Women's Health Council Membership
The Council provides policy recommendations to the Directors of the Departments of Health Care Services and the California Department of Public Health through the Office of Women's Health (OWH). The Council offers analysis of emerging issues and contributes to the planning, projects and products of OWH. The Women's Health Council (WHC) also creates opportunities for public-private partnerships and linkages to improve the health status of women and girls in California. Ad hoc working groups comprised of WHC members form to address specific emerging issues such as: drug and alcohol abuse and mental health; immigration reform; Medi-Cal and data and research.
Members at Large
Executive Committee
Gilda Arreguin, MSW
Economic Opportunities Commission, Fresno
Ms. Arrequin is the Education and Outreach Program Manager with the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission, Health Services Clinic. She obtained her B.S and Master of Social Work from the California State University, Fresno. She has vast experience in education and outreach in reproductive health care. Currently she plans and coordinates a system for administering street outreach and educational programs to at-risk youth and adults in Fresno County and rural communities in surrounding county areas. She promotes awareness of clinical reproductive health care and counseling services along with the need to prevent high-risk behaviors that lead to such as teen pregnancies, STDs and HIV/AIDS.
Yali Bair, PhD
California Planned Parenthood Association, Sacramento
Dr. Bair is Vice President for Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and previously served as the Assistant Director for State Health Policy Research at the University of California, Davis, Center for Health Services Research. Dr. Bair has over 15 years of experience in health care, health research and policy analysis. Her experience includes community clinic administration, women’s health clinic management and research experience in epidemiology and health services. She has held positions in various capacities at CommuniCare Health Centers, Planned Parenthood, the California Primary Care Association and the Women’s Policy Institute. Dr. Bair currently serves as the Chair of the Yolo County Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Advisory Board. Her ongoing research efforts focus on women’s health during the menopause transition and unmet health care needs among women. Dr. Bair completed her undergraduate training in biological science at the University of California, San Diego and earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of California, Davis.
Bev Ching, RN, MS
Inland Regional Center, San Bernardino
Ms. Ching received her B.S. in Nursing from Loma Linda University and her M.S. from the University of La Verne. She has been a registered nurse for 31 years. Since 2002 she has held the position of Program Manager/Clinical Services Coordinator with the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. In this capacity she is responsible for developing services to improve the basic health care of 21,000 individuals with developmental disabilities along with employee health for the 500+ staff at the regional center. She supervises a clinical team which includes occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, dental hygiene, nutrition, social work and genetic nursing. Ms. Ching also has extensive experience in various capacities for the Early Start Program at the Inland Regional Center, from Infant Services Coordinator through the position of Early Start Program Manager, responsible for implementing the Early Start Program for 2500 children aged from 0 - 36 months in age.
Namju Cho, MPP
California Community Foundation, Los Angeles
Ms. Cho is Director of Communications at the California Community Foundation where she develops, implements and monitors the foundation's marketing, communications and public relations strategies and activities. She works to position the foundation as a philanthropic leader and facilitates the growth of its investments into Los Angeles communities. She is also responsible for developing campaigns that communicate the foundation's work to its many constituencies, including existing and potential donors, financial advisors, tax and estate planning attorneys, nonprofit grant seekers and grantees, public and elected officials, and the community at large. Prior to joining the foundation in 2006, Ms. Cho was the Communications and Policy Director of the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), a non-profit human rights organization that works to end forced labor and human trafficking of adults and children around the world. As a member of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Ms. Cho has been actively involved in developing the national agenda for Asian Pacific Islander Women, including protecting API women working in the cosmetics industry from toxic beauty products. Previous positions held by Ms. Cho also include Staff Reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Asian Edition in Seoul, South Korea and Summer Associate with the Division for the Advancement of Women at the United Nations. She received her Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University and speaks fluent Korean and Spanish.
