Our Team

Man Hon (Andrew) So is a new bilingual (Cantonese) instructor here at CCA! Andrew describes himself as “a musician, a coffee enthusiast, a chef, a teacher, a father, and a Godly man want-to-be.” He has a lifelong passion for music that is reflected in his education and experience as he holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from Biola University and has held various instructor and tutoring positions in the classical music field. He is excited to apply his knowledge and experience in instructional positions to teach caregivers on CCA’s Home Care Team! A fun fact about Andrew is that he was also the founder, head chef and barista of a specialty coffee café!

Ashley has a bachelor’s degree in sociology, specifically in gerontology. She is the first in her family to graduate from a higher education institution. Ashley attended East Los Angeles College and transferred to Cal State L.A. She has always worked in social services, previously serving as a case manager for homeless women and then getting into a social service coordinator role for a low-income senior apartment. She recently bought a home with her family in San Bernardino County. Ashley is proud that her family heritage comes from the Salvadoran descent. She is a dog lover and currently has a Cane Corso and Dachshund.

Chenel King was born and raised in Los Angeles, a writer, educator, and researcher with a passion for the aging and dying process. With a Master’s from USC in Gerontology, an MFA in Writing from Otis College of Art and Design, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in English-Creative Writing from San Francisco State University—Chenel’s educational journey is never-ending. Chenel has worked in education, television, customer service, health care, and medical billing –the versatility in these positions has taught her to think on her feet, be observant of her surroundings, and always keep the lines of communication open and clear. Chenel’s aim has been to connect people with other people–a constant meeting of minds and resources. From the various positions –all have involved creating meaningful and sincere human connections while trying to solve a problem, showcase a life, or even help out with a paper. Chenel has worked with all ages and differently-abled individuals as well and understands the complexities of what care can and should be. Chenel is dedicated to learning and researching best practices, so good intentions can turn into even better outcomes.

Corina Lara is excited to bring her passion for healthcare and education to the CCA Home Care team as an instructor! After seven years in a lead teaching position at the Children’s Institute Incorporated, Corina went on to pursue her Bachelor of Science in Biology (with a concentration in Cell and Molecular Biology) from Syracuse University. She has both work and volunteer experience in the healthcare field having served as an intern, dental assistant and lead dental assistant at different dental offices and as a volunteer at the Harbor- UCLA Medical Center. Corina has also been a Respite Care Provider since 2012. She is currently pursuing her Post-Baccalaureate at UCLA as a Pre-Medical and General Science Studies Certificate Program Candidate. Corina is also a native Spanish speaker!

Irene Yee is excited to join the CCA Home Care Team as a Learning Specialist! She has experience in both the education and healthcare spheres as she served prior professional roles at Elevo Learning and Kaiser Permanente. Irene holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from California State Polytechnic University. While she is skilled in management, she also has a creative side. Her interests include art, journaling and vlogging. Irene is also multilingual; in addition to English, she speaks Cantonese and Mandarin.

Joseph Choi comes from over a decade of working as a hospital pastoral counselor. He also is a soldier in the U.S. Army Reserve, currently holding the rank of Major. He has earned his bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Biola University. He is working on his second doctoral degree in trauma counseling from Liberty University. He also holds a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo. His wife does not want him earning any more degrees! He is married to Eunsil and has two sons, Daniel and Benjamin.

Kia Watley is a new Lead Instructor on CCA’s Home Care team! Kia is a Certified Medical Assistant and Licensed Vocational Nurse who is highly-skilled and passionate about home care and nursing. She has substantial experience in the caregiving field as she previously filled two managerial roles at residential home care facilities, and has worked as a lead caregiver and an LVN Charge Nurse. Additionally, Kia holds numerous medical certifications and licenses. She is excited to bring her experience and knowledge to the CCA team!

Patricia Butler is an experienced Human Resources professional and skilled leader who is joining the CCA team as our new HR Director! She brings with her over 25 years of experience in HR and Management roles within a variety of professional domains including education, health care, behavioral healthcare, payroll, and international shipping. Patricia holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Alameda University as well as certifications in Advanced Human Resources Management, Management and Supervision, and PHR Education. In addition to her experience and education, Patricia is also very passionate and highly skilled in the individual functions that constitute the field of HR.

Adi has a long-standing commitment to delivering culturally competent education in a variety of settings. She holds a certificate in Early Childhood Education and worked as a teacher aide for an elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District prior to joining the CCA.

Early in her career, Adi worked as a material handler for a healthcare equipment and supplies company. It was here that she developed the administrative skills that are invaluable in her current role.

Adi’s work is strongly influenced by her deep faith. She is dedicated to developing and maintaining productive relationships with program partners, including nursing home supervisors, nursing home staff, and education providers. Her fluency in Spanish enables her to engage with nursing home staff from underserved populations.

