Board of Directors
Michael Olenick, President
BA University of Illinois
M.ED Erikson Institute, Chicago
Ph.D Education University of California - Los Angeles
Michael Olenick, Ph.D., President and CEO of Child Care Resource Center, Los Angeles (CCRC) since 2004, has been president of the Network Board since 2006.
At CCRC, Michael is responsible for oversight of programs, projects, and services that reach more than 30,000 children and families, monthly, throughout a 2,500 square mile area. For 30 years, Michael has held diverse positions in the public and nonprofit sectors, working in the community college system, the child welfare system, city governments, and the private sector. Prior to assuming his current position with CCRC, Michael was Chief of Emancipation Services at the LA County Department of Children and Family Services, Senior Vice President of the California Community College Foundation, and a teacher at the Chicago Child Care Society in Hyde Park, IL. Michael is President-Elect of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRA).
Kathy Lago, Bay Area Regional Vice President
California State University - Chico
Kathy Lago is the Resource & Referral Program Manager at Solano Family and Children’s Services. She has been with the organization for nearly two decades, working in program planning, development, and supervision. She has also been an active participant in Bay Area R&R activities for 12 years, including membership on Asilimar conference planning committees and the strategic planning committee. Beyond her work with the Network, Kathy has chaired local community councils, the Solano County Local Child Care Planning Council, and Children's Alliance.
Jack Hinojosa, Treasurer
BA Political Science with Public Service emphasis University of California - Santa Barbara
Jack Hinojosa has been the Associate Executive Director at Child Development Resources of Ventura County, Incorporated (CDR) since 2006, overseeing the Resource Referral Department, Family Child Care Education Network (FCCEN), and all State Funded Programs, including General Alternative Payment and Subsidized Child Care Programs. He has been with CDR for more than a decade.
A ferocious advocate for low-income families and children, Jack is in his second term on the Board of the Network, where he currently serves on the Executive Committee as Treasurer.
Kay Ruhstaller, Chair, Public Policy Committee
Kay Ruhstaller has been the Executive Director of Family Resource and Referral Center (FRRC), San Joaquin County for more than ten years. Kay's professional career has been devoted to children's advocacy.
Gloria Balch, Network Northern Region Vice President
Gloria Balch, Deputy Director of Valley Oak Children's Services in Chico has xxxxx.
Rosa Barragan, Central Valley Regional Vice President
Having worked in the child care field for more than a dozen years, Rosa Barragan has implemented programs and services for the children, families and child care providers in Merced County. In her current position at the Merced County Office of Education, she is responsible for program development, grant research and writing, and collaboration with community agencies to provide opportunities for child care providers, families, and children throughout Merced County. Prior to her current position as R&R Supervisor, she worked as the Supervisor of the Alternative Payment Program, as well as a Youth Advisor for the Employment Development Department.
Justin M. Lichterman
University of Colorado
JD Yeshiva University, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law
Justin Lichterman, JD, is a senior associate in the San Francisco office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliff, LLP. His practice focuses on securities and complex commercial litigation. Justin has also been a judicial clerk for the Honorable Arthur P. Roy, Colorado Court of Appeal. He has served on the Network Board of Directors since 2008.
Maria Luz Torre
BA, Political Science University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines College of Law, Diliman, Quezon City
Maria Luz Torre is a community organizer with the Parent Voices program at Children's Council, San Francisco. She has worked as a paralegal, an advocate, and a networking coordinator at the legal arm of Haribon Foundation. Maria has a long history of activism in both the environmental and social justice movements in the Philippines.
In 1992, after moving to the US, she was an intern for the Rainforest Action Network, and later became one of the founding organizers of Parent Voices.
Deborah Marius
BA National University
MA Early Childhood Education California State University - Fresno
Deborah Marius is an Instructor at, and the Coordinator of, Fresno City College's Child Development Center. She has been a member of the Network's Board of Directors since 2009.
Susanne Martinez
University of California - Davis
Hastings College of Law, San Francisco
Susanne Martinez has been involved in advocacy efforts on behalf of women and children for more than three decades. She began her career as a legal services staff attorney at what is now called the National Center for Youth Law in San Francisco, she handled law reform litigation on behalf of low-income children and families.
Beginning in 1977, and for the following 20 years, she worked in the US Senate. She was the Staff Director of the Senate Subcommittee on Child and Human Development (Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee), and later worked for then-Democratic Senate Whip, Alan Cranston (D. CA.), handling a broad range of social justice and civil rights issues. After Senator Cranston’s retirement, she joined the staff of Senator Russ Feingold (D. WI.), serving as his Legislative Director and Counsel.
In 1997, Susanne joined Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), as Senior VP for Policy, and from 2001-2005, served as VP for Public Policy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).
Susanne has published a number of articles on public policy issues affecting women and children. She has served on the boards of the National Family Planning, Reproductive Health Association and Planned Parenthood of Shasta-Diablo, California, and Alliance for Justice, and has also been a member of the California Department of Education’s Statewide Pupil Assessment Panel.
Currently, Susanne is a public policy consultant working with various nonprofit foundations, including the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The California Endowment.
Vanna Shir
BA University of California, Davis
Vanna Shir is HR Director at Triage, a hospital revenue review consultancy firm in San Francisco. Prior to joining Triage, she worked as a managed care consultant with clients in California and Washington. As HR Director, she is responsible for staffing, employee recruitment, career development planning, in-house training, and team building.
Vanna holds the Senior Professional in Human Reources (SPHR) certification.
Evelyn Thompson
BA Psychology
Evelyn Thompson, Executive Director of Infant/Child Enrichment Services (ICES) of Mariposa and Tuolumne counties, boasts a nearly three decade career in early education. Formerly a teacher in a state funded children’s center, she incorporated ICES, a nonprofit organization that manages diverse programs to support the children and families of both Mariposa and Tuolumne counties, including R&R. Evelyn is responsible for the oversight of R&R, Alternative Payment, and the child abuse prevention/parenting support program.
She is active in numerous local, child-related councils including First 5, Columbia College Child Development Advisory Council, and YES, a community-based collaborative.
Evelyn has participated in both the Sierra Health Foundation Leadership Program and the World Forum on Early Childhood Education in Ireland. The latter experience led to involvement with Sure Start in Northern Ireland, an organization that developed Nurturing Parenting, a curriculum that Evelyn has brought to her local communities in the Central Valley.
An active member of the Network's Board of Directors, Evelyn is Chair of the Board Development Committee and serves on the Human Resource Committee. She has been a boardmember since 2006.
Soledad Viramontes
BA Liberal Arts Loyola Marymount University
Soledad Viramontes is Project Director for the Resource & Referral program at the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), managing both the Los Angeles and Monterey County R&R offices. MAOF is a nonprofit, community-based organization established in 1963 to serve disadvantaged individuals and families in the Los Angeles area. MAOF is one of the largest Latino-oriented, family services organizations in the U.S.
Prior to his work in the nonprofit world, Soledad spent 16 years in banking.
Yuovene Whistler, Southern Regional Vice President
Yuovene Whistler, Program Manager at Crystal Stairs, Los Angeles, xxxxxx