Karen Dalton DrPH, CHES, CJM
LA County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles
Dr. Dalton is currently the Director of the Bureau of Operations at the LA County Sheriff’s Department and has published articles on the connection between crime and public health. In her current position, Dr. Dalton works to educate the public about the high level of health issues encountered by the jail population, including HIV. She previously held positions with non-profit and consulting organizations responsible for program planning, implementation and training public health and the corrections industry, focusing on Health People 2010 goals.
Raquel Donoso, MPH
Latino Issues Forum, San Francisco
Ms. Donoso is the Associate Director of the Latino Issues Forum (LIF). At LIF, Ms. Donoso has authored three reports on environmental and reproductive health issues facing the Latino community in California. Ms. Donoso serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Women’s Health Rights Coalition/ACCESS in Oakland and is a member of the Board of Directors for the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation. She also serves as a policy advisor for several organizations, including the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), The Women’s Foundation of California, the California Pan Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN), and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Ms. Donoso holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Chicano/ Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master in Public Health from the UCLA School of Public Health.
Rae Eby-Carl
Sutter Lakeside Community Services, Lakeport
Rae Eby-Carl is Chief Operations Officer at Lake Family Resource Center/Sutter Lakeside Community Services in rural Lake County. She administers twenty-two health programs providing services to women and their families. The programs range from teen pregnancy prevention, teen parent health, family violence issues, insurance, quality child development, sexual assault issues, tobacco use reduction, child abuse treatment prevention, to mental health services. Cumulative environmental causes and associated risk contributors detrimental to health really concern her in regard to illness in older women. Ms. Eby-Carl has advocated in both Lake and Mendocino counties for the end of roadside spraying of Round-Up, an herbicide known for negative health outcomes for women. She sits on the Lake County Tribal Health Advisory Committee for Diabetes Prevention, Lake County Free Kitchen Board, and Lake County Domestic Violence Prevention Council. Ms. Eby-Carl has a B.A. in Anthropology from Sonoma State University.
Ellen Eidem, Acting Director
LA County Department of Health Services, Office of Women's Health, Los Angeles
Ms. Eidem has been the Acting Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of Women’s Health (OWH) since June 2002. As such, She is responsible for strategic planning, developing and managing programs, including a 7 language hotline, a mobile clinic providing no-cost comprehensive health screenings, multi-lingual educational and promotional materials, establishing community partner networks, planning community events, working with mainstream and ethnic media, developing health briefs, and recommending policy. She serves as staff for the Women’s Health Policy Council, the advisory body to OWH. Previously, Ms. Eidem served as the Director of Programs and Administration for the Los Angeles Free Clinic where she oversaw 8 departments and 102 staff, managing revenue, expenses and services for each program. She was also the Director of Quality Improvement for the California and Los Angeles Regional Family Planning Council. Ms. Eidem holds a B.A. in Psychology, from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master in Health Science from San Francisco State University.
Ernestina Escaréno
Victorville
Currently a high school teacher with the Victor Valley School District providing education in health, Ms. Escareňo works with high school students in preparation of participation at the a annual Health Occupational Students conference to prepare for careers in the health field. Ms. Escareňo has previously held positions as a staff nurse at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, and as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor with ADAPT, Inc. Her many volunteer activities have included Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Network and AIDS Project, aftermath of 1987 Whittier earthquake with Red Cross and fundraising activities for Camp Laurel to send children and families affected by HIV/AIDS to camp.
Sandra Naylor Goodwin, PhD
California Institute for Mental Health, Sacramento
Dr. Goodwin is the Executive Director of the California Institute for Mental Health, (CIMH), and is the founding Director of CIMH. She holds an M.S.W. from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. from the Professional School of Psychology in San Francisco. Dr. Goodwin was instrumental in launching Gender Matters, a 1999 conference to develop a system of services and treatment for women in California. The conference was a collaborative effort among state agencies and organizations to begin transformation of California’s mental health system into one capable of effectively meeting the unique needs of women. Dr. Goodwin also directs a variety of activities designed to bring about improved quality in mental health services, including implementation of person centered care, evidence based practices and system restructuring.