Afolabi brings an extensive amount of experience to his new role as Salesforce Administrator. He is an expert when it comes to Salesforce, NetSuite, Boomi, and various other business systems.

Prior to joining CCA, Afolabi worked at Curative as a Salesforce Manager where he primarily defined, documented, and improved business processes and procedures within an organization of over 900 users. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance, as well as his Master’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.

Andrea provides key administrative support for our IHSS provider students, class instructors, and the entire Home Care Program team. She works closely with program management to ensure staff compliance with requirements such as activity and expense reports and maintains efficient data management systems across multiple departments.

Prior to joining CCA, Andrea worked as an Office and Teacher’s Assistant at Emerson Community Charter School. Her responsibilities there included assisting with daily lesson plans and serving as an interpreter for Spanish speaking students. She previously served as an Administrative Staff member at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) Management Office.

Andrea earned her B.A. in Linguistics and Psychology from UCLA in 2017.

Antonio is a physician with a lifelong commitment to improving the health of families and communities. He grew up in Cuba, where he earned his medical doctorate with a specialty in family medicine and OB/Gyn from Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de Santiago de Cuba. He emigrated to the US in 2011, where he has dedicated himself to medical education.

“As an instructor for the CCA, I am gratified to work with IHSS providers,” Antonio says. “They have a tremendous responsibility as a member of the consumer’s healthcare team. For example, properly administering medications is critically important to the health and well-being of the care recipients. It is also important for providers to understand when it is appropriate to seek out emergency care in order to reduce the burden on the healthcare system and reduce hospitalizations. Through my work, I am helping to improve healthcare quality throughout the community.”

Prior to joining CCA, Blanca Lopez served as a Member Services Intern at SEIU 2015. She primarily introduced members to SEIU functions, departments, and operations while managing the reception desk. Blanca joined CCA earlier this summer as a Home Care Intern, where she provided administrative support and helped execute program projects for the team.

Recently, Blanca transitioned to the role of Home Care Program Coordinator. Within this role, Blanca provides administrative, program, and data management support to the Home Care department. 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Blanca graduated from Cal State Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Charles is fluent in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Taiwanese, which has been an invaluable resource given the diversity of the CCA’s students. Like several of our instructors, Charles has a background in medicine and healthcare administration. He earned his medical degree at Autonomous University of Central America, San Jose, Costa Rica and his Master of Health Administration at the University of Southern California.

He has spent most of his career in the elder care industry. Before joining the CCA, Charles worked at and adult day health center/community-based adult services program where he supervised a multidisciplinary team to serve the Asian community.

Corinne Eldridge is a recognized expert on issues related to caregiving and the long-term care workforce. An accomplished leader with over 20 years of management experience, including more than 15 years in the field of long-term care, Corinne speaks to the benefits to the health care system of training nursing home workers and Medi-Cal funded In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) caregivers. Speaking engagements include: the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), NASUAD, and the American Society on Aging.

As the President of CCA, she has overseen efforts to train over 13,000 IHSS and Skilled Nursing Facility workers, ensuring that workers are prepared to meet the growing demands of long-term care. Corinne’s work lead to the first study to make the link between training IHSS caregivers and better health outcomes and cost savings for consumers. She has established innovative funding partnerships with health plans across the state, including Alameda Alliance for Health, Health Net, L.A. Care, and Blue Shield Promise California to provide training for IHSS caregivers. Her work has been published in the journal Gerontology & Geriatrics Education.  She has also served on the Advisory Committee for UCLA’s Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (UCLA GWEP), is on the Healthcare Career Advancement Program Education Association (H-CAP EA) Education Association Board, provided insight to the Community Catalyst and LeadingAge LTSS Center for the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council around family caregivers, and has recently been appointed to the National Skills Coalition Healthcare Industry Recovery Panel.

Corinne’s dedication to improving the long-term care system through education was inspired by seeing the challenges women in her family experienced as caregivers and the impact quality care can have on seniors’ life spans and quality of life. Married for over 10 years and a mother to two young daughters, Corinne is inspired by the outdoors and is a lover of music.

Crystal is passionate about education.  She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry and Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  She began her education career as a high school teacher and then joined the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Government to further advance her career as an Education Administrator. Prior to joining CCA, she held the position as the Senior Professional Development Officer in providing training and development programs for the education professionals.

Crystal and her family moved to the United States in the summer of 2020.  She is thrilled to be a part of the CCA team.  “I can contribute my experience and share the passion and commitment of CCA in empowering the caregivers to provide a better life for our community,” she says.

