The Health & Human Services Working Group is made up of community leaders with a high level of expertise in health programming, social research and evaluation, oversees grantmaking and donor engagement strategies to meet the most critical needs of San Diego’s nonprofits and creates partnerships and initiatives to support those strategies.

Current Working Group Members
Amy Okamura	Steve Eldred
Arturo Rivera, Chair	Nora M. Faine, MD, MPH
Judith M. Bardwick	Thomas P. Murphy
Amethyst Cureg, MD	Rene Santiago, MPH, MCP
Catalina Hope	Alan Sorkin

Amy Okamura
Amy Okamura, a practicing social worker for 31 years and Professor in the School of Social Work at San Diego State University, has served on the Health and Human Services Working Group since spring of 2003. She has been a lecturer and administrator at SDSU for the past 10 years, helping to develop community practitioners among social work students who are committed to social justice issues and to working with the poor and vulnerable.

Amy was associated with the Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC), first as a volunteer in the early 70’s and for the next 18 years as a program manager, supervisor and clinician. She advocated for and developed the UPAC Counseling and Treatment Program, the Southeast Asian Developmental Disabilities Program, the Rainbow Children’s Mental Health Service at New Beginnings and the East Wind Socialization Program.

Amy serves on the boards of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work in Groups, Inc., San Diego Chapter, and the Council of Social Work Education. She is the Chair of the Board of the Casey Family Community Resource Council.

Amy received her MSW from the University of Minnesota, and her BA in Sociology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Back to the top

Arturo Rivera, Chair
Arturo Rivera is a Financial Services Professional with over twenty years of diverse mortgage finance, community development, marketing, and public affairs experience. He joined the Health & Human Services Working Group in 2005. He has had a plethora of community development experiences with projects ranging from major multi-family projects, urban mixed-use developments, rural self-help programs, affordable single-family home development in community target areas and on Native American reservations. His activities have led to financing of thousands of units built in underserved communities throughout the West.

As a Vice President for the Community and External Affairs Division of Washington Mutual, Arturo oversees the corporation’s community reinvestment activities in a regional area encompassing the counties of San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles. He manages internal and external community relationships, and his work with communities helps Washington Mutual expand business opportunities and corporate philanthropic activities. Since 2002 Arturo has served on the Board of Directors of MAAC Project, a multi-purpose social service agency with a successful forty year history of serving various communities throughout San Diego County. He was recently elected to the position of Chairman of the Board. Arturo is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University. Back to the top

Judith M. Bardwick
Judy Bardwick is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and an international management consultant through her company, Judith M. Bardwick, Ph.D. She has authored over 100 papers, articles and books, including The Plateauing Trap, Danger in the Comfort Zone, In Praise of Good Business and Seeking the Calm in the Storm. Judy joined the Health & Human Services Working Group in 2003.

In 1983 Judy moved to San Diego, where she founded her consulting firm and became Visiting Professor of Business Administration at San Diego State University. The following year she became Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD.

Judy is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Fellows at the University of Michigan and other professional organizations. Her biography has appeared in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, The Encyclopedia of American Women, American Men and Women of Science—The Social and Behavioral Sciences and other prestigious directories. Judy serves on the board of Western Financial Bank and Westcorp.

Judy received her BS from Purdue University, her MS from Cornell University, and her PhD from the University of Michigan. Back to the top

Amethyst Cureg, MD, MPH, FAAP
Amethyst “Amee” Cureg, MD MPH is board certified pediatrician with a subspecialty in developmental behavioral pediatrics with over 17 years of experience in the clinical, academic and public health arenas. She is currently the Director of Maternal and Child Health at the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). In this capacity, she directs children’s health programs in the HHSA Maternal Child and Family Health Services Division. She joined the Health and Human Services Working Group in 2005.

Amethyst is the Past Vice President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Chapter 3 District 9 and currently serves as the AAP Chapter 3 Advisory Board’s Public Health Liaison. She is a member of various organizations and boards locally and nationally. Her mission is to improve access to quality health care services, especially to low income children in San Diego County. She has received numerous grants to advance this mission and received Vice President Al Gore’s Hammer Award for Reinventing Government.

Amethyst received her medical degree from Far Eastern University in Manila, Philippines, and Masters in Public Health with emphasis in Public Health Management from San Diego State University. Back to the top

Catalina Hope
Catalina Hope joined the Working Group in 2005. She is a Business Consultant at Adept Solutions, where she helps nonprofits to become sustainable, successful, and innovative. She is currently working with a San Diego State University (SDSU) research team on a project for Serenity House in Escondido. Prior to her consulting career, Catalina worked as Financial Administrator at The Scripps Research Institute and Budget Manager at California State University, San Marcos. She has also been a human resources administrator, web development supervisor, and project manager for various corporations and nonprofits.

