Executive Leadership
Cecilia Aviles MBA, BSN, RN, Chief Executive Officer
Cecilia Aviles has been pushing the limits of healthcare operations and clinical services for 20+ years. A seasoned executive and former trauma nurse who balances business acumen with compassion, she is committed to making healthcare more accessible, equitable, approachable, and affordable for patients—while building profitable, high-growth organizations.
Whether she is launching first-of-their-kind programs or scaling existing operations quickly and sustainably, Cecilia views her work through the lens of patient experience. She is a champion for change at every stage of the patient journey—embracing technology breakthroughs, eradicating inefficiencies, and leading quality excellence. At the same time, she cares deeply about health equity and providing exceptional care to all communities.
As Operations Executive for Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), she guided hundreds of physicians, thousands of employees, and millions of patients through some of the toughest healthcare challenges in recent history. Performing in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the largest ambulatory division in Sutter Health, and serving in key line-of-business leadership roles for the multi-state, integrated health system with 24 acute care hospitals and 200+ clinics in urban cities and rural communities, she led her teams through organizational transformations, shifts in healthcare delivery models, and the rollout of new services.
While partnering with stakeholders at every level of the organization, Cecilia built a powerful and tireless workforce that launched innovative services and enhanced existing operations. Her achievements include developing the program that produced the highest-possible patient experience scores in the enterprise, and steering Sutter Health to receive two Integrated Health Care Association (IHA) awards with top 5-star ratings from the State Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) for Medicare Advantage patient experience. She also embraced a position at corporate headquarters to seamlessly and cost-efficiently integrate five newly acquired oncology centers to the enterprise.
Cecilia made a similar energizing impact in prior roles as Vice President of Operations for PAMF’s Mills Peninsula Division and Executive Director of Operations for Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation.
Before joining Sutter Health, she influenced the success of St. Mary’s Medical Center in the San Francisco Bay Area as Director of Cardiovascular then Interim Director of the skilled nursing facility. Previously, Cecilia jumpstarted growth in progressive leadership positions with Kaiser Permanente ambulatory clinics, including as Interim Medical Group Administrator—functioning as Chief Operating Officer (COO)—for the Redwood City location.
Cecilia’s early-career contributions began as a Staff Nurse in the emergency room, operating room, and trauma ICU. From there, she joined KPMG as a senior consultant (advising Fortune 500 clients in the life sciences industry), propelled growth for McKesson as Director of Corporate Strategic Planning & Business Development, and then moved to the University of California San Francisco to provide hands-on leadership and patient care as Clinical Nurse Supervisor/Manager.
Cecilia is a curious, lifelong learner with an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, BSN from San Francisco State University, and RN in the state of California. She is a recipient of the 18-month Carol Emmott Fellowship for Women Leaders in Health and 15-month Exceptional Women Alliance program, and earned the honor of Outstanding Hispanic-origin Female Nurse from the Consul General of Mexico in San Francisco. Her community-focused activities include a role on the Bay Area Ronald McDonald House Board of Directors as well as C200 (business leadership organization) and San Francisco Opera Guild. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Cecilia Aviles MBA, BSN, RN, Chief Executive Officer
David B. Vliet MBA, Chief Executive Officer
David B. Vliet is Chief Executive Officer of LifeLong Medical Care, one of the largest community-based federally qualified health centers in California. Located in San Francisco’s East Bay, LifeLong provides primary care services, behavioral health, supportive housing, homeless services, mobile clinical outreach to unhoused community members, and substance use disorder treatment.
Mr. Vliet leads an organization with an approximately $120 million operating budget in 14 locations with 1,000+ employees serving 56,000 patients. He has 30 years’ experience in executive management, strategy, leadership of community health centers, community-based organizations, primary and specialty clinics, large group medical practices, technology, banking and community-based lending, and investing.
A founding member of Advocates for Community Health (ACH), he is a leader in expanding healthcare access and the reach and impact of community health centers as safety net providers. Mr. Vliet is an avid collaborator, teacher, and innovator with a keen interest in leadership development, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), and workforce development.
He is well traveled in Latin America, fluent in Spanish, and is a performing jazz, blues, and church musician.
Lucinda Bazile MPH, Deputy Director
Lucinda Bazile started her career at LifeLong as a Health Fellow with the Over 60 Health Center. Over the many years with LifeLong, Ms. Bazile has developed several programs and departments, including human resources, AmeriCorps, compliance, outreach, and marketing.
She has years of experience in operations and financial management, event planning, human resources, policy development, and program planning.
Ms. Bazile made a career change from public accounting into public health because of her desire to work directly with the management of providing access to healthcare for underserved communities, particularly those of color. She earned a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MPH from the University of California Berkeley. She also is a Blue Shield Foundation of California-Clinic Leadership Institute Graduate.
