Board of Directors
Rachel Tobey
Chair
Rachel Tobey brings 17 years of experience working to improve cost effectiveness, quality, access, and patient experience in a variety of healthcare settings, ranging from large integrated delivery systems to community health clinics.
Ms. Tobey’s specific areas of expertise include health policy research and development, health system payment and financing, evaluation and strategic consulting, concentrating on health systems and payers focused on vulnerable and underserved populations. Ms. Tobey’s recent projects have included researching and writing about emerging safety-net ACOs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, developing a whole-person care framework and policy recommendations for the Blue Shield of California Foundation, and working with the California Primary Care Association and the California Association of Public Health and Hospital Systems on Federally Qualified Health Center payment reform to facilitate delivery system transformation in California’s safety net.
Ms. Tobey holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School with certificates in Health and Health Policy and Demography.
Rachel Tobey, MPA
Chair
James Johnson, Jr.
Vice Chair
James Johnson, Jr. studied African American Studies and Public Health at U.C. Berkeley and currently works as an analyst with the Solano County Health & Social Services Department. His appreciation for LifeLong’s work was sparked after he participated in a work group that reviews and addresses the high prevalence of hypertension in certain communities in Berkeley.
As a Bay Area native, Mr. Johnson feels it’s especially important to improve the community and its health and well-being and sees LifeLong as an organization that is grassroots enough to reach people outside of the clinical setting. It’s also large enough to make profound changes in the lives of families they serve.
Mr. Johnson is also an advisor to a chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. as well as chairing the Bay Area Alphas Education Foundation. He is a mentor through several organizations and involved with the Covenant Worship Center.
James Johnson, Jr.
Vice Chair
Gloria Flores-Garcia
Secretary
Assistant Executive Director for El Concilio of San Mateo County for over 10 years, Gloria Flores-Garcia has directed programs that promote health prevention, education, outreach, and case management for San Mateo County's Latino and other underserved communities.
She is the co-founder of Nuestro Canto de Salud Health Project, a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort that envisions all of the community as key stakeholders in the rhythm and harmony of a healthy community.
Ms. Flores-Garcia has a long history of working in the community and is committed to social justice issues. She has served on several boards and councils, including the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, West Bay Breast Cancer Early Detention Program, and KCSM's Community Advisory Committee. She was a past KQED Local Hero for Hispanic Heritage Month as well as the private sector Local Hero award for Peninsula Interfaith Action.
Gloria Flores-Garcia
Secretary
Philip Kamlarz
Treasurer
Philip Kamlarz has made a lifetime commitment to community and public service. Prior to his retirement, he most recently served as the Berkeley City Manager, having spent over 45 years in service to the community with a goal of improving the lives of those most in need.
Mr. Kamlarz currently serves on the board of the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. He studied at Long Island University where he received his BS degree and did graduate work at Hunter College in New York. He has served as Treasurer of the LifeLong Medical Care Board of Directors since 2016 and he also serves on the LifeLong Finance Committee as chair.
Philip Kamlarz
Treasurer
Board Members
Ron Adler, MD
Member
Ron Adler, Chair of LifeLong’s Development Committee, received his education from Harvard, Stanford, and UCSF. He has lived and practiced medicine in the East Bay since 1977, working in both private practice and public health care at Alta Bates/Herrick Hospitals, Alameda County Medical Center (Highland Hospital), and the University of California Health Service.
Dr. Adler served for 16 years as a member and chair of the City of Berkeley Community Health Commission. He is now semi-retired and, in addition to his service on the LifeLong Board, he volunteers at community health centers and at the University of California/UCSF Joint Medical program. He notes with pride that many of the doctors at LifeLong were once students of his at Highland Hospital or at the UCSF Medical School. His self-declared "mission" on the LifeLong Board is to create and maintain a working environment that supports our dedicated health care providers in the delivery of humane, quality health care for all of our patients.
