular. Mr. Hasan brings a wealth of experience and fluid delivery style to this project.
Jo-Ann Hoye, MS
Ms. Hoye has over 14 years experience as national faculty for the National American Red Cross African American HIV/AIDS Instructor Program. In 2003, Ms. Hoye was selected as one of the original SISTA Projects master trainers for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Intervention (DEBI) Project to develop the SISTA Institute training curricula. As master trainer, she traveled around the country training and certifying both state and local entities to implement the CDC’s SISTA Project.
Monika Hudson, PhD
Dr. Hudson is an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco (USF) and teaches organizational behavior, entrepreneurship and public administration on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. She concurrently directs the USF Gellert Family Business Center. Dr. Hudson served as city manager of both Colma and East Palo Alto, California. She was an assistant city administrator of Millbrae. Dr. Hudson has performed site reviews of the public administration programs at California State University-East Bay and San Francisco State University as a member of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s (NAASPA) program certification teams.
Kathryn Icenhower, PhD, LCSW
Dr. Icenhower is the Executive Director of SHIELDS for Families, a private non-profit organization that comprises 30 programs for families who reside in South Central Los Angeles. The organization has grown to employ 330 staff with a $21 million dollar annual budget to provide comprehensive services to over 3000 families annually. She sits on numerous local, state, and federal coalitions and advisory boards, including the California State Child Welfare Council and the National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, and was a founding member of the California Perinatal Treatment Network and the National Family Centered Treatment Director’s Coalition.
Darryl S. Inaba, PharmD
Dr. received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of California at San Francisco. In 1990 he founded and served as the director of the Bill Pone Memorial Unit of Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics in San Francisco (a bilingual, bicultural substance abuse treatment program). In 1974 he testified before U.S. Senate predicting the onset of the 1980s cocaine epidemic and has written many books, chapters and over 50 journal papers on substance abuse, pharmacology, toxicology and treatment.
Adele James, MA
Ms. James has 20 years in the health and nonprofit sectors, including 11 years of grant making with three California-based foundations where she administered more than $33 million in grants including for substance abuse, mental health, co-occurring disorders, capacity building, evaluation and other subject areas. Ms. James has extensive experience in ensuring integration of cultural competency strategies on the basis of race/ethnicity, gender, disability and orientation.
Sam H. Joo, CAS
Mr. Joo is the director of Children & Family Services for Koreatown Youth & Community Center, Inc. in Los Angeles. He has worked for various organizations, including Asian American Drug Abuse Program, Search to Involve Filipino Americans, and Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment. He is treasurer for the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON) and a member of the Korean American Social Workers Association (KASWA). He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in History with an emphasis on Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a Certified Addictions Specialist.
Sally Jue, MSW
Sally Jue is an independent consultant with over twenty years of training and facilitation experience with various corporate, government and non-profit organizations across the country. Prior to becoming a consultant, Ms. Jue worked as a medical social worker, started and ran one of the first mental health programs for people with HIV while at AIDS Project Los Angeles and was a project director at Apria Healthcare. She has published in the areas of cross-cultural counseling and the impact of culture on ethical decision-making and participated in national advisory meetings on improving access to healthcare services for women, people with HIV, immigrants and other underserved populations. Currently Ms. Jue has been assisting organizations in developing culturally competent integrated care systems, inclusive work environments and managing culturally diverse teams.
Veronica Lewis, MPA
Ms. Lewis is the project director for the Faith in Communities Capacity Building and Technical Training Program that helps strengthen community and faith based organizations in Los Angeles County District II. She has been the coordinator of the Los Angeles Al-Impics- a 5,000 participant, 35-year-old Olympic event for the substance abuse recovering community from 2005-2010. She is the assistant division director of the Homeless Outreach Program/Integrated Care System Division which provides outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment. She is also the Administrator for the African American Alcohol and other Drug Council of Los Angeles County (AAAOD). Ms. Lewis manages substance abuse services at the Los Angeles County Probation Department’s first Day Reporting Center for transitional age males.
Vannessa Lindsey, PhD
At the age of 22, Vannessa Lindsey founded Another Choice, Another Chance (ACAC). Inspired by her own experience as a young person with behavioral problems and lacking adequate programs to meet her needs, she set out to ensure youth in Sacramento County would receive age-appropriate mental health and substance abuse counseling. Last year, ACAC’s treatment services reached more than 450 youth, and the organization provided more than 8,000 hours of group and individual counseling. Ms. Lindsey is a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor and received a master’s degree and a doctorate in addictive disorders from the Breining Institute in Sacramento.