Lucinda Bazile MPH, Deputy Director
Michael Stacey MD, Chief Medical Officer
Michael Stacey, MD, joined LifeLong Medical Care as Chief Medical Officer in 2019. Dr. Stacey focuses on clinical leadership, quality improvement, and the use of health technologies to the LifeLong community.
Before coming to LifeLong, Dr. Stacey was Director of Medical Services and the Deputy Director of Health and Social Services for Solano County. His passion to serve underrepresented communities has spanned his entire medical career. In Solano County he oversaw the County FQHCs, which included dental care, for seven years. He has also served as co-chair of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII), which aims to eliminate health inequities in the Bay Area through upstream interventions and policy work.
Dr. Stacey contributes a breadth of local and international experience which fueled his desire to work with underserved communities. Although initially he thought his career would be focused overseas, he has found that there are many opportunities to have a positive impact right here in the Bay Area. After he finished medical school, Dr. Stacy served in the US Air Force for six years stationed in California and England. He has also spent time in Nicaragua and Chile, where he learned Spanish.
Michael Stacey MD, Chief Medical Officer
Brent Copen MPA, Chief Financial Officer
Brent Copen currently serves as Chief Financial Officer at LifeLong Medical Care. He brings 20+ years of executive management and leadership experience, including senior finance roles in health care, technology, management consulting, and community development finance. Over the past decade, he served as Chief Financial Officer for two Bay Area Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and he was awarded 2018 Bay Area CFO of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times.
Mr. Copen currently holds three graduate level teaching positions at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, School of Public Policy, and Berkeley Law where he teaches courses in financial management, financial modeling, and business planning for nonprofit organizations. He co-authored The Nonprofit Business Plan, a practical guide to help leaders establish a sustainable, results-driven business plan. Mr. Copen received a Master’s in Public Administration degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Brent Copen MPA, Chief Financial Officer
Erika Simpson-Akpawu MPH, Chief Administrative Officer
Erika Simpson-Akpawu, MPH, Chief Administrative Officer
With over 20 years of experience working in community health, Erika Simpson-Akpawu is a bi-lingual/bi-cultural leader who has earned her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Howard University, a Master’s in Public Health from Touro University and is a graduate of the Clinic Leadership Institute - UCSF. Erika advanced her career in community health while working with Ravenswood Family Health Center (RFHC) in East Palo Alto, CA. Over the course of 15 years, Erika’s leadership contributed to the growth and success of the health center by expanding operational service lines to include, opening optometry services, expanding homeless health care to include shelter care, the formalization of the health center’s Chronic Disease Management program, establishing and managing RFHC’s neighboring satellite clinic, and assuring culturally and linguistically competent services for RFHC’s diverse multi-lingual patient population.
In 2019 Erika joined The West Oakland Health Council, Oakland, CA, as the Chief Operating Officer providing day-to-day leadership and management of multiple clinical and non-clinical departments. Erika improved processes for quality improvement management and data review, provider/MA care team structure in the medical department to allow for consistency with staffing support and training support. Led all implementation and operational activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic across WOHC health center sites which included creation of health center safety plan and protocols, WOHC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic including setting up a community-testing sites, a patient/community vaccination rollout, and a Case Investigation/Contact Tracing operation in collaboration with the Alameda County Public Health Department. She transitioned on to serve as WOHC’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and has made strides in re-establishing and building connections with community partners and the faith-based community; improved and maintained fiscal management processes with implementation of systems to monitor and manage cash flow and expenditures and create new portals to care for patients through bi-directional referral systems created with CBO partnerships.
Erika is passionate about promoting health equity and social justice in underserved communities.
Erika Simpson-Akpawu MPH, Chief Administrative Officer
Julie Sinai MPA, Chief Strategy Officer
Julie Sinai comes to LifeLong Medical Care with more than three decades in the non-profit and public sector working for social and economic justice, with a focus on equity, community well-being, access to education, and economic self-sufficiency.
Ms. Sinai has developed policy and programs in childcare and family support at a regional and national level. She also led Berkeley Unified School District’s School-Linked Programs, forging collaborative efforts to bring medical, dental, and behavioral health services into the schools. From 2003-2011, Julie was the policy advisor to the mayor of Berkeley on health and social services, youth and education, workforce development, and job creation. She also has served as the mayor’s chief of staff.
Ms. Sinai also worked for UC Berkeley and then the California Community College System. Most recently she served as Vice President of Policy and Regional Initiatives for the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund.