Dominique obtained her DSD from Joshua Tree Private School and currently works in the Quality Assurance and the Nursing Department for ASAP Home Health Inc. She joins us as a Part-Time instructor with 5+ years’ experience working in critical care and skilled nursing.

Jongwoo Edmonson Lim, or Eddie for short, was born in Seoul, South Korea, and came to Los Angeles when he was 8 years old. He was determined to get a good education at an early age. He got involved in searching for scholarships and writing to charities that took him to Minnesota, where he spent his high school and college years. He returned to L.A. after about a decade of living in the frigid North, and has been here ever since. 

Elica has over 15 years of in-depth experience working within the nonprofit industry. Her love for humanity and passion for providing support to others acts as the catalyst for her all-important “why.” Elica last worked for the Riverside County Office of Education as Visionary Support, where she created and managed after-school programs and events with the focus on wellness and tobacco use prevention.

Elizabeth brings a great deal of hands-on experience to the Field Coordinator role. Prior to joining CCA, she was an Accounting/Program Assistant at Transitions Children’s Services. There she worked as a mental health program assistant, medical billing technician, and Spanish interpreter.

Elizabeth is deeply familiar with the public health space. She was a CNA in 2004, providing care for Alzheimer’s patients in an adult day care center for over five years. Since then, she has worked as a Crisis Intervention Coordinator, Foster Family Development Specialist, as well as a Pro-Act (Professional Assault Crisis Trainer) and CPR Trainer.

Erick started his career in the field of education by becoming a bilingual teacher’s assistant in Long Beach. After he graduated from CSULB in 2020, he taught first- and second-grade students. He then worked for an arts-integrated organization in Long Beach bringing art programs to schools across LA County and the country. This journey has brought him to CCA and he is excited to see what the future holds!

Gwyneth has over 28 years of experience across multiple industries with a concentration in the non-profit arena, with the last 15 focusing on management. As Chief Financial Officer, Gwyneth provides financial, operational, HR, and data management leadership for CCA.

Recently coming from a local arts & culture organization, she spent the last eight years developing systems and policies to fit the organization’s growth projections. The last two and a half years were spent pivoting program and financial plans to sustain operations and securing relief funding available during the pandemic.

Hailing from the East Coast and England, Gwyneth made the move to California where she resides and maintains a busy life with her husband and three children.

Isabel’s work with the CCA is deeply informed by her personal experiences as an IHSS provider caring for her son. As a field coordinator, she uses her bilingual skills in English and Spanish to enroll IHSS providers in the CCA’s education programs. Her previous experience includes working as a teacher assistant at Bell Gardens Junior High School and as a real estate assistant with Century 21.

“It is the most gratifying for me when I am able to share this program with a provider who can then take better care of their consumer,” Isabel says. “It also means a lot to me when the providers graduate the course and are so grateful for the opportunity they had with CCA.”

Jessica is originally from Dallas, TX, but moved to sunny California to attend university at LMU. She ended up staying in L.A. and now lives with her furbaby – a very affectionate cat named Ozzie. She has been working in administrative roles for six years, and is excited to transition into the healthcare sphere. After being a caretaker herself for her mother in 2020, she is looking forward to helping others get the education they need to better help those in need.

Bio coming soon!

As a Manager of Enrollment for CCA, Juvenal has a deep interest in education and social justice. He is extremely passionate about serving underrepresented communities.

Juvenal is responsible for performing recruitment and class coordination for CCA’s educational programs. Juvenal’s experience in recruitment management informs his work as a Field Coordinator. Before joining CCA, he was a proud member of the IBEW Local 47 labor union. He has previously worked as a Relationship Manager for Bank of America, and prior to that was a Legal Assistant for a business law firm in the Bay Area, where he was responsible for deepening client relationships and managing business records.

He earned his degree in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley. Juvenal is also a proud member of Gamma Zeta Alpha Inc. and is a lifelong Dodger fan.

Karine has served as an instructor with CCA since 2014. She brings a wealth of clinical experience as an RN at facilities including Olive View UCLA Medical Center, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Glendale Community College, and Family Care ADHC. Her teaching experience include serving as preceptor to college students. She has volunteered for nearly ten years at the Glendale Community Free Health Clinic, providing medical assistant services. Karine earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from West Coast University, where she graduated cum laude. As lifelong learner, she plans to pursue a Master of Science in Nursing/Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN/FNP) program.

“Through education, compassion, and kindness towards each individual,” Karine says, “We will improve the health and quality of our community.”

Kerstin (pronounced “shur-stin”) is excited to join the Center for Caregiver Advancement team as a Communications Coordinator! She earned her dual Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Communication and Global Studies from California Lutheran University in 2020. While in college, she participated in two exchange programs in France and Morocco. Kerstin speaks French and is currently learning Arabic. Prior to joining the CCA team, she worked for a non-partisan political news service based out of the Massachusetts State Capitol in Boston.