Alma Lones, MS, LMFT
Ms. Lones has over 25 years experience in human services. A former member of CADPAAC, she chaired the Perinatal and Women, Families and Welfare Reform subcommittees. She has been involved in both policy development and the provision of appropriate services to address perinatal substance use disorders. She is a consultant to treatment programs and to the Dependency Drug Court of San Francisco.
Francis G. Lu, MD
Dr. Lu is professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, as well as director of the Cultural Competence and Diversity Program in the Department of Psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital. In 2002, he received a special American Psychiatric Association presidential commendation for his work in cross-cultural psychiatry. He served as executive scientific advisor for a 58-minute training videotape/DVD “The Culture of Emotions” about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) Outline for Cultural Formulation. Dr. Lu served as an expert panelist to develop a culturally competent curriculum for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Centers of Excellence. Dr. Lu is bilingual in English and Cantonese.
Martha Madrid
Ms. Madrid joined the Orange County Bar Foundation in 1995. She served as program coordinator for many juvenile crime diversion programs. Ms. Madrid developed and implemented federal substance abuse prevention programs and oversees a Center for Disease Control & Prevention HIV Education & Risk Reduction program which targets high-risk and incarcerated Latina females.
Max Madrid, BA
Mr. Madrid was the director of Gang Prevention and Intervention Services in Orange County where he conceived, directed and oversaw gang prevention and intervention services in Orange County cities. He worked closely with local law enforcement agencies, county probation, school districts, city councils, business leaders and the community as a whole.
Cleo Manago, PhD
Cleo Manago is the founder and chief executive officer of the African, American Advocacy, Support-Services & Survival Institute (AmASSI), a national, non-profit wellness, cultural and training center with projects in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Baltimore/DC, Johannesburg (South Africa), and Harlem in New York City. He is a community faculty at Charles Drew University.
Rosalia Mariz, PhD
Dr. Mariz is the chief executive officer of Quantum Matrix International overseeing HIV Case Management Services for Ciudad Juarez Mexico. She developed a post traumatic stress disorder case management program for Central American refugees in San Francisco’s Mission District. Dr. Mariz received a health fellowship from the San Francisco Foundation and a research fellowship from University of California at San Francisco’s Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health Policy Research and The Hewlett Foundation. Her master’s education in City Planning and Public Health as well as her bachelor’s work at University of California, Berkeley, trained her extensively in organizing focus groups of stakeholders to discuss pertinent cultural issues. Her doctoral work and professional endeavors have been dedicated to integrating cross-cultural perspectives, i.e. herbal medicine, physical, psychosocial and spiritual treatment methods.
Martin Martinez, CSACII
Mr. Martinez directs the Red Road Program at Redwood Valley Rancheria. He is the director and chair of the Tribal Economic Develop Board and Chair of the Pomo Heritage Institute for the Redwood Valley Rancheria Tribe in Mendocino County. Mr. Martinez chairs the Native American Constituent Committee for the California Department of Alcohol & Drug Programs. He offers Native American traditions for prevention of substance abuse in Native communities and in California corrections facilities.
Lochlan McHale, MA
Mr. McHale’s provides training on Motivational Interviewing, Harm Reduction, youth, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), street outreach, social & brand marketing and other strengths-based models of care. He is a graduate student at California Institute of Integral Studies working towards his Master of Arts with an emphasis in Community Mental Health with a focus on linguistics.
Dennis McReynolds, PhD
Mr. McReynolds has extensive expertise in youth development programming, addiction treatment and recovery. His strength is integrating all aspects of the continuum of services into a comprehensive array of services specifically for youth at highest-risk for addiction. He currently provides training for California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs Youth Treatment Technical Assistance Project for staff working with re-entry clients, their families and communities.
Gabriela Melano, EdD
Trained as an educational psychologist, Dr. Melano has facilitated numerous community meetings involving participants of diverse backgrounds. Most recently, she co-facilitated a 10-month strategic planning process for “Building Healthy Communities”. She taught “Conflict Management and Cultural Sensitivity” for many years at John F Kennedy University and conducted many trainings regarding multicultural matters, conflict resolution and group facilitation.