Crystal Hayling
Blue Shield of California Foundation, San Francisco
Ms. Hayling is President and CEO of the Blue Shield of California Foundation, which distributes $30 million annually to a variety of community programs, especially those emphasizing domestic violence prevention and increased access to health care for the uninsured. With 20 years of experience in health policy and philanthropy, Ms. Hayling has advocated for women, minorities, low-income families and children through a variety of leadership positions. While at the California HealthCare Foundation, she ran the Medi-Cal Policy Institute, a public policy think-tank charged with improving care for California’s lowest income populations. Prior to that she worked at the California Wellness Foundation where she launched the $30 million Violence Prevention Initiative, targeting gang violence as a public health threat to youth – not just a criminal justice problem. Ms. Hayling is a member of the Board of Directors of Grantmakers in Health, and the San Francisco Mayor’s Universal Healthcare Council. Ms. Hayling, who has also lived and worked in China and Mexico, holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Masters in Management Science from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Ruth Holton
California Wellness Foundation, San Mateo
Ruth Holton is director of public policy for The California Wellness Foundation. As director, she coordinates and oversees the Foundation’s public policy activities by providing consultation to program staff and representing the Foundation and its public policy grantmaking at public forums. She also oversees the Foundation’s policy-related special project grants. Ms. Holton brings 14 years experience as a public interest advocate in the fields of maternal and child health, adult education, government reform and consumer protection to the Foundation. She was formerly director of the Peninsula Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, a project of the Peninsula Community Foundation of San Mateo. Between 1989 and 1997, she served as a lobbyist for and later executive director of California Common Cause, an affiliate of the national government watchdog group. During her tenure at Common Cause, she led two successful statewide initiatives for campaign finance reforms and ethics. Prior to that she served as the health lobbyist for the California Children’s Lobby, during which she helped lead a successful effort to increase access to prenatal care for low-income women. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Chicago. She currently serves on the board of the California Association of Nonprofits’ (CAN) Nonprofit Policy Council, and is Chair of the Northern California Grantmakers’ Public Policy Committee.
Adele James
California Endowment, Sacramento
Adele James is a Program Officer for the North State Region of the California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation of Blue Cross. As the Community Health and Elimination of Disparities Goal Program Officer for the North State Region, Ms. James conducts outreach to organizations to increase their awareness of funding opportunities; reviews health-related grant proposals from various Northern California-based community organizations; helps to develop programs to improve the health of underserved communities; and monitors foundation grants. In addition, Ms. James is the Co-Chair of the Endowment’s Workgroup for Healthier Black Communities. Ms. James previously served as a program officer for The Women’s Foundation in San Francisco where she managed three California gender-based funds benefiting low-income women and girls, including the California Alliance for Women’s Health Leadership Fund, a three-year initiative designed to identify and support grassroots and/or emerging organizations. Her professional accomplishments include: Access to Health Care for Women and Girls, a report she co-authored for the Women’s Leadership Alliance in San Francisco, representation on the Women and Girls Health Advisory Committee of the San Francisco Department of Public Health and as a National Working Group Delegate to the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development at the World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa. Ms. James received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Barnard College, Columbia University and her master’s degree in International Development Education from Stanford University.
Marty Jessup PhD, RN, CNS
UCSF School of Nursing, San Francisco
Dr. Jessup is Associate Adjunct Professor, Department of Family Health Care Nursing, UCSF School of Nursing. Dr. Jessup has 27 years experience in substance abuse treatment and perinatal women's health, policy development and analysis. She has conducted community-based treatment needs assessments and program development, and created professional practice guidelines in the area of perinatal substance abuse treatment. Dr. Jessup's current research is focused on health issues among women with alcohol and drug problems, and systems change for adoption of evidence based practice. She also serves as a member of the State Medical Director Team for the California Department of Alcohol & Drug Programs. Dr. Jessup completed her undergraduate education in nursing at Columbia University and earned a PhD in nursing from the University of California, San Francisco, and she is also a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Maternity.