Bio coming soon!

Leo graduated from University of San Francisco and started his career as a Corporate Recruiter. After moving to Southern California over 10 years ago, he focused his career on Human Resources. He has had the opportunity to work as an HR Generalist with various companies, including several startups. However, his passion has always been working for organizations that support local communities.

“I truly believe in CCA’s vision and I am excited to be part of this organization,” he says.

Lusine Khachatryan is excited to join the CCA team as a Learning Support Specialist! She has a master’s degree in Political Science and International Affairs with an expertise in Public Policy and Development from the American University of Armenia. Lusine is experienced in designing, planning, and implementing programs including evidence-based monitoring and evaluation. Prior to her role here at CCA, Lusine worked as a program coordinator at her alma mater. She also has held several roles at Society without Violence, including the Head of Programs. Lusine speaks Armenian, Russian, and English.

Madison Irons is a business marketing graduate who is excited to join CCA’s Home Care team! She grew up in Illinois and recently moved to Los Angeles. Madison speaks English and Spanish. Prior to her role at CCA, she worked as an assistant manager of a massage and facial spa as well as a marketing manager at La Salle Network. Madison is skilled in social media content creation, journalism, and creative writing.

Marlene joined the CCA in 2013 as a program assistant and has since assumed positions of increasing responsibility. In her current position as a Data Management Coordinator, Marlene maintains the CCA’s database. This includes collecting, importing, analyzing and reporting program data, as well as collaborating with program staff to use data to meet program goals.Her previous experience includes a position as a data coordinator with Miller Kaplan Arase, an international full-service accounting firm, focusing on the radio, newspaper, and television industries. Marlene studied at Mount St. Mary’s University with a concentration in Gerontology.

“I am inspired by the commitment of the students and the staff who advocate for education and who work hard every day to add value to the long-term care workforce,” Marlene says. “I am proud to be part of the data team.”

Martha originally joined CCA as an intern, and currently works as a Field Assistant on the Home Care team. In this role, she helps IHSS+ providers with program enrollment, helping students ultimately graduate from the IHSS+ program and earn their certificate.

She has prior experience working as an IHSS caregiver, a Spanish Interpreter, and was previously a Member Lead at SEIU 2015, aiding in membership recruitment, bringing support to organizers, leads, and helped facilitate and train members to successfully meet their goals.

Bio coming soon!

Michelle Broussard Emelle is an educator and technology consultant with over 15 years of experience. Her interest in data analysis led to a life-changing career move from Assistant Principal to Academic Technology Director for Ellucian at Mount Saint Mary’s University. She was one of the Co-Creators of CodeTalk, a non-profit organization that teaches women computer programming and helps them get jobs. In 2019, she was hired as the Project Manager for Tech Hire LA which was a program funded by President Obama’s administration to increase the number of people ages 18 to 24 employed in the technology industry.

Miya has been working in the healthcare field for 20 years, providing care for a diverse population. She began her career as an In-Home Care Provider and furthered her education in health care as a Licensed Vocational Nurse through the University of the Antelope Valley. As an LVN, Miya worked in mental health, pediatric, and geriatric care. These experiences led her to discover her passion for education.

Miya received her degree in Healthcare Administration, as well as her Director of Staff Development state certification. Before joining the CCA, Miya worked as an instructor for Certified Nursing Assistant programs for over 10 years. As an Instructor, Miya’s expertise in healthcare affords her knowledge to meet the needs of the diverse student population she educates at CCA.

Moraima is a cum laude graduate of South University in Savanah Georgia with a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor of science degree in Healthcare Management. She brings 30 years of domestic and international experience in clinical operations and management  and over 13 years leading healthcare education and quality improvement programs. Moraima is Certified as a Healthcare Simulation Educator and Simulation Operations Specialist through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare; and is a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer. Prior to joining CCA, she served as Director of Simulation and Education for PIH Health, a nonprofit healthcare system located in Whittier California.

Nancy is a first generation Vietnamese American born and raised in the city of Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University of Northridge. She has experience working and helping vulnerable communities in the City of Los Angeles.

Nicole is bilingual in Mandarin and English. As one of our first Learning Specialists, she will assist the students and instructors in our Career Pathways Program courses. Nicole has previously worked as a dental biller, receptionist, sales and travel agent.

Nune Grigoryan has nine years of experience working for nonprofit organizations, private sector and local government. She worked for Caritas Internationalis Humanitarian Organization as a transnational program coordinator in Armenia, Austria, France and Lebanon. As she holds her master’s Degree in Sociology/Statistics, research is something she is passionate about and she has worked as lead researcher and co-researcher for a few European Academic Institutions. In the United States, she worked for the Office of Head Start and for the City of Pasadena.

