Leadership Team
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Barbra Silver
Executive Director
Barbra Silver
Executive Director
Barbra Silver is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a proud Oakland resident. She has been with the agency since 1998 when she began as a clinician with the Families in Transition program and helped to develop the early documentation training for our then new EPSDT funded services. Barbra was then a Program Manager for the Oakland FIT team between 2000-2007. In 2008, Barbra was promoted to become Family Paths’ Clinical Director, during which time she grew the clinical training program to have a strong focus on the Strengthening Families Framework™ and Diversity-Informed and Trauma-Informed best practices. She has co-lead the organization’s Multicultural Organizational Development committee since 2013. In October 2015, Barbra became Family Paths’ interim Executive Director and then was hired by the Board in February 2016 to lead the organization into its next stage of growth.
Misa Trotman
Clinical Director
Misa Trotman
Clinical Director
Misa Trotman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been a part of Family Paths since 1998. She started out as a direct service clinician, providing therapy and case management services to children and their families for 4.5 years in the Families in Transition (FIT) program before leaving the agency to raise her own family. She returned in 2007 as a Program Manager for the FIT program where she provided management and clinical support for her team of clinicians who provide community-based mental health services for children and families. She was named Clinical Director in April 2016. Prior to her employment at Family Paths, Misa’s previous experience included medical social work, school based services, and residential treatment. Misa has lived and traveled throughout the U.S. and abroad and these experiences have greatly influenced her commitment to working with diverse communities.
Lyda Mata
Chief Financial Officer
Lyda Mata
Chief Financial Officer
Lyda Mata hails from the Philippines, migrated to the United States in 1979, and settled in the Bay Area. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant. Lyda joined Family Paths in 2006. She came to us with a wealth of experience having been an Accountant for another non-profit agency for 26 years. Before that she was a Senior Auditor in Oakland and a Bank Examiner with the Central Bank of the Philippines for 8 years. In her downtime, she loves to cross stitch and do puzzles.
Christopher Palmer
Management Information Services Director
Christopher Palmer
Management Information Services Director
Christopher Palmer has worked in technology services for more than 20 years. Formerly he was the Director of Technology for the Global Business Network, The Idea Factory, and the East Bay Conservation Corps. He is also a practicing artist and arts educator in the San Francisco Bay Area, runs a consultancy for tech arts, and is a member of the faculty at San Francisco Art Institute, where he teaches students how to combine technology with their art.
Shay Black
Administration/Facilities Manager
Shay Black
Administration/Facilities Manager
Shay Black comes from Dublin, Ireland and has been with the agency since 1995. His first career was as a Psychiatric Nurse, which developed into Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting) in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and lectured in Child Health and Development in Liverpool, England, before migrating to California in 1994. His first connection with the agency was as a hotline volunteer, progressing to after-hours staff, then worked temporarily as CMS (Case Management Specialist), Hotline Recruitment Specialist, and eventually moved into Admin. He is currently Family Path’s Administrative Support Manager and also has responsibility for the Facilities team. He has lived in Dublin, London, Canterbury and Liverpool, and currently resides in Berkeley. Shay’s passion is music, and performs regularly with his brothers and sisters in Europe and the United States.
Kimberly Cohn
Development Manager
Kimberly Cohn
Development Manager
Kimberly Cohn is the Development Manager and continues to oversee Victims of Crime (VOC) services. She joined Family Paths in 2005 as an MFT-Intern, then following MFT licensure, established dedicated VOC trauma treatment services in 2009. Previously, Kim worked with post-acute psychiatric patients; with deaf children at the California School for the Deaf using ASL and spent 20 years in the restaurant industry working her way up from Napa Valley diners to waiting tables at Chez Panisse. As a Registered Drama Therapist and Board Certified Trainer, Kim presents nationally, guest lectures at local graduate schools and directs Self-Revelatory Theatre. Kim can sometimes be found dancing to local bands, foraging east bay farmer’s markets or trying to improve her batting average.
