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About Us > Staff & Board
Staff & BoardThe California CASA Association relies on a shared sense of purpose. With a variety of backgrounds, each of these remarkable individuals is dedicated to improving the lives of foster children. Meet our staff and board members.
Staff: |
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Robin Allen Executive Director rallen@californiacasa.org (510) 663-8440 ext. 101 Robin Allen has been a nonprofit executive and consultant for almost two decades. A respected leader in statewide public policy forums, she has served on both the Permanency Planning and Fairness Equity committees of the California Child Welfare Services Redesign. Ms. Allen currently serves as a commissioner on California’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care, and as a member of the California Child Welfare Council. In addition to advocating for child welfare policy, Ms. Allen worked directly with foster children as a CASA volunteer in Marin county. | |
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Phil Ladew Associate and Legal Director pladew@californiacasa.org (510) 663-8440 ext. 102 Phil Ladew is a licensed attorney who, for the past four and a half years, represented dependent children at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office. Prior to that, he served over two years as a staff attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow for the National Center for Youth Law. Mr. Ladew served several years as a CASA volunteer with Alameda County CASA. |
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Magdalena Hickey Administrative/Financial Manager mhickey@californiacasa.org (510) 663-8440 ext. 105 Magdalena Hickey is an experienced corporate operations manager with over twelve years of experience in for-profit administration and an additional fifteen years of nonprofit management experience. She has completed training in Business Administration, Accounting, and Computer Networking. Ms. Hickey is a current CASA volunteer in Marin county |
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Janel Brown Data/Technology Manager jbrown@californiacasa.org (510) 663-8440 ext. 104 Janel Brown worked as a Program Assistant and a Case Supervisor at Alameda County CASA before coming to CalCASA. She has strong experience in developing and maintaining the systems required to support and evaluate CASA staff and volunteers. Currently she is an active CASA volunteer in Alameda County. |
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Christine Williams JD, serves as a Tribal CASA Collaboration Consultant. A member of the Yurok Tribe of Northern California, Ms. Williams served the State of California for over 2 years as the lead attorney for the Indian Child Welfare Act Initiative. Presently, Ms. Williams has returned to private practice focusing on Indian Law and is also a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department at Mills College. In November of 2007, she was appointed Acting Presiding Judge of the Yurok Tribe’s Supreme Court.
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California CASA Board of DirectorsThe purpose of our Board of Directors is to govern California CASA. Each Board member is a voting member with the authority and responsibility to establish vision and direction, to develop policies and procedures for the California CASA Association; to ensure adequate funding; to monitor and sanction the California CASA Association activities. Officers:Kevin Gardner, President, is a marketing consultant in Silicon Valley with 25 years of experience in product marketing and marketing communications in the areas of semiconductors, networking and decision support software. In addition to serving as the chair of the CalCASA board of directors, Kevin serves on the board of Child Advocates, Santa Clara County’s CASA program. He also chairs the advisory board of the Outlet Program in Mountain View, California. The Honorable Patricia Bresee, Vice President A recognized expert in Juvenile Law, the Honorable Patricia Bresee (ret.) has devoted most of her professional life to children’s issues. Serving as a Superior Court Commissioner in San Mateo County for 15 years, she was assigned to sit as a Juvenile Court Judge, and handled dependency and delinquency matters, as well as adoptions and guardianships. As an original member of the California Judicial Council Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, she served as Chair of the Juvenile Law Rules and Forms Committee. She continues to participate as faculty for the California Center for Judicial Education and Research, and is a regular presenter at Beyond the Bench and other conferences. In 1994 Commissioner Bresee was named Juvenile Court Judge of the Year by the California Judges Association, and in 1998 the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) awarded her the title of Judge of the Year. She is an American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley fellow. As former Chair of the Peninsula Community Foundation Board, she participated in the negotiations for, and implementation of the merger with Community Foundation Silicon Valley, and in January 2008 completed a term as Chair of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Board of Directors. She has recently joined the Board of Directors at Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT.) Lynda Perring, Secretary, currently serves as part time Director of Programs at Orange County CASA. Ms. Perring served 17 years in the Orange County Probation Department, supervising children in foster care, training new Probation Officers and performing the role of Juvenile Court Officer. Cindy Nasser, Treasurer is a California CASA board member as well as a CASA volunteer with CASA of Los Angeles. Ms. Nasser emancipated from foster care at the age of 16 and remains passionate about improving the lives of children in foster care through her advocacy. Ms. Nasser is the Director of Operations with a staff of over 100 people. Members:J. Riccardo Benavides is the Creative Director and