Ron Adler, MD
Member
Robin Betts, RN, CPHQ, MBA-HA
Member
Robin Betts is a leader in clinical innovation and the implementation of safety improvement initiatives and has dedicated her professional life to patient safety, quality, and high reliability systems to make lives better. She has had a distinguished 35-year health care career, practicing as a nurse for 17 years.
As Vice President for Quality, Clinical Effectiveness & Regulatory Services for Kaiser Permanente Northern California, she helps further advance Kaiser Permanente’s nation-leading excellence in quality and patient safety, and oversees health plan and hospital regulatory functions, including compliance, licensing, and member grievances.
Ms. Betts also has a strong background in health care information technology. She spent almost two decades in clinical informatics and patient safety leadership positions – most notably at Universal Health Services, as the Corporate Director of Information Technology, and at Valley Health System as an Associate Administrator leading implementation of evidence-based clinical care programs.
Robin Betts, RN, CPHQ, MBA-HA
Member
Janet Howley, MA
Member
Janet Howley is Vice President of Community Services & Housing at Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services. She came to NCPHS in 2014 with 27 years of experience in the field of affordable housing, working in nonprofit organizations and local government. Before that, she worked at Mercy Housing California as Senior Asset Manager from 2008 to 2011.
Prior to this position, she worked in the Community and Economic Development Agency at the City of Oakland, from 1988 through 2007 as a Housing Development Coordinator, Manager of Housing Development, and Interim Director of Housing & Community Development.
Ms. Howley moved to the Bay Area following a two-year assignment with Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, which required travel throughout the United States to evaluate the work of a national foundation. She received a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University and a BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College. She has served as Chair and Past Chair of the LifeLong Medical Care Board of Directors where she has served since 2001.
Janet Howley, MA
Member
Sharon Kidd
Member
Sharon Kidd is a Human Resource Specialist for the Oakland Unified School District where she assists with hiring new teachers and staff. With a specific focus on youth, Ms. Kidd pioneered a groundbreaking youth mentoring program at the Oakland Police Department, aimed at keeping underprivileged teenagers out of the criminal justice system and rebuilding their self-esteem through values-oriented education.
Ms. Kidd has served on the BART Citizen Review Board and as an honorary judge for Centerforce Youth Court, plus a youth advocate for many causes around the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been involved in organizations representing law enforcement, parolees, juvenile young adults, underprivileged youth, and senior citizens. Ms. Kidd also has been a devoted member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority since 1973, working in causes all throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Currently, she is the Social-Action Chairperson for Northern and Southern California.
She served on Berkeley’s Police Review Commission for over six years. Ms. Kidd also was a member of Berkeley’s Public Works Commission for over four years and currently sits on the board of NOBLE (National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives).
Sharon Kidd
Member
Tracey Kirui
Member
Tracey Kirui is Program Strategy Lead at Hopelab, a social innovation lab working to support the mental well-being of people ages 10-25, especially BIPOC and LGBTQ young people. Prior to joining Hopelab, Ms. Kirui’s career began in federal health policy at the Center for American Progress and has since encompassed research, policy, and advocacy, with a steadfast commitment to health equity and innovation for all.
At the global nonprofit JSI, she focused on program and organizational strategy in healthcare, working nationwide to address health disparities for Black women, developing behavioral health and primary care integration strategy, and exploring technology and policy innovations in the safety net. She also brings consulting expertise in supporting leaders on ecosystem strategy for Medicaid innovation, embedding equity strategy across business verticals, and conducting mixed-methods research.
Ms. Kirui holds a B.A. in Biology and Applied Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She is happiest when reading, dancing, weightlifting, or taking long, meandering walks.
Tracey Kirui, MPH
Member
Lawrence Lincoln
Member
Formerly unhoused, Lawrence Lincoln partnered with LifeLong Trust Health Center and Alameda County Healthcare for the Homeless to navigate through the perils of life on the streets, emerging as a human being residing under a roof. His life was transformed from one devastated by the violence that attends poverty and addiction to one grounded in self-care, education, and community service.