Olivia Milton is a new instructor here at CCA. She grew up in Orange County and currently resides in Long Beach. For the past five years, she has been a Special Education teacher in the public school system. She graduated from National University with a Master’s of Science in Special Education and mild/moderate teaching credential. She received her undergrad from Cal State Fullerton University in Studio Arts. 

As a Central Coast native, Oscar attended college in his hometown of Watsonville before moving on to UC Santa Cruz and the Bay Area to study alternative medicine. He has worked with various nonprofits in project and program management capacities and enjoys working with the public. He is a passionate advocate for farm workers as he comes from a family of farm workers.

As a Home Care Field Assistant, Patricia Rios helps with recruitment and supports class coordination for CCA’s caregiver training programs. She initially joined CCA as a Home Care Intern, providing administrative support and assistance in program projects for the Home Care team. She has been an active member, volunteer and chapter delegate for SEIU 2015 for the past seven years. She has also been part of the bargaining committee for IHSS workers. Patricia is committed to learn more to better assist and develop new leaders!

Pia Orense brings her passion for storytelling as a tool for advocacy to her role as CCA’s Communications Manager. “These caregivers have powerful stories to tell — stories that will hopefully inspire fellow caregivers to improve their skills, raise awareness of their challenges and successes, and show the health community how critical these men and women are to a patient’s journey to wellness,” she says.

Pia previously served as assistant director of communications and marketing at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, where she received her bachelor’s degree in English and is currently finishing a master’s degree in humanities.

Prior to her time in higher education, Pia worked in the newspaper industry. She began her journalism career as a freelance writer and through the years advanced to the position of editor in charge of community weeklies, a lifestyle magazine, and custom publications.

Raven earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended the Universidad Latina in Costa Rica where she studied Spanish. She is fluent in English and Spanish. She has worked with student populations from diverse backgrounds, ages, and education levels. She brings over five years of educational experience as a volunteer in the U.S. and abroad, a teacher at an academy, and an instructor of adult education in various settings.

Rodney initially joined the Center for Caregiver Advancement as an intern, and has since transitioned to the role of Field Assistant on the Home Care team. He helps enroll IHSS providers into CCA’s caregiver training programs.

Rodney has worked as a caregiver himself. Last year, he participated in CCA’s 10-week IHSS+ Alzheimer’s course, which provides specialized training for caregivers caring for somebody showing signs of Alzheimer’s and related dementia.

Separately, Rodney is an artist at heart and while he loves to paint and sketch in his free time, he also finds some satisfaction doing creative work and graphic designs for the music industry.

Rosalba worked as a nurse assistant for 10 years in Tonalá, Jalisco before moving to the United States in 2006. There she gained a deeper education around disability rights and special education, and has been a part of the CCA team since 2018. As a Field Assistant, she thoroughly enjoys helping IHSS+ providers with program enrollment, and says the most rewarding feeling is seeing students graduate from the IHSS+ program and earn their certificate.

Samuel Kwon comes to CCA with a diverse and rich background. He is fluent in Spanish and Korean. He was raised and educated in South America. He studied Business from Baruch College in New York, and master’s degrees in Inter-Cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and Divinity from Grace Mission University. He has a background in the medical field. He has led mission trips to South American countries, and developed and taught spiritual formation and other classes to train seminary students. He also served as an emergency responder and chaplain.

Sheryl worked with the homeless population for 15 years throughout Los Angeles County. She collaborated with community partners conducting street outreach and facilitated the day-to-day operations of program facilities for the homeless. She has some experience with caregiving and assisting family members with illness and end-of-life services. Sheryl has a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from the University of Phoenix and a Master’s Degree in Addiction Counseling from Grand Canyon University).

Shihjui (Sherry) Wu joins the CCA Home Care team with extensive experience in the education field in both the United States and Taiwan. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the National Hsinchu University of Education and also holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Management from the National Taipei University. Sherry has previously filled a wide range of professional roles including: teacher, principal, marketing director, interpreter and preacher. She also founded the Geng Shen Children Talent Center in Taipei, Taiwan. Sherry is multilingual as she speaks Chinese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Cantonese.

Syuzanna Petrosyan joined CCA in 2015 and has since assumed increasing levels of responsibility within the organization, building collaborative relationships with dynamic and key stakeholders to increase the reach of the Education Fund across California. In her current role, she is responsible for shaping the strategy and implementation of the high quality educational and training programs offered to SEIU Local 2015 long term care workers employed at over 80 skilled nursing facilities. She leads a statewide team dedicated to empowering marginalized workers from diverse backgrounds and providing access to equitable educational opportunities as well as increasing the pool of skilled health care workers to meet the present and future needs of the rapidly growing senior population. California has a caregiver crisis and Syuzanna is determined to be a part of the solution by preparing the workforce with the capacity and skills to provide quality care to the vulnerable population.  