Ms. Sinai received her B.S. in Community Service and Public Affairs at the University of Oregon and her MPA at University of San Francisco. In 2012, LifeLong Medical Care recognized Julie with the Bobbie Award for her public service as a health activist and advocate.
Julie Sinai MPA, Chief Strategy Officer
Brenda Goldstein MPH, Chief of Integrated Services
Over the past 30 years Brenda Goldstein has been a vocal advocate for increased access to care for the underserved. Ms. Goldstein does amazing work building LifeLong’s continuum of services for adults with complex needs, including programs for homeless populations, supportive housing, Care Transitions, and designing behavioral health initiatives for individuals with mild to severe mental health challenges.
She has special talents in creating positive partnerships between public and community agencies to create medical, mental health, and social services systems of care for the homeless and mentally ill and frequent users of emergency services.
Ms. Goldstein has developed LifeLong’s Supportive Housing Program into a nationally recognized model of care serving dually diagnosed homeless adults and she is recognized as a leader in developing policies and programs to promote integrated primary care and behavioral health services for low-income communities. She has expanded our integrated care services into a model that has become a source of pride for LifeLong. Ms. Goldstein received her Master’s in Public Health from University of California Berkeley.
Brenda Goldstein MPH, Chief of Integrated Services
Miriam Parker DDS, MPA, Chief Dental Officer
Dr. Parker is a graduate of City College of San Francisco. She received her degree in dentistry from Howard University and completed her residency at Harlem Hospital in New York City. She also holds a Master of Public Administration in health administration (MPA) degree from University of Michigan.
Prior to joining LifeLong Medical Care, she served as a director of Hamilton Community Health Network in Flint, Michigan, directing the dental division of a multi-location, multi-disciplinary community health facility. In her 11 years there, she developed clinical protocols and standards, participated in community outreach, maintained clinic funding, and provided and oversaw comprehensive clinical care to patients.
In 2012, Dr. Parker implemented a nationally accredited dental residency program at New York University Lutheran Hospital Center.
Dr. Parker has served as a mission dentist all over the globe. For the past 17 years, she has been involved in education, screening, prevention, and treatment of oral diseases and the fabrication of dental/orthodontic appliances for cleft palate. Her work has taken her to Haiti several times, including a visit in 2010 after the catastrophic earthquake there.
Miriam Parker DDS, MPA, Chief Dental Officer
Yui Nishiike, NP Chief Medical Information Officer
Yui Nishiike, NP, Chief Medical Information Officer
Having grown up in Berkeley, Yui Nishiike felt an immediate connection with the Lifelong community when she started at West Berkeley Family Practice as a Nurse Practitioner student.
Now more than a decade later, she has developed a passion for and career in driving health equity through technology-enabled innovation with a people-centered vision of achieving well-being and promoting health. She has developed and implemented many transformative efficiencies by leveraging innovative team-based care models, while enhancing quality patient care.
As the Chief Medical Information Officer/Chief Information Officer, overseeing Quality and Population Health, clinical services, and technical departments, she marries technology with practice transformation to create sustainable solutions for the value-based care landscape. Her work with data analytics and research focuses on promoting health equity by enabling community health centers to make data-driven clinical, operational, and strategic decisions -- and to tell untold stories of underrepresented communities through data.
Ms. Nishiike received her Master’s in Nursing degree from Samuel Merrit University -- and is a strong believer in lifelong learning. She continues to expand her horizons in the areas of data science, health informatics, and healthcare leadership.
Yui Nishiike NP, Chief Medical Information Officer
Ayeola Alexander Chief People Officer
New executive bio coming soon. Stay tuned!
Ayeola Alexander Chief People Officer
Leigh Felton Chief of Staff
New executive bio coming soon. Stay tuned!
Leigh Felton Chief of Staff
David B. Vliet MBA, Chief Executive Officer
David B. Vliet is Chief Executive Officer of LifeLong Medical Care, one of the largest community-based federally qualified health centers in California. Located in San Francisco’s East Bay, LifeLong provides primary care services, behavioral health, supportive housing, homeless services, mobile clinical outreach to unhoused community members, and substance use disorder treatment.
Mr. Vliet leads an organization with an approximately $120 million operating budget in 14 locations with 1,000+ employees serving 56,000 patients. He has 30 years’ experience in executive management, strategy, leadership of community health centers, community-based organizations, primary and specialty clinics, large group medical practices, technology, banking and community-based lending, and investing.
A founding member of Advocates for Community Health (ACH), he is a leader in expanding healthcare access and the reach and impact of community health centers as safety net providers. Mr. Vliet is an avid collaborator, teacher, and innovator with a keen interest in leadership development, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), and workforce development.
He is well traveled in Latin America, fluent in Spanish, and is a performing jazz, blues, and church musician.