Catalina serves on the Advisory Board of Alpha Project’s Health Care Case Management Program. She is currently the Treasurer of the Asian and Pacific Islander Social Work Association at SDSU and just ended a term as the President. She also serves on the Latino Social Work Student Network and SDSU Social Action Committee. Past volunteer experiences include San Diego County Children’s Services Bureau, San Diego Hospice, and being Chair of the ScrippsAssists Employee Volunteer Organization.

Catalina holds a MBA from California State University, San Marcos and a BS in Nursing, Summa Cum Laude, from San Diego State University. She is currently completing her Master’s in Social Work at SDSU. Back to the top

Steve Eldred
Steve Eldred is a San Diego-based Program Officer for The California Endowment. The California Endowment was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for undeserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. Eldred conducts outreach to organizations to increase their awareness of funding opportunities, reviews health-related grant proposals, and helps develop programs to assist underserved communities, with an emphasis on addressing ways in which the cultural attributes and assets of individuals, families, and communities affect community health. Steve joined the Health and Human Services Working Group in 2001.

Steve previously served as Health Planning and Program Specialist for the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s Office of AIDS Coordination. While there, he was responsible for needs assessment, planning, program development, and grants management for the $14 million federal- and state-funded HIV/AIDS Program. He also served as Co-chair of the San Diego County HIV Prevention Community Planning Board.

Steve, a San Diego native, holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master’s degree in Public Health (Health Services Administration & Planning) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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Nora M. Faine, MD, MPH
Nora M. Faine, MD, MPH, is Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Sharp Health Plan. She joined the Health and Human Services Working Group in 2001, and was appointed to The San Diego Foundation Board of Governors in 2002.

Nora was Medical Director of Comprehensive Health Center from 1990 to 1995. She was Executive Director of Comprehensive Health Center from 1995 to May 2000, then joined Sharp Health Plan as the Medical Director in June 2000 and was named Vice President & Chief Medical Officer in September 2001. In this position, she is responsible for the quality of care and medical management of over 102,000 commercial and Medicaid health plan members.

Nora was a member of The San Diego Foundation Inter-group Relations Working Group and the National Medical Association. She has been recognized by the following groups: Children Having Children; Palavra Tree Inc.; Tribute to a Living African American; San Diego Black Nurses Association; Soroptimist International San Diego; Woman of Accomplishment; Soroptimist International Desert Coast Region; Women Helping Women; The San Diego HIV Consumer Council.

Nora obtained her BS from the University of San Francisco, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from San Diego State University and has a Doctor of Medicine from Meharry Medical College. Back to the top

Thomas P. Murphy
Thomas P. Murphy is a venture capitalist with extensive background as a writer and editor, former diplomat and founder of the venture capital club movement. He joined the Health and Human Services Working Group in 2001.

Tom is former Editor of Fortune magazine, IBM's Think magazine, and a columnist for Forbes magazine. He is also former Special Assistant to the American Ambassador to France, founder of a venture capital firm, and co-founder of the Venture Capital Fund of America in New York. He is Founder of the first venture capital club and national venture capital association.

Tom received his BA in Journalism from the University of Iowa, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Back to the top

Rene Santiago, MPH, MCP
Rene G. Santiago is Deputy Director for the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency, where he manages over $200 million in health and human services programs employing over 1,000 professional, technical and support staff serving close to 1 million residents in the Central and South County regions. He is responsible for the operations of six major employment and eligibility family resource centers, two public health centers, federal refugee programs, the county general assistance program, and more than 75 community-based service partners. He also serves on the State of California’s Border Health Advisory Council and the San Diego State University College of Health & Human Services Advisory Council.

Rene previously worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and served on the County’s Regional Planning Commission and the City’s Affordable Housing Commission. He began his career managing community-based health centers serving underserved populations in East Los Angeles, near the community of Boyle Heights where he grew up. Rene graduated from University of California, Berkeley with joint masters’ degrees in City Planning and Public Health, and completed post-graduate doctoral work at University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the Health & Human Services Working Group in 2005. Back to the top

Alan Sorkin
Alan Sorkin, Partner in San Diego Social Venture Partners, joined the Health and Human Services Working Group in 2004. He retired from a 30-year career as a founder and CEO of six food service, construction, real estate development and software development companies. In 1985 he founded Parents & Adolescents Recovering Together (PARTS) and serves as its Volunteer Chief Executive Officer. In 1997 he founded the San Diego Prevention Coalition.

Alan has raised more than $1.5 million over the past seven years in in-kind services, grants and donations. He is San Diego Channel 10 Individual of the Year and a Presidential Volunteer Service Award nominee.

Alan is developing a program with The San Diego Foundation and an international group of CEO’s to entice business leaders into working with non-profit organizations. He teaches Leadership and Coalition Building for the National Interagency Civil-Military Institute and The National Guard. He is a member of the Ad Council's ONDCP Anti-Drug Taskforce, Methamphetamine Strike Force, Policy Panel on Youth Access to Alcohol, San Diego County Council on Alcohol Policy and an advisory board member of San Diego MADD. Alan serves on many local, regional and national committees, and is a resource for television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Back to the top