Prior to joining CCA, Talar worked at USC Keck Verdugo Hills Hospital as a Registered Nurse. There, Talar provided care for patients who suffered from stroke, heart attack, Alzhiemers, COVID, and other health complications. As a nurse, Talar worked closely with various providers and care team members. This allowed her to learn about the different aspects of healthcare and care coordination. She especially had a passion in involving the patient and family members in the care plan. Talar completed her Bachelor’s in Nursing at Azusa Pacific University, where she is currently completing her Masters and Nurse Practitioner degrees. She hopes to take her background knowledge of nursing and the new knowledge the students at CCA provide, to be a better and more well rounded provider in the future.

Before becoming a nurse, Talar was part of an internship program with COPE Health Solutions, which eventually led to an employment position. Here, she ensured that students received opportunities to gain knowledge and find their passion within the healthcare field. She participated in projects for student recruitment and assisted in the student training process to ensure that students provided optimal patient care. 

Tamika Quillard is an award-winning visual design communicator and marketing communications strategist. She focuses on helping innovative organizations craft brand stories that move. Tamika received her BFA in Advertising Design from Moore College of Art & Design and was further educated at California State University, Northridge in Digital Design and UCLA Extension Certification Program in User Experience.

Tatiana began her career journey as a girls Soccer Coach for various high schools throughout Los Angeles, and has some education in sports medicine. While she enjoyed coaching, she also thoroughly enjoys helping others. That passion led her to join CCA as a Field Coordinator! Here she is responsible for the coordination of the educational, training, career support services, and case management in the Northern California region.

Prior to joining CCA, she was a Medical Assistant for an Orthopedic Surgeon. Afterwards, she was an Activity Assistant at Vernon Hills Care Center, caring for elderly patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Timothy Taylor is CCA’s HR & Recruitment Specialist, providing critical support in the recruiting and staffing strategies of our rapidly expanding organization. He manages full-cycle recruitment, from identifying potential hires to interviewing and evaluating candidates. Timothy has worked as an HR Resources Specialist for a variety of companies and organizations, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Travis has a wealth of knowledge and experience working with the elderly as a Regional Director, Administrator, and Executive Director in long-term care settings; such as Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Communities, Memory Care Communities, and Independent Living Communities.

Travis earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Health Sciences from Southern Adventist University in Tennessee and his Masters of Aging Services Management degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California. He is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and a Certified Residential Care Facility for the Elderly Administrator in the State of California.

Travis is passionate about helping others, especially seniors, and making a difference within his field of choice in long-term care.

In his spare time, Travis enjoys watching college and professional sports; in particular, the NFL, NBA, and USC football and basketball. Fight on Trojans! He also enjoys spending time with his family and friends, exercise, and home improvement projects.

Vanessa is responsible for providing administrative, program, and data management support to CCA’s Home Care team. She works with the field and instruction teams to organize and prepare files needed to carry out recruitment and class coordination activities.

Prior to joining CCA, Vanessa was an administrative assistant for Social Vocational Services. In this role, she scheduled appointments, maintained calendars for staff, and assisted in communications such as invoices and reports.

She also brings experience having worked as a Home Care Aide, in which she supported clients with their basic needs, mobility, as well as mental and emotional support.

Vanessa earned her associate of science degree in Early Childhood Education in 2020.

Vanessa grew up in northern San Diego County. For the last twenty years she has worked in finance for nonprofits and engineering organizations. Vanessa studied Business Administration at Palomar College and has extensive experience in leading business operations and finance teams. Prior to becoming the Financial Controller at CCA, she served similar roles at the Country Club of Rancho Bernardo, the Dana Point Yacht Club, and the Rancho Santa Fe Association.

Yvonne is a skilled healthcare professional with 15+ years of experience dedicated to effective collaboration between care teams, patients, and families. As NATP Director on the Education Fund team, Yvonne will be responsible for the oversight of the coordination, planning, preparation, presentation, and evaluation of classroom instruction, clinical training, and related activities in the Ed Fund.

Yvonne formerly worked with Infiniti Health as a Quality Assurance Registered Nurse, where she assessed and managed the Covid-19 testing sites at LAUSD. She also educated and collaborated with staff and students regarding infection control mandates.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Phoenix, and her Associate of Science in Nursing from Mount Saint Mary College. She is also a Certified Case Manager.­

Zach is originally from Los Angeles, California and earned his Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance. As Senior Accountant at CCA, Zach has worked in the Accounting field for 20 years in the manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, and nonprofit industries. His knowledge in nonprofit accounting, and his overall love of accounting and finance is what brought him to CCA.