An alumni of Camden Coalition's Consumer Scholar program and advisor/contributing editor for the Center for Health Care Strategies Partnership for Action and Complex Care Research Agenda, Mr. Lincoln has redirected his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) towards post-traumatic growth, attaining a degree in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University (SFSU). He has gone on to become an MFA candidate in SFSU’s Creative Writing program.
Mr. Lincoln has been published by SF Weekly with the article, “Sheltering in Place Without a Place,” in the Health Affairs Policy Journal with, “Finding a Pace to be Somebody,” along with numerous short stories and poems appearing in SFSU's literary journal, Transfer Magazine. He is currently working on writing a full-length book in lyrical essay form about his life, entitled, “A Way Home from No Place to Be Somebody.”
Lawrence Lincoln
Member
Jenn Oakley
Member
Jenn Oakley brings a unique perspective to the LifeLong Board of Directors, having first been a homeless patient, then a LifeLong case manager in permanent supportive housing. As someone who has personally experienced homelessness, survived a stroke, and utilized services at LifeLong’s Trust Clinic, she understands firsthand the critical importance of accessible, compassionate healthcare for vulnerable populations.
Ms. Oakley currently serves as a case manager at Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, a workforce development organization. In addition to her professional roles, Ms. Oakley is a primary caregiver to a formerly unhoused disabled individual who is a patient at Trust Health Center, further deepening her connection to LifeLong’s patient community.
Her extensive policy and advocacy work includes membership on the Alameda County Continuum of Care Outreach Access and Coordination Committee, participation in the Everyone Homes 2030 Plan to End Homelessness, and service on the Healthcare for the Homeless Community Consumer Advisory Board.
She founded Equal Access to Services and Housing, a startup non-profit organization that provides housing navigation services at encampments and shelters. Ms. Oakley is also a graduate of the Camden Coalition's prestigious National Consumer Scholars Program, which develops healthcare leaders with lived experience. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, bringing both analytical skills and financial acumen to board governance.
Jenn Oakley
Member
Edgar U. Quiroz MPH, Member
Edgar Quiroz has more than 30 years of experience initiating positive change management within the healthcare industry. Mr. Quiroz completed a master’s degree in Public Health Planning, Policy & Administration and an executive leadership program at Harvard Business School.
He is highly accomplished in communicating strategic direction and influencing all organizational levels to adopt new standards. Mr. Quiroz is a proven effective collaborator with government agencies and professional organizations in identifying and sharing industry best practices in post cute care.
Edgar U. Quiroz, MPH
Member
Patricia Carson Sussman, MS
Member
Patricia Carson Sussman came to the world of aging through a circuitous route that began with jobs in radio and television. After the death of her daughter Sarah, she helped found the California Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Foundation and later returned to school to study nursing.
She supplemented that expertise with a subsequent master’s degree in organizational behavior. She was a member of the first volunteer class at Alta Bates Hospice and was later named Director of the hospice and its successor, VNA & Hospice of Northern California. She has served more than 20 years as a board member and onetime Chair of the Over 60 Health Center and LifeLong Medical Care, and was also appointed Chief Operating Officer for LifeLong, gaining practical experience as well as a public policy understanding of issues of aging.
For the past 10 years, she has maintained an independent consulting practice that specializes in aging and healthcare delivery. For the past four years, Ms. Carson Sussman has been involved in the development and implementation of Ashby Village a non-profit membership organization that provides the community, supports and services for people to age in their own homes.
Patricia C. Sussman, MS
Member
Judith S. Turiel, EdD
Member
Judy Turiel became a Board member of the Over 60 Health Center before the merger with Berkeley Primary Care Access that formed LifeLong Medical Care. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, and receiving a doctorate in education from Harvard University, she worked for many years with consumer health organizations, focusing initially on women's health and later on aging.
She is author of Beyond Second Opinions: Making Choices About Fertility Treatment (1998) and Our Parents, Ourselves: How American Health Care Imperils Middle Age and Beyond (2005), both published by the University of California Press. Dr. Turiel serves on the Planning Committee and was Chair of the City of Berkeley's Commission on Aging, concerned with needs of and services for older adults.
Judith S. Turiel, EdD
Member