Founder of i-de-as, The Special Events Co., Inc. Mr. Benavides has 20 years of experience transforming venues to create unique and beautiful corporate functions and social galas. Alison Carlson Patricia Clark-Ellis was appointed the Associate Dean in the College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Sacramento in 2002. Prior to this appointment, she had achieved the rank of full professor and held the position of coordinator for the undergraduate program in the Division of Social Work at Sacramento State. Previously, she was an associate attorney at The Crow Law Firm in Sacramento and later a sole practitioner, specializing in Social Security Law. Patricia serves on several boards, including her recent membership on the California CASA Association Board. She is also a member and serves on two committees of the Sacramento Children’s Home Board of Directors and is a member of the President’s Sacramento State University Foundation Board of Directors. She has continuously volunteered in her community and at her university. Presently Patricia is a mentor for the Guardian Scholars Program, a program that mentors foster children who are attending college. She is a mentor and member of the Sacramento State Cooper Woodson Enhancement Program Advisory Board, an academic support and retention program. She has provided pro bono legal assistance to the HIV-Positive Women’s Group in Sacramento for more than eight years and is a volunteer for special projects. Patricia has a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis School of Law, and a Master of Science in Social Work from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Social Work and a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida. Patricia is a member of the California State Bar Association, the American Council on Education and the Zonta International Club. Susan Dorsey has served as the Executive Director for CASA El Dorado since 2007 and is proud to report that the program is successfully providing advocate service to 80% of eligible children and youth in the county. Prior to joining CASA El Dorado, Ms. Dorsey served as the Executive Director for El Dorado County's nonprofit Hospice Program. Ms. Dorsey holds a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Nursing and a Master Degree in Business. Ms. Dorsey participates on the Executive Committee for the El Dorado County Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC), Executive Committee for the Non Profit Alliance of El Dorado County, Educational Committee of the local Association of Fund Raising Professionals (AFP) Chapter, and on the local Blue Ribbon Commission. Ms Dorsey also volunteers in mission youth related projects through her church. Siobhan M. Greene is the Executive Director for CASA of Monterey County as well as a board member for California CASA Association. Originally serving as the agency’s Development Director, she has been with CASA since 2002. She is an appointed commissioner for the Juvenile Justice Commission. J. Michael Hughes is a juvenile law attorney, specializing in dependency, delinquency and adoption in Orange County, California. He has represented and advocated for children's and parents' rights in over 2000 cases, represented pro bono over 100 Guardian Ad Litum cases, and represented pro bono the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma in litigation involving Native American children. He was a founding member of CASA in Orange County working with the Junior League of Orange County to establish the program. He has served on the Orange County CASA Board of Directors for over twenty-five years as President, Secretary and legal advisor. He received the CASA Judicial Honoree award and the CASA Children's Champion award. J. Michael Hughes is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California and the Orange County Bar Association. He is also a member of National CASA, ISPCAN (International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect) and the National Association of Council for Children. He is currently serving on the board of CAL CASA and the board of CASA Orange County. Don Kleinfelder has worked in the non-profit sector for over 17 years, including 13 years as Executive Director. He holds a MS in Hydrology/Hydrogeology from the University of Nevada-Reno, and prior to entering the non-profit sector, worked in the private sector as a hydrogeologist, focusing on groundwater remediation. Kerry Mazzoni is one of California’s foremost experts on education policy, having served as Secretary for Education for former Governor Gray Davis and as Chair of the Assembly Education Committee. Tish Reyes Patricia Reynolds-Harris Ms. Reynolds-Harris has been working in child welfare and related fields for over forty years. She served the Stuart Foundation by managing the program area of "Strengthening the Child Welfare System" for over nine years. She also served the City and County of San Francisco as both director of the public child welfare agency and the director of community health services. Also, in January 2003, she founded the California Permanency for Youth Project (CPYP), which is a project dedicated to the notion that no youth leaves the child welfare system without a permanent lifelong connection with a caring adult. Ms. Reynolds-Harris retired from CPYP at the end of March 2007. As a result of her outstanding work in child welfare, Ms. Reynolds-Harris has received a number of awards. She was given an Adoption Excellence Award for 2004 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for her lifelong achievements and her work in youth permanency. Most recently, she received the 2007 T. George Silcott Lifetime Achievement Award at the Annual Conference of the Black Administrators in Child Welfare (BACW). Jennifer Rodriguez is a staff attorney at the Youth Law Center. Prior to joining the YLC, Ms. Rodriguez was the Legislative and Policy Manager for the California Youth Connection. Her advocacy at CYC resulted in a number of major legislative accomplishments for California foster youth.
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