In his spare time, he enjoys being with family, traveling, cooking, reading, and art. In his own words, he also “loves working with spreadsheets and can’t imagine how he would survive without them.”

Grace Liu is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the Site Director for the East Bay office of Alzheimer’s Association in Lafayette. She joined the Association in 2012 and is responsible for administration and coordinating programs and services for families in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties. She facilitates two monthly caregiver support groups and a weekly support group for early-stage caregivers, provides family care consultations, and teaches classes on a variety of dementia-related topics.

Grace comes to the field of aging from an untraditional path as she had a successful career managing Hollywood film and TV productions before obtaining a MSW degree from the University of California at Berkeley with a concentration in Gerontology. Her past experience as a family caregiver inspires her to help other caregivers with their journey and informs her teaching and interactions with families.

She joined the CCA board of directors in January 2021.

“I was motivated to join the board because providing and enhancing education opportunities for long-term care workers helps improve their lives and the lives of seniors and people with dementia who are their clients,” she said. “I look forward to bringing a dementia lens to the work of CCA and championing their work in Northern California and the East Bay Area.”

Jeffrey Forrest serves as Director of Older Youth Initiatives for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.  In this role he oversees the Opportunity Youth and Foster Youth Programs which address the needs of young adults (ages 15-24).  In his previous role, Jeffrey served as Vice-President of Economic Development for College of the Canyons, which focuses on aligning Career and Technical Education programs with the needs of industry, while offering job training for minorities, women, Veterans, and dislocated workers.  In addition, Jeffrey oversaw a number of business units dedicated to providing companies with training resources for growing their business. 

In this role, Jeffrey created partnerships with hundreds of companies, community-based organizations, government entities throughout Southern California to advance the efforts of the community college in providing workforce development solutions that lead to economic growth and prosperity for the region. Jeffrey has testified Capitol Hill on the benefits of apprenticeship to small business.  Jeffrey is also is the Chair of Finally Family Homes, a non-profit that works with homeless transition-aged youth in North Los Angeles County.

Jeffrey believes that providing access to a quality education and career pathways is critical to creating strong communities and key to the long-term growth of the nation’s economy.  He has a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, an MBA from Lindenwood University, and an MDiv from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary.

Jim Mangia is the President and CEO of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, a network of 16 nonprofit federally qualified health centers and two mobile clinics providing free and low-cost medical, dental and mental health services to more than 375,000 patient visits in downtown, South Los Angeles, Compton and Lynwood. Passionate about community health, prevention and social justice, Mangia built the Well Child and Family Centers from a small single-site clinic serving 1200 patients a year to one of L.A. County’s largest nonprofit health care with over 700 employees and a 85 million dollar budget; St. John’s is now the largest primary care provider in the largest area of contiguous poverty (south Los Angeles) in the United States.

Under Mangia’s leadership, St. John’s has opened six school based health centers (SBHCs). St. John’s is the exclusive school based health provider for Compton Unified School District and operates five SBHCs with Los Angeles Unified School District, with plans to open three more. As well, St. John’s is the only federally qualified health center to operate community college-based school based health centers – at Trade Tech College and Compton College.

Appointed by Governor Brown in 2012, Mangia serves as a State Commissioner on the State of California Workforce Investment Board and served as an Expert Advisor to the Let’s Get Healthy California Task Force. He serves on the Los Angeles County Community Prevention and Population Health Task Force for the County of Los Angeles Public Health Agency. He served as Chair of the Public Health & Prevention Task Force for the California Primary Care Organization in 2013-14. Mangia served on the Board of Governors of LA Care Health Plan (the largest Medicaid health plan in the country) from 2008-2012. He served as a member of President Obama’s Health Advisory Task Force in 2008 and served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County from 2010-2012.

Mangia has built St. John’s as an organization that not only provides health care services, but engages social determinants of health, impacts social policy, builds direct patient advocacy organizations in the communities it serves, provides direct access to health for undocumented immigrants and homeless individuals and families, fights for social justice and battles poverty.

Mangia has testified before congressional committees, the California state legislature and the Los Angeles city council about environmental health issues effecting L.A.’s children, the critical role of prevention in community health, health disparities and the right to health. He has received the Certificate of Congressional Recognition, special recognition in the U.S. Congressional Record, and numerous commendations for his work by city, county and state legislative bodies.

Joyce, who has been on CCA’s Board of Directors since 2013, has been a longtime supporter of the organization. Her previous work influences her passion for the education of caregivers. As a homecare worker for 24 years, Joyce cared for both her mother who suffered from a stroke and a younger sister with muscular dystrophy.