Rene DValery
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Oakland
Rene DValery
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Oakland
Rene DValery is a Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist, who was born in Nicaragua (Central America) and grew up in San Francisco. Rene has been at Family Paths since 2006, when fresh out of grad school joined Early Childhood Mental Health and later on the Families in Transition branches of the organization to start and eventually complete his required hours of internship toward licensure. After completing his licensure, Rene began working at Kaiser Permanente in the Early Start Program and began working as a private practice clinician. A few years later, Rene returned to Family Paths in his current position as one of the managers of the Families in Transition Program. He has focused much of his energy into growing the support for Spanish speaking clinicians, as well as expanding the awareness of the Latino Culture in the agency. Rene received his undergraduate degrees in psychology and French literature from UC Berkeley and later his MA in psychology from John F. Kennedy University. Outside of work, Rene enjoys working out, traveling, dining out, spending time with friends and family, and “discovering.”
Andrea Makunje
Clinical Operations Manager
Andrea Makunje
Clinical Operations Manager
Andrea Makunje is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who started at Family Paths in 2007 as a clinician in the TIPS and FIT programs. After realizing how much she enjoyed the paperwork aspect of her clinical work, she forged the path in helping to create a more unified Quality Assurance program, and is currently the Clinical Operations Manager. Prior to Family Paths, Andrea worked at other non-profits in program management and was an editor with a large publishing house (likely where her keen eye for detail and annoying yet useful desire for perfection were developed). Andrea grew up in Southern California, but loves the East Bay so much, she’ll never go back. Due to being a working mom of young twins, Andrea has no time for hobbies, but enjoys staring out the window and drinking coffee when the rare opportunity presents itself.
Nancy Morosohk
Treatment, Intervention and Prevention Services (TIPS) Manager – Oakland
Nancy Morosohk
Treatment, Intervention and Prevention Services (TIPS) Manager – Oakland
Nancy Morosohk is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has lived in the Bay area since 1978. She is the TIPS (Treatment Intervention & Prevention Services) Program Manager and has been with the organization since 2001 when she began working for Family Paths as a Treatment Specialist in the TIPS Program. Prior to her work at Family Paths, Nancy worked as a child and family therapist at Jewish Family & Children’s Services on the Peninsula as well as at the Edgewood Children’s Center Day Treatment Program in San Francisco. When she isn’t working, Nancy is an avid hiker and amateur photographer.
Kruti Patel
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Oakland
Kruti Patel
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Oakland
Kruti Patel is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Registered Art Therapist who has been with Family Paths since 2010. She started as a clinician serving children and families, providing therapy and case management within the Families in Transition program. She is currently a Families in Transition Program Manager in the Oakland office. She also provides clinical supervision with a focus on art therapy and uses art therapy in her East Bay private practice. Previously, Kruti provided community-based mental health services at YMCA Urban Services and Youth Services Bureau in San Francisco and South San Francisco. Before that she was an Americorps Vista with People’s Community Development Credit Union in Oakland, where she taught financial literacy to youth and managed a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site for residents. She is passionate about community connections and uses a collaborative approach to address social justice issues.
Sarah Pilgrim
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Hayward
Sarah Pilgrim
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Hayward
Sarah Pilgrim is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with an emphasis in Expressive Arts Therapy currently living in Oakland, California. She came to Family Paths because of her passion for early intervention, community based, collaborative and social justice oriented mental health services. Sarah provides clinical supervision, and has been a clinician at Family Paths since 2010 providing mental health services for children and families as part of the Early Childhood Mental Health Program in Oakland and the Families in Transition Program in Hayward. Sarah began her role as a Program Manager for the Families in Transition Program in January, 2016. Prior to her work at Family Paths, Sarah provided psychotherapy for adults and couples at New Perspectives a non-profit counseling center in San Francisco, school based psychotherapy services for children and families for the USF Center for Child and Family Development and Alvarado Elementary School in San Francisco, has experience facilitating grief and loss support groups for children and working on a crisis hotline for Domestic Violence. Sarah grew up in Sonoma County, and during her free time she enjoys music, art, hiking, reading and traveling.
Kimberly Porter-Leite
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Hayward
Kimberly Porter-Leite
Families in Transition (FIT) Manager – Hayward
Kimberly Porter-Leite is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and lives in Oakland, California. She is one of the program managers for the Families in Transition program, supporting six clinicians out of the Hayward office for the past four years. Prior to her work at Family Paths, Kimberly worked as a Clinical Supervisor at three other community based organizations in the area; East Bay Agency for Children, Seneca Center and Fred Finch Youth Center. She has also had a private practice since 1994 working primarily with clients with severe childhood abuse histories. In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys studying Portuguese, traveling to Brazil and tutoring English as part of a leadership mentoring program for immigrant women at Mujere Unidas y Activas in Oakland.
Julianne Rositas
Family Support Manager-Oakland
Julianne Rositas
Family Support Manager-Oakland
Julianne Rositas is the Program Manager for Parent Education and Foster Parent Community Advocate Programs. She has a Masters of Public Administration and a Master of Science in Education. Julianne is a certified Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) Practitioner and a certified Nurturing Parent Facilitator. She also has training as a Fatherhood Group facilitator as well. Prior to her work with Family Paths, Julianne worked for the Kinship Support Services Program in East Contra Costa County, where she was the Program Coordinator for 5 years and the Program Manager for 7 years. Julianne also has experience as a Community College Educator/Trainer, Program consultant, and Grant writer. When she is not working, Julianne enjoys learning new things and exploring new places with her grandchildren, listening to Latin Jazz, playing her congas, and writing.
Willard Ogan, President
Managing Editor – NBCSN Sports Group
Willard Ogan, President
Managing Editor – NBCSN Sports Group
Willard Ogan has been a Network Television Executive for more than 40 years and has worked for all four major networks. After some time in New York City and working as Assignment Manager for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Willard is now the Managing Editor at the NBCSN Sports Group. His interest in serving Family Paths as its Board President comes from dealing with the challenges of having a Bipolar daughter at home. Being in TV news most of his adult life, and seeing the underbelly of the world, Willard’s mission in life is to bring some good to the world, so he is privileged to support the work of the Family Paths’ clinicians.
Anne Dixon, Vice President
Fund Controller, Standish Management, LLC.
Anne Dixon, Vice President
Fund Controller, Standish Management, LLC.
Anne Dixon is an accountant in the venture capital and alternative investment industries with the fund administrator, Standish Management. Prior to this she worked with many non-profits performing bookkeeping and tax work in the Santa Barbara area and became connected with Family Paths in 2013, upon moving to the East Bay. Her draw to Family Paths stems from both personal experiences, as well as a desire to use her time and professional skills to ensure that Family Paths becomes a household name in the East Bay community and any child or parent who needs the assistance of Family Paths can obtain it with ease. Anne received a BA in Economics & Accounting, as well as a BA in Sociology from the University of California-Santa Barbara and is a current CPA candidate. She is the chair of the Finance Committee and also sits on the Audit Committee and Development Committee at Family Paths.
LaToya Bradford, Treasurer
CPA and Audit Manager, Williams Adley
LaToya Bradford, Treasurer
CPA and Audit Manager, Williams Adley
LaToya Bradford is a CPA and Audit Manager at Williams, Adley, a high quality professional services firm providing services since 1982. Williams, Adley provides accounting, attest and advisory services to a variety of clients including local government agencies, not for profit organizations, businesses and individuals. LaToya’s interest in serving on Family Paths’ board grew directly out of her experience with auditing other not for profits and exposure to the field of psychology and counseling as a result of majoring in psychology while obtaining her undergraduate degree at the University of California at Berkeley. It was at this point that LaToya became aware that there were unmet needs for mental health services offered with respect and compassion in the bay area. In addition, LaToya was compelled to serve on the Family Paths board after hearing first- hand about the impact that Family Paths has made in the lives of both parents and children prior to becoming a board member and attending a Women’s Leadership Luncheon several years ago. She is proud to serve an organization that has such a profound impact on the community and families it serves.
Yvette Renteria, Secretary
Director of Program, Year Up, Inc.
Yvette Renteria, Secretary
Director of Program, Year Up, Inc.
Yvette Renteria is a Director of Program at Year Up Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to closing the opportunity divide in the U.S. She serves young adults by preparing them for technology-focused, 6-month internships with corporate partners. Before Year Up, Yvette spent over a decade in California public schools where the latter 7 years she served as a principal at elementary and middle schools in East Oakland. Her passion to serve underrepresented communities has led her to be a champion for Family Paths. Through her journey she has witnessed the need for the services Family Paths offers and recognizes that mental health services are vital for so many people’s success in life. She feels honored to serve and be a part of the Family Paths community.
Lyman Hollins, Director
Adjunct Instructor/Facilitator, The Wright Institute
Lyman Hollins, Director
Adjunct Instructor/Facilitator, The Wright Institute
Lyman Hollins, M.A., received a B.A. in History and a Minor in Women’s Studies from California State University at Hayward. He earned his M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley in 2009. He has been a treatment specialist at Family Paths in Oakland, CA, where he provided services to multi-stressed, children, families and adults of diverse backgrounds. He has also been a member of the Alameda County Fathers Corps, a county-wide team of male service providers trained to help strengthen families by fostering constructive engagement of fathers in the care and upbringing of their children. Their mission is to promote and support fathers and father figures to be meaningfully engaged with their children and families, and to advocate for family service providers to provide father friendly services and to assist fathers in strengthening their parenting skills.
He has held a position as an Adjunct Faculty member, since 2011, in the Wright Institute’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, instructing the Multicultural Clinical Awareness Course. He has been a program manager and therapist at Brothers on the Rise in Oakland, CA, where he coordinated the Brothers Helping Brothers Counseling Program providing gender-responsive individual, group and family counseling, crisis intervention to male youth experiencing social-emotional and behavioral issues with a focus on boys who have witnessed or experienced violence, as well as facilitating groups for African American fathers. He currently offers services in facilitation and training, engaging in issues of difference, inclusivity, and cultural humility.
Samsarah Morgan, Director
Executive Director, Better Birth Foundation
Samsarah Morgan, Director
Executive Director, Better Birth Foundation
Samsarah Morgan is the mother of 5 grown sons and the grandmother of 3. She is a birth and postpartum caregiver, counselor, coach and hypnotherapist in Oakland, CA. Her private practice, Nia Healing Center for Birth and Family Life, provides services to enrich and facilitate strong bonds within families and communities. She is the Executive Director of Oakland Better Birth Foundation, which has as its mission the prevention of infant and maternal mortality in Oakland, CA and Alameda County for all and especially within the African American community by offering childbirth and breastfeeding information as well as doula services to any family regardless of their ability to pay. She is the author of 3 books: “Children’s Village Tales of an Urban Nana “, “The Birth Plan” (released March 2017), and “Birth. A Black Woman’s Survival Guide” (released summer 2017).
Alanna Rayford, Director
Owner, Urban Stitch Boutique
Alanna Rayford, Director
Owner, Urban Stitch Boutique
Alanna Rayford is a fashion professional with over 15 years of industry experience in buying, production, wardrobe styling, visual merchandising and business management. She has been successful in putting those experiences to use- as the creator of the former local trade market (launched in 2009) throughout San Francisco (Which originated the Urban Stitch Brand) to embarking in the development of uprooting and building out an underground fashion/event space (Runway Style House) in the Historical Cathedral Building in Oakland. With both entrepreneurial experiences under her belt, she began building a foundation for the retail store Urban Stitch in Oakland, CA.
Wanda Thrower, Director
Retired Drug and Alcohol Counselor, UC Berkeley University Health Services
Wanda Thrower, Director
Retired Drug and Alcohol Counselor, UC Berkeley University Health Services
Wanda Thrower was the Alcohol and Drug Specialist for the University of California at Berkeley, prior to retiring after 40 years of service. In her role as a counselor, she worked with many students in crisis who used substances to cope with trauma or undiagnosed psychological issues . Wanda felt that many of the students she worked with would have benefited from much earlier interventions. The impact of such interventions would have resulted in less hurt, shame and pain of these individuals and their families. Wanda believes that Family Paths provides that early level of intervention services that are so badly needed in our community. Wanda has served on several boards including Women’s Alcohol Coalition in SF and Berkeley Builds Capacity. She received her BS from University of San Francisco and Certification from JFK University.
Lisa Valles, Director
Head of Global Fraud Operations, Square, Inc.
Lisa Valles, Director
Head of Global Fraud Operations, Square, Inc.
Lisa Valles was born and raised in a small farming community in Southern California, and migrated to Northern California to complete post-secondary education (M.S. Organizational Development, University of San Francisco). She is now the Head of Global Fraud Operations for Square, Inc. She is also a Mission College, Puente Mentor, and Employee Resource Group Co-Founder & Chair, LatinX Community – Focused on Latino Culture & Awareness at Square, Inc.