Officers
Mark Dossa, co-president, joined the board in 2018. Mark is a Certified Financial Planner who runs his own independent advisory firm Fortitude Wealth Management. Mark began his career in the financial industry in 1989 while living in San Diego. Mark graduated with a BA from California State University, Long Beach, and an MA from the University of Redlands. Residence: Alamo
Linda Del Matto, co-president, joined the board in 2014. She is a CPA, with previous positions including Associate at Palazzolo & Associates, Controller of Xtra International Ltd., and Audit Manager at KPMG. Linda began her work as a volunteer on our crisis lines in 2011 before joining the board. Residence: Alamo.
Nadesdye Valdes-Wong, vice-president, joined the board in October 2019. She is a licensed therapist working at Kaiser since 2011 with adolescents, adults, and families addressing issues of substance use, depression, anxiety, trauma, and family conflict. Prior to this, she worked with the non-profit organizations of New Connections, Fred Finch Youth Center, and New Bridge Foundation working in the school system throughout Contra Costa and Alameda County counseling at risk teens. Nadesdye received her master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Hayward in 1999. Residence: Danville.
Robin Raff, secretary, joined the board in 2018. She has over thirty years of marketing experience and has worked for world-class advertising agencies on premier brands such as Hewlett Packard, Infiniti Automobiles, and Levi’s to name a few. Robin shifted her interest to healthcare marketing 20 years ago and now currently leads Boomer Business and Beyond, Inc., a rapidly growing healthcare marketing consulting firm. As Founder/CEO and Chief Strategist, she has launched and grown multiple new healthcare brands. Previously, Robin was the Director of Medicare Marketing for Kaiser Permanente for five years, where she directed national multi-media Medicare campaigns. She raised her two daughters in Walnut Creek where they have resided since 1998. Robin became aware of the Contra Costa Crisis Center through her daughter, Rachel, who has been a volunteer since 2016. Robin is eager to provide marketing support to help raise awareness of the great services available to Contra Costa residents from the Center. Residence: Walnut Creek.
Brian Schwarer, treasurer, joined the Board in 2024. Brian has been in the banking industry for 25 years. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President / Team Leader for Heritage Bank of Commerce, a locally owned community business bank serving the Greater Bay Area. Prior to joining the Board, Brian spent several years on the Board of Directors for the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce. Brian graduated from Cal Poly University – San Luis Obispo, with a major in Economics. Residence: Livermore
At Large
Guita Bahramipour joined the board in 2019. She was appointed to serve as a member of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Board, in this capacity, she acts as a liaison with the Contra Costa County’s Mental Health Commission and the Council on Homeless. She advises the County’s Board of Supervisors on policies, strategies, and activities for addressing wellness issues in the community. Before committing her time to public service, Guita worked as a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley, where she became First Vice President. While focusing on the financial well-being of her clients, she quickly realized that their emotional and mental health was significantly more important. After over 20 years in the private sector, she made improving the health and safety of Contra Costa County residents and community members her top priority. Residence: Moraga.
Dionne Blackman-Moeller, joined the board in 2024. She is a passionate scholar-practitioner dedicated to advancing educational equity, leadership, and mental health advocacy. Currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, she is focused on transforming educational systems through trauma-informed policies and practices that promote inclusivity and effectiveness. With over 25 years of experience in healthcare services, mental health advocacy, and workforce development, Dionne blends both theoretical insight and hands-on expertise to address systemic barriers in education and social services. She has spent nearly 10 years with Opportunity Junction, where she serves as Health and Wellness Manager, guiding initiatives that support the holistic well-being of the workforce. Dionne’s mission is to develop strategies and frameworks that foster innovative learning environments and empower communities, with a long-term goal of shaping the future of education and mental health services on both local and global levels. Residence: Pittsburg
Jim Burke, joined the board in 2025. He is a native of the SF Bay Area. He was born in San Francisco and raised his family in Concord. He has been married for 45 years, has two grown children and four grandchildren.
Jim retired at the end of 2020 after spending forty years in financial services, all in providing technology, security and operational services. He worked in executive positions for Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Irwin Financial Corporation, Visa, and Bank of Marin.
Jim has been involved in several non-profit Boards. These include The Volunteer Center of the East Bay, Alternatives in Action, Rebuilding Together – Oakland, and Mobility Matters. Residence: Brentwood
Smaranika Mohapatra, joined the board in 2021. She has been working in the Software industry in the Quality Assurance department for the last 14 years, responsible for releasing the Software products with high quality and on time. She has worked on the software industries from mostly Financial and Clinical Domain. She has also been involved in the community to raise awareness on STEAM education. She lives with her husband and two kids. Residence: San Ramon.
David Newhouse joined the board in 2018. Dave is a retired MD from Kaiser. He also served in leadership roles including chief of the OB/GYN department, Assistant physician in chief and program director for the Fremont IVF center. His roles as APIC included service, leadership development, diversity, performance improvement and marketing. His area of interest is in health care disparities and the impact of unconscious bias in health care. He developed an analytics program for improving service scores that reached over 7,000 physicians in TPMG. He received the Kaiser Permanente National Diversity Erickson award for this work, and he has lectured nationally and internationally on this topic. He recently spent a year working in the Kaiser Hawaii region as a locum on the big island and Oahu. He obtained a master’s degree in business analytics from St Mary’s College in 2019. This program furthers his research on reducing health care inequities and the impact of unconscious bias. In 1972-1974 while in medical school, he worked at the crisis center in East Lansing Michigan. He helped set up a free medical clinic and worked the phone lines as a volunteer. Residence: Danville.
Rob Park joined the board in 2016. He is a psychologist who has worked at Kaiser Permanente since 2003. His experiences include working with children, adolescents, and families throughout Contra Costa County. He graduated with a BA from UC Davis and earned his Doctorate in Psychology (PsyD) from the California School of Professional Psychology. Residence: Walnut Creek.
Micheal Pope joined the board in 2025. Micheal is the CEO of Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay (ASEB), where she has dedicated 28 years to enhancing fundraising and outreach programs with her passion for improving the lives of seniors, particularly those and their caregivers living with memory loss. With over 36 years in healthcare management, specializing in community engagement, Micheal’s expertise is grounded in a marketing degree from Southern New Hampshire University, coursework at Boston University, and theological studies at Fuller Seminary. Beyond her work at ASEB, Micheal serves as Conference Lay Leader for the California/Nevada Conference of the Methodist Denomination and has held various leadership roles on boards such as the East Bay Foundation on Aging, Ombudsman, Inc., and the Contra Costa Child Care Council. According to Facebook she is also a motivational speaker and podcast host. Residence: Concord.
Lizzie Vinluan joined the board in 2021. Lizzie has been working in healthcare operations for over 10 years. She currently works at a major Bay Area health system where she uses her passion in operations, strategy, and process improvement to enhance the delivery of patient care. Lizzie has her Master of Health Administration from the University of Southern California and her BA in Human Development from the University of California of San Diego. Residence: San Ramon.