Shelley Mitchell, MA
Arcata
Ms. Mitchell is a self- employed non-profit consultant. She provides non-profit organizations with expertise in grant writing and fundraising, funding research, strategic planning, project development, management, evaluation, flyer development, etc. Ms. Mitchell works with individuals and businesses on projects related to public relations/materials outreach, writing projects, research and writing. During 2005, she worked with a team of consultants from Humboldt State University and a task force appointed by the City Council to create a homeless services plan for adoption by the Arcata City Council. She is very interested in issues that are important to women of all ages who live in rural communities. Ms. Mitchell obtained a B.A. in Speech and Hearing and a Masters in English from Humboldt State University, Arcata.
Gail Newel, MD, MPH
Fresno Women's Medical Group, Inc., Fresno
Dr. Newel is a board certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist in private practice in California, who currently serves as the President and co-founder of the Fresno Women’s Medical Group, Incorporated. Dr. Newel is an active staff member of Community Medical Centers and Fresno Surgery Center and Community Medical Centers, and a clinical faculty member of the University of California, San Francisco, San Joaquin Valley Medical education program. She earned her Master in Public Health from University of California, Berkeley and her Medical Doctorate degree from University of California, Irvine.
Judy Patrick
Women's Foundation, San Francisco
Ms. Patrick leads the Foundation's programmatic work including grantmaking, which allocated nearly 2 million dollars in 2005 to non-profit organizations serving women and girls in California. Judy has been particularly interested in the Foundation's work to build the organizational capacity of grant partners and in developing grantmaking programs that encourage grant partners to become involved in advocacy and policy change work. During the past two years she has led the Foundation's policy work, including the development of the Women's Policy Institute. She has also led the development of measures of social change to help the Foundation describe the impact of their work and the work of their grant partners. Prior to coming to the Foundation, Judy directed the work of several nonprofits. She was executive director of the San Francisco-based Women's Philharmonic and directed Girls Count, a Colorado initiative to change systems which impact girls' educational achievement and career planning. She also led Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, a Denver organization that advances self-sufficiency primarily for low-income Latinas and youth. She has served on the faculty of the University of Colorado at Denver and Regis University, where she taught program development and evaluation. Judy has worked as a researcher and program evaluator in both the public and private sectors. She has served and continues to serve on numerous boards of directors.
Catherine Quinn
Health Collaborative, Fresno
Ms Quinn is the Executive Director of the California Health Collaborative in Fresno, California. She holds a B.A. from California State University, Fresno and a Master of Public Administration, from University of San Francisco. Ms. Quinn has provided steadfast leadership to community health efforts in the Central Valley, and throughout the state, for over 20 years. She is passionately committed to reducing disparities in health access. Her professional affiliations include; American Public Health Association, (APHA), American Jail Association (AJA), American Corrections Association (ACA), National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA), and Lexington Who’s Who, Lifetime member.
Diana Ramos, MD, MPH
LA County Department of Health & Human Services, Los Angeles
Dr. Ramos is a board certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and the Medical Director for family planning and maternal health for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. She oversees the Title X clinics, CPSP, Perinatal HIV screening, FIMR-BIH, and some Family Pact issues. She knows first hand about the health issues and psychosocial dilemmas that confront women. As a Spanish speaking physician serving Hispanic communities, she has vast experience in dealing with women who have had difficulty in accessing and obtaining healthcare. Her passion to learn more and impact ethnic and health disparities led her to pursue her Masters in Public Health. She is the Chair of the American Medical Association (AMA). She has a B.A. in Communication, Arts and Science and graduated with honors as Doctor of Medicine from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine.
Sarah Samuels, DrPH
Samuels & Associates, Oakland
Dr. Samuels is President of Samuels & Associates, a public health evaluation, research and policy consulting firm created and founded in 1994. Samuels & Associates serves as consultants to foundations, local and statewide public agencies, community-based organizations, and non-profit health programs. The firm specializes in program development and evaluation, policy related research and analysis, and strategic planning. Dr. Samuels is the co-chair of the California Project LEAN steering committee, is a founding member of the Strategic Alliance to Promote Healthy Food and Physical Activity Environments, and is on the board of California Food Policy Advocates. Dr. Samuels holds a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and Master in both Nutrition and Education from Columbia University, Teacher’s College. She was a Pew Health Policy Fellow at the Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco.
Jane Sprague Zones, PhD
Breast Cancer Action, San Francisco
Dr. Zones is a medical sociologist who has served in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, since 1984. Dr. Zones is an active member of the National Women’s Health Network, a non-profit, membership-based advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. and Breast Cancer Action, a national grassroots education and advocacy organization. Dr. Zones earned both a B.A. in History/English and Master in Education from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina. She has written many articles on women’s health matters that translate medical research into understandable language.
Joan Stevie
50+ and Strong, Sacramento
Ms. Stevie serves as Chair of 50+ and Strong, an organization dedicated to ensuring that all post menopausal women have access to quality health care and information. Ms. Stevie also serves as Chair of the ACT (Access for Care and Treatment) Coalition. In these capacities she has successfully advocated for passage of disclosure bills and access for the appropriate care and treatment of patients. Currently Ms. Stevie is the Executive Director of the Agency for Hearing. She served as the Executive Director of the Arthritis Foundation for over 13 years where she worked diligently on behalf of people affected with arthritis in California and Nevada. She has spent more than 20 years advocating for access to quality healthcare.
Mily Treviño-Sauceda
Lideres Campesinas, Pomona
Ms. Treviño-Sauceda was the founder and first President of Mujeres Mexicanas, a group of female farmworker activists in the Coachella Valley region. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Organizacion en California de Lideres Campesinas. Growing up in a migrant farmworker family, she started working as an agricultural and migrant worker in Idaho and California when she was eight. During her teenage years she organized teenage groups and became a member of the UFW in the 1970’s, volunteering as a union organizer for 15 years. As an adult, she returned to school and obtained her B.A. in Chicano Studies with a minor in Women’s Studies from California State University, Fullerton. She is currently working on her Master in Rural Development. Ms. Treviño-Sauceda has been a recipient of numerous community and educational awards and recognized as one of the “100 Heroines of the World” in New York in 1998. Ms. Treviño-Sauceda was recently selected by the Ford Foundation for the Leadership for a Changing World in New York, NY, November 2004.
Tracy Weitz, MPA
University of California, San Francisco
Ms. Weitz sees women’s health not only as a profession, but a passion, with over 20 years experience in the field and a lifetime commitment to the issues. She has a Master in Public Administration with an emphasis in Health Care Administration and doctoral training in Medical Sociology, (Ph.D. to be conferred in Winter, 2006). Ms. Weitz has many years of experience in clinical services, quality of care, and health care research. Her passion is for the aspects of women’s health that are marginalized either for ideological reasons, or because the populations affected lack the means or mechanisms to have their concerns raised. Much of her current work focuses on reproductive health care and aging women’s health.
Mary Wiberg
California Commission on the Status of Women, Sacramento
Ms. Wiberg has served as the Executive Director of the California Commission on the Status of Women since October 2001. In that capacity, she has worked closely with the California Legislature, the Office of Women’s Health, and the Women’s Health Council, sharing the Commission’s legislative agenda, especially those issues directly related to women’s health. Prior to coming to California, she served as Gender Equity Administrator for the State of Iowa Department of Education, working on education, welfare reform, and workforce development issues. She also served on the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women. She is an advocate on a broad array of issues, impacting women’s health, including human trafficking, violence against women, access to health care, immigrant status, economic security, and women in prison. She is interested in issues impacting women internationally and has participated in projects in Africa, Ukraine, and Russia and as a member of a Fulbright Study Group in China, focusing on education and the role of women in China. Ms Wiberg earned degrees in English from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, and from Illinois State University.