Joyce currently serves as a Member Volunteer for the Venice Pioneer Club, providing community support for Westside Japanese seniors. She is also on the Executive Board for the West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple. She takes pride in her work with the Buddhist Women’s Association as Co-chair of its Membership Committee, in addition to her role as Program Consultant for Bay Street Arts, the Downtown Los Angeles Artist Space Cooperative.

Previously, Joyce served on the Executive Board for SEIU 2015 from 1992 until 2018 and on the Board of Directors for SEIU State Council from 2013 to 2016.

As the Executive Vice President of SEIU Local 2015, which represents long-term care workers, Kim brings a wealth of experience to the CLTCEC board.

Kim strives to empower long-term care workers to make positive changes for themselves, their workplace, and their communities. She believes in the importance of creating a culture where all long term care workers earn a livable wage, are able to access retirement and have a seat at the table in discussions regarding the future of long term care services.

Before serving in her current position as Executive Vice President at SEIU Local 2015, Kim held a variety of roles in SEIU, including Internal and External Organizer for an SEIU local in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Education Coordinator for SEIU International and Deputy Director of the Public Division for SEIU International. She also worked on a project that eventually evolved into SEIU’s Leaders in Action for Justice Committee, which focuses on developing leaders in our organization. As part of her work for the national union, she moved on to become the SEIU Area Director for California, and eventually took on the role of Chief of Staff at ULTCW. In 2013, she was elected as Secretary Treasurer of SEIU ULTCW.

Silvia Yee is a senior staff attorney at Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) where her work has included projects to increase physical and programmatic accessibility and disability awareness in the delivery of health care services, as well as impact litigation to increase access for people with disabilities in myriad aspects of public and private life.

Silvia maintains interests in health care reform and the impact on people with disabilities, international disability rights and the implementation of national disability rights laws, and the strengthening of cross-disability and cross-civil rights communities.

Over the past decade, Silvia has presented and written on how disability health and healthcare disparities, civil rights, public health, and other social determinants of health such as race/ethnicity, LQBTQ status, and income level intersect.  Recently, she has had the privilege to co-teach the disability rights law class offered at UC Berkeley School of Law. Prior to joining DREDF, Silvia worked in private commercial practice in Canada, and with the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta, where she published on the topics of Canadian Health Care Standards and the extent of the nursing profession’s legal authority.  She received her B.Mus., M.A., and L.L.B. degrees from the University of Alberta.

Silvia joined CCA’s board of directors in January 2021. “Long-term services and supports are critical to people with a range of disabilities across the life spectrum, and community-based services are essential to disability rights and true community integration,” she said. “I am motivated by a desire to help ensure that personal care assistants and direct service workers have a path forward to the living wage, safe working conditions, career recognition, and skill/knowledge base that will attract excellent employees and encourage strong working relationships.”

Arnulfo De La Cruz joined the SEIU 2015 Education Fund (CLTCEC’s nursing home program) Board of Trustees in 2019. For over 18 years, Arnulfo has worked in the labor movement to give voice to Long Term Care workers, hospital workers, janitors and public employees across multiple states including California, Texas, as well as Washington D.C. Fighting for civil rights and social and economic justice in California is in his blood, and dates back to his grandmother Jessie De La Cruz, who was one of the first female leaders of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). Arnulfo was born in Oxnard, California during a strike of lemon workers, when both of his parents were organizers for the UFW.

In 2009, Arnulfo launched and led Mi Familia Vota California, a national nonprofit working to unite the Latino community and its allies to promote social and economic justice through increased civic participation. During his tenure at MFVCA, De La Cruz led efforts to expand the Latino and youth electorate through large scale citizenship, voter registration, census education, and GOTV, resulting in thousands of newly registered and active citizens across California.

As Director of SEIU’s Immigrant Justice Campaign, Arnulfo directed the union’s efforts to secure comprehensive immigration reform that respects the contributions of immigrants, rebuilds our nation’s economy, secures equal labor and civil rights protections for workers and provides a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented workers in our country.

It is with this same passion that he serves as Executive Vice President for Local 2015 and manages operations for regions four, five and six. He is committed to ensuring justice for all. When the landmark 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision to protect the DACA program was announced, Arnulfo worked to elevate members’ voices with the press and on social media to highlight the significant impact the DACA decision had on thousands of workers in California.

Arnulfo is a graduate of Wheaton College and was awarded a highly competitive Fulbright Scholarship to work and study Economics in Mexico. He lives in Sacramento with his wife and two children.

Chimere Randell, LVN, serves as the worker representative for the Education Fund Board of Trustees. As a charge nurse at Medical Hill Healthcare Center in Oakland, she manages a team of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) and helps manage operations of the facility’s neurobehavioral unit. She received her Licensed Vocational Nurse certification in 2010. She also earned certifications as medication technician and activity director.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!