Dr. Lisha Wilson is medical director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. Clinics in San Francisco and Oakland. She has worked extensively with HIV/AIDS patients in the African-American community, especially women. Wilson formerly served as chief of the division of HIV services at Highland General Hospital in Oakland. She is board-certified in internal medicine and completed her residency at Highland General Hospital in 1993. She received her M.D. from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Macchia received her J.D. from Golden Gate University and her B.A. from Mills College. Her professional experience includes 25 years of health care management experience, beginning in 1980 with health care labor relations in San Francisco and transitioning to managed care in 1984, when she became national director of provider relations and subsequently national development counsel for Maxicare Health Plans. She served as director of health plans for the University of Southern California for a dozen years.
Dr. Chafetz's areas of interest include severe and persistent mental disorders, treatment outcomes of psychosocial interventions, medical co-morbidity, co-occurring substance use disorders, primary care, services research, life history methods, family caregivers, psychosocial rehabilitation, wellness models, community treatment, and disparities in treatment of the mentally ill. Dr. Chafetz serves as a clinical supervisor of the Wellness Training Program, located at the Oasis Self Help Program in San Francisco.
Lance Toma is executive director of the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, a sexual health and HIV services organization based in San Francisco that delivers local, statewide and national programming with a staff fluent in 20 languages. Toma is a trained psychotherapist and has worked extensively with adolescents and young adults. Previously, he served as director of the Horizons Youth Services Program for gay and lesbian youth in Chicago.
Founded in 1974, Richmond Area Multi-Services Inc. (RAMS) is a private, nonprofit mental health agency in San Fancisco providing community-based, consumer-guided, culturally competent and multilingual services that meet the mental health, social and educational needs of the diverse San Francisco community. Services are available in English, Russian and Asian languages. Its multidisciplinary treatment team includes psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers,
psychiatric nurses, marriage and family therapists and
mental health workers.
Kavoos G.
Karen Topakian is on the board of advisors for the Agape Foundation: Fund for Nonviolent Social Change, a nonprofit public foundation that raises and distributes funds to groups working for nonviolent social change. Previously, she was its executive director. Since its formation in 1969 by pacifists and anti-war activists in Palo Alto, Calif., the San Francisco-based Agape Foundation has provided millions of dollars to nonviolent, grassroots organizations throughout the western United States.
Juana Flores is co-director of programs for Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a Bay Area grassroots organization that helps Latina immigrants discover their own strength, overcome discrimination and domestic violence, and develop skills as community leaders. As an immigrant from Mexico, Ms. Flores began participating in Mujeres Unidas in 1991, first as a member and then as staff. As co-director, Ms. Flores is responsible for planning and implementing all of Mujeres Unidas' programs with a specific focus on community organizing and its new peer counseling program.
John Gressman is president and CEO of the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, a nonprofit organization representing about 10 health clinics that serve underserved neighborhoods in San Francisco. The clinics target people who are at the greatest risk for poor health outcomes because of lack of insurance, low income or homelessness. The consortium allows the clinics to pool their collective resources "both financial and experiential" and to address their needs and interests at local, state and national levels.
Jack Cheevers is the communications director for Region 9 of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for administering Medicare, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), and several other health-related programs. Cheevers oversees communications in Region 9, which covers California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and the Pacific Trust territories.
Hellan R. Dowden is founder and CEO of HR Dowden & Associates, a consulting group that represents clients with interests in health, education, social services, children, work force investment and training, technology and the public sect. She also co-manages Teachers for Healthy Kids, a collaboration of the California Teachers Association and the California Association of Health Plans, funded by The California Endowment to enroll kids in health care through schools. She represents county-organized health systems in Yolo, Napa, Solano, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