Melinda Moore, MPA
Ms. Moore is the Sole Proprietor of M. K. Associates, and formerly a senior associate at Polaris Research and Development, Inc. She has over 25 years of consulting experience in San Francisco, California and Washington, D.C. Ms. Moore is experienced in the design and conduct of program evaluation and public policy research. She is skilled in survey research, program development and design, quantitative and qualitative data analyses, organizational analysis, and training and technical assistance to public and private agencies.
Kera Moseley, PhD, MPH
Dr. Moseley is president and chief executive officer of Kallisto Research Consulting, a female minority owned firm located in the Greater New Orleans Region. She is adjunct faculty at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in the Department of Health Systems Management. Her work in establishing the first National Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Prevention Program received a congressional award as a “U.S. Peace Corps Top 10 Global Highlight”. She has been a national and local advocate and expert on working with addiction and correctional populations and establishing relationships between correctional health and public health systems and services and prisoner reentry programming. She is the author of multiple articles and reports. Her work has been presented at several conferences across the United States.
Toni Mosley, MS
Ms. Mosley serves as a clinical supervisor for an In-Prison Program for Woman and Children-Family Foundations. She has been a veteran in the field of chemical dependency treatment for over 25 years. She has assisted several residential treatment programs in their development, including the United Health Plan’s first residential treatment program for women and children, Behavioral Health Services Chemical Dependency Recovery Center, and American Hospital.
Perfecto P. Muñoz, PhD, MPH
Mr. Muñoz is the senior program advisor for the California Program on Access to Care (CPAC) and the Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA) at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. He administers CPAC’s annual grant and contract awards, and co-administered the HIA-CPAC Programa de Investigación end Migracion y Salud (PIMSA) research program and overviews health disparities research focusing on the policy questions for African-American, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latinos, Native Indians and Alaska Natives in California. He serves on the California Human Development Board of Directors and a number of committees and commissions. During his 19 years of health care work, Mr. Muñoz has delivered numerous presentations on an array of health topics related to the Latino community.
Gary Neumann
Mr. Neumann is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Nation with over 23 years of experience in prevention and human resource development. Mr. Neumann has extensive expertise in identifying and providing culturally appropriate services to Native American communities at the national, state and local level.
Jonathan Newsom
Mr. Newsom has over 17 years of experience working for and with community-based non-profit corporations. He provides consulting services to alcohol and drug treatment programs in the areas of strategic planning, program development, community outreach and evaluation services.
Dustianne North, MSW
Ms. North specializes in assisting prevention programs and large-scale collaborative efforts which serve youth in distressed situations, as well as community-driven and grassroots efforts. She is a doctoral candidate in Social Welfare at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She draws upon her diverse experience and training to work with direct practice issues such as communicating with youth, as well as macro-level issues, program design, and interagency partnerships.
Annette Padilla, PhD, MPH
Annette Padilla is a researcher, evaluator and professor. She specializes in public policy, law enforcement, and in organizational development with nonprofits, businesses, government, and colleges. She has worked in multiple capacities with many cultural and ethnic groups such as Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans, LGBTQ, and Asians as she was a visiting faculty for two years in Vietnam. Working with the State of California Alcohol and Drug Programs directed Center for Applied Research Solutions, she has supported over 40 rural, urban and suburban California Counties in strategic planning and the strategic prevention framework areas of assessment, capacity, planning, implementation and evaluation. With a master’s degree in public health from SDSU, she is currently a PhD candidate in public policy with emphasis in leadership and nonprofit management at Walden University. Through 20 years of working in alcohol prevention and legislative advocacy, she has assisted coalitions and groups to advance prevention. Annette has also specialized in technical assistance for CLAS clients, federal peer review, writing of grant proposals, cultural competency, social justice, working with youth, assessment, and fundraising. She is also a trained professional for SAMHSA/CSAT for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender centered treatment. Other significant work consist of adjunct faculty at California Miramar University (MBA/BA for leadership, ethics, health care) and National University, School of Business and Management, Organizational Leadership (graduate research in leadership).
