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Chair, Anita Rees
Executive Director
Pacifica Resource Center

Anita M. Rees earned her BA in Sociology at the University of California Berkeley as a single mother receiving welfare. While at UC Berkeley, she served as coordinator of the student-run family resource center at the University Village student family housing development. After administering a multi-agency domestic violence project at Legal Aid of the North Bay, Anita spent a decade directing services and organizing activities for LIFETIME – a grassroots organization created by student mothers at the University of California Berkeley who completed college degrees while raising their families on welfare, and who are committed to helping other low-income parents do the same. In January 2010, Anita joined the Pacifica Resource Center, a project of the Tides Center, as its Executive Director and is working to help stabilize Pacifica families and individuals by providing a safety net of food, housing assistance, and other critical services along with coaching, advocacy, information, and referral. Having experienced the challenges of juggling family, school, and work responsibilities while on welfare, Anita is committed to helping other low-income and underrepresented families in Pacifica and throughout California access the resources they need to become stable and economically secure.

Vice Chair, K.M. Tan, MD
Retired Radiologist

K.M. Tan , MD, is a retired radiologist after 34 years with The Permanente Medical Group,Inc having served on its Board of Directors and as an assistant Physician-in-Chief and Chief of Radiology. He received the 2006 Sidney Garfield ,MD Exceptional Contribution Award from TPMG for co-founding the Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences. He has been active with several medical associations ,statewide as well as national and currently serves as a member and past chair of the Institute for Medical Quality, a subsidiary of the