Kathryn Page, PhD
Dr. Page is mental health coordinator at Canal Alliance in Marin, a trainer for University of California Davis in child development, and consultant for the State of California on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. She has served as school psychologist (bilingual) and author and trainer of curricula for at-risk youth. Following an internship at Stanford University in substance abuse treatment, her work has focused on the intersections of child welfare, juvenile justice, substance abuse and neurodevelopment.
L. Patricia Parker, RAS
Program Director/Registered Addiction Specialist with 10 years of experience with trauma informed treatment, co-occurring disorders, domestic violence, gender specific services, criminal justice reentry populations, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, and residential housing. Well respected for training and facilitation skills.
Chris Partida
Chris Partida is a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor Level II and a Certified Anger Management Professional Level II. A graduate of the University of San Francisco with a Bachelors degree in Public Administration, Chris has over fifteen years of experience delivering cultural training to state, county, tribal and non-profit agencies and personnel. Chris also provides training and technical assistance to agencies and businesses to improve performance and services. Mr. Partida enjoys the storytelling format of his training, in a style that reflects his Pomo tribal heritage. Mr. Partida has been an advocate of youth development over a 25-year career that includes the planning and implementation of a large statewide youth-serving program as well as the development of a rural county Teen System of Care.
Erylene Piper Mandy, PhD
Dr. Piper Mandy is the President and chief executive officer of the Center for Cross Cultural Competence, a consultant agency through which she and her colleagues train public and private agencies in a variety of issues related to ethnic diversity and community relations. The agency’s seminars, training packages and presentations provide critical information on the nature of cultural and ethnic differences in America, as well as practical tools and skills for effectively managing and maximizing the advantages of different cultural perspectives. Dr. Piper Mandy is a psycho-cultural anthropologist who specializes in cross-cultural competence and American ethnicity. Dr. Piper-Mandy received a Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She has a Masters in African American Studies from Boston University. She completed her education at the University of California, Irvine, where she has received a master’s and a doctorate degree in psycho-cultural anthropology. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship, through which she worked and studied in Senegal, West Africa.
Tina Reynolds
Ms. Reynolds is the owner of Uptown Studios. Reynolds built a socially conscience company with her talented and highly creative staff. Clients such as California State Parks, El Dorado County Visitors Authority, Iron Workers Local 118, The Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing and Center For Land-Based Learning are just a few that depend on Uptown Studios for their website design and development, graphic design, print and video production, photo research, and social marketing.
Melinda Rivera, MA
Ms. Rivera has over ten years of leadership experience in community health services. In her previous employment she advocated for social and public policy change to improve community health at local, state and federal levels. In this advocacy role, she convened community partnerships for both short-term initiatives such as social marketing campaigns, as well as for long-term policy change including health care reform. She co-founded and chaired the first North Bay chapter of California Healthcare Interpeting Association. Ms. Rivera has worked with several federally-recognized Native American tribes as both a Tribal Administrator and as a grant writer and has successfully secured resources to meet the needs of tribal communities.
Mahonri Sapiga, MSW
Mr. Sapiga is currently an adjunct/part-time professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he teaches Social Justice in the Master of Social Work program. He is also a senior social services supervisor for Orange County Social Services Agency . Mr. Sapiga has over 17 years of experience in the field of social work as a trainer, instructor, and therapist. Mr. Sapiga is bilingual in English and Samoan.
Katie Slack, MSW
Katie Slack was trained by Bill Miller, co-creator of Motivational Interviewing. Ms. Slack is an Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) Certified Crisis Intervention Counselor and a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). Ms Slack is the research coordinator for Project Support at Child and Adolescent Services Research Center-Rady Children’s Hospital, providing therapy to survivors of domestic violence with an open child welfare services case.
Stewart Sokol, PhD
Dr. Sokol has served as Tarzana Treatment Centers’ director of youth services since 2004 and deputy director of community programs and services from 1999 to 2004. Tarzana Treatment Centers is a large scale provider of behavioral health and treatment services in Southern California with headquarters in Los Angeles County. Dr. Sokol coordinated the agency’s HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs along with several other programs. He chaired the City of Los Angeles’ Harm Reduction Consortium. Dr. Sokol authored LGBT-TriSTAR’s 2009 Best Practice Report, Serving Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning Youth.
Gloria B. Soliz, MDiv
Gloria Soliz is a tobacco cessation and education consultant with her masters in divinity. She has assisted people who smoke in becoming nonsmokers since 1991. Ms. Soliz now trains others to help smokers quit. Gloria founded the California award winning Last Drag, a stop smoking program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV positive smokers. She is a co-founder of the Coalition of Lavender-Americans on Smoking and Health (CLASH) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her accomplishments and dedication in the LGBT community have been recognized by the national Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and by KQED with a Local Hero Award.
Dee-Dee Stout, MA, CADC-II
Dee-Dee Stout has undergraduate degrees in Psychology (with honors) & Human Sexuality from San Francisco State University (SFSU) and earned her Special Major Master’s degree in Health Counseling from SFSU. Additionally, she is a California certified drug and alcohol counselor, level II (CADC-II), with international reciprocity (ICADC) and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor (LAADC). Ms. Stout is part of the international Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), having received her training in MI in part from the developer, William R. Miller, PhD, and is a certified trainer/associate for Scott D. Miller’s (PhD) International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE). Dee-Dee has recently co-developed a new web-based help site (with Drs. Marc Kern and Fred Rotgers), “AA2, the Next Generation in Self-Help (www.aa2.org launches Winter ’11).
Dee-Dee has received extensive specialized training: Motivational Interviewing Supervisors training (MIST); Solution-Focus, Brief Therapy (SFBT); Relapse Prevention; Creative Inquiry; Stages of Change; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Seeking Safety; Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT); Harm Reduction Psychotherapy; Client-Directed, Outcome-Oriented work (CDOI), and more. She was on faculty at City College of San Francisco for the past 13 years and has been Adjunct Faculty at San Francisco State University, Cal State East Bay, and the Northern California Training Academy at the University of California, Davis. Her areas of specialization include: curriculum development; substance use disorders and treatment; public policy issues and addiction; trauma, addiction, and women; harm reduction in addiction treatment; LGBTQI issues in treatment and more. Finally, Dee-Dee maintains a busy coaching, consultation, and training practice, regularly conducting trainings in Motivational Interviewing, trauma, and more plus offering individual Recovery Coaching that focuses on uncovering/maintaining personal motivation and commitment to change(s).
Reiko Homma-True, PhD
Dr. Homma-True is the program director for the Master’s Program in Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University in Japan. She was the first woman and first minority to serve as the director of mental health, substance abuse, and forensic services for the San Francisco Department of Public Health in 1980. In 1996, Dr. Homma-True traveled to Kobe University Medical School in Japan as a Fulbright Senior Scholar to develop a program to train mental health professionals to assist victims of the Kobe earthquake. Dr. Homma-True is bilingual in English and Japanese.
Daniel Toleran
Mr. Toleran’s current work with Asian American Recovery Services and recent work with Asian American Mental Health Services includes program design and project management in the prevention or treatment of alcohol and other drugs. He serves as the Project Director for two federally funded grants with an evaluation study investigating alcohol and drug use among Filipinos, Chinese and Vietnamese young adults. Previous work experience includes serving as Project Director for a federally funded treatment grant serving inner city adolescents. He is the lead author for two articles, one on disaggregated data collection and reporting for understudied populations (in review) and a social epidemiology investigating HCV and HIV testers among substance using young adults living in three counties of the San Francisco Bay Area (in review).
Anthony Tusler, MRA
Mr. Tusler is a consultant, writer, trainer, and advocate on disability issues that include technology, culture, alcohol tobacco and other drug (ATOD) treatment and prevention, and corporate and non-profit management. He helped to found a number of programs including the Institute on Alcohol, Drugs, and Disability, Community Resources for Independence, and the National Center on Disability & Journalism. He is a wheelchair user.
Michael Warr
Consultant with over 13 years of experience in cultural competency planning and training, organizational assessment and evaluation, strategic planning, funds development, marketing and promotion, board and staff development, executive transition management and succession planning, and retreat facilitation, with an expertise in the arts and culture.
Paul Watson, Jr, MSHS
Mr. Watson is an experienced facilitator/trainer with the Institute for Cultural Affairs (ICA) and served on the ICA National Board of Directors. He successfully completed contracts in Central Asia, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Jamaica. He is president and chief executive officer of Watson & Associates International. He also serves as a lecturer at the San Diego campus of Springfield College and an adjunct faculty member at San Diego City College. He serves as co-director of the San Diego Building Exemplary Systems of Training Youth Workers (BEST) Initiative, which focuses on training youth development professionals.
Deborah Werner, MA
Ms. Werner is the project director for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
(CSAT)-funded Women, Children and Families Technical Assistance Project and is senior program manager at Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. Ms. Werner is the author of “Family Centered Treatment for Women with Substance Use Disorders – History, Key Elements and Challenges” (SAMHSA, 2008). Her previous positions include serving as a project director for Children and Family Futures; Associate Director at Beyond Shelter, Inc. and as executive director of the California Women’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Dependencies. She holds a Master of Arts in Urban Planning from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Willy Wilkinson, MPH
Willy Wilkinson has worked extensively with substance abuse, mental health, medical and other public health providers throughout California, to develop culturally appropriate service approaches for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) consumers in urban and rural settings. Nationally known for expertise in transgender public health issues, he has extensive experience with communities of color, substance users, sex workers, youth, and people with disabilities. Willy earned a Masters in Public Health in Community Health Education from University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz. www.willywilkinson.com
Ebony M. Williams, PsyD
Dr. Williams is an energetic and highly sought after trainer with clinical experience that spans multiple populations (marginalized and non-marginalized) and cultures. She has mostly worked with individuals of low socio-economic status, various people of color, the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer) communities, individuals diagnosed with HIV, male and female clients from children to senior adults, and high-risk sexual offenders. She has worked for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation treating incarcerated youth offenders and has also worked internationally in New Zealand as the sole psychologist of a 21-bed inpatient unit wherein she incorporated NZ Maori practices and culture into the clients’ individual behavioral treatment plans. These clients were dually-diagnosed NZ Maori and NZ European men.
Roland Williams, MA, ICADC, NCAC II, CADCII, ACRPS, SAP
Internationally Certified Addictions Counselor
; Licensed Advanced Addictions Counseor; Nationally Certified Addiction Counselor Level II
; Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist; Nationally Certified Substance Abuse Professional www.rolandwilliamsconsulting.com
Mr. Williams is an interventionist, author, trainer, counselor and consultant specializing in addiction related issues. He is one of the first Licensed Advanced Addictions Counselors in the state of California. He is a motivational speaker who conducts seminars, workshops, keynote presentations, as well as staff training, skills building and program development worldwide. Roland is the Founder and President of Free Life Enterprises, Counseling and Consulting Services, He is the Founder and Director of VIP Recovery Coaching, an International Coaching Company providing Recovery Coaching for high profile clients in their environment. He is the Founder and former Director of Free Life Recovery Center, Outpatient Treatment Program in Sonoma County, California. He is Co-Founder and former Clinical Director of Bayside Marin, in San Rafael California, and Alta Mira Recovery Programs in Sausalito, where he developed specific clinical treatment models for each program. As a Clinical Consultant he helped set up the first abstinence based addiction treatment center in Amsterdam, Holland. Roland has worked with addicts and treatment centers, in Switzerland, Thailand, Costa Rica, England, Holland, Mexico, France and Italy.
Carol Wright, CPA
Carol Wright, transformation specialist, has over 25 years experience as a trainer, facilitator, mediator, and consultant for government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private sector businesses. As an independent contractor, she provides mediation, facilitation, personal development training, consulting, and executive coaching to individuals and organizations. Ms. Wright specializes in designing processes and systems to improve teamwork, productivity and communication in groups. Ms. Wright has a passion for bringing people with diverse points of view together for conversations about important topics. As Director of Training for the Sacramento Mediation Center, she recruited and trained hundreds of professionals to be community mediators.
Tina Tong Yee, PhD
Dr. Yee served as the director of Cultural Competence for San Francisco’s Community Behavioral Health Services and a member of the California Department of Mental Health’s Cultural Competence Advisory Committee for over 10 years, Dr. Yee was significantly involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating system-wide cultural competency policies and practices based on the CLAS standards and aimed at eliminating and reducing disparities for racial, ethnic, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and targeted underserved communities.
David B. Yonemoto, MSW
For more than 20 years, Mr. Yonemoto has worked with the community in implementing outreach strategies targeting the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) drug abusing communities as well as assessing and evaluating substance abuse recovery and treatment programs for APIs. He specialized in developing culturally relevant outreach strategies and ways to strengthen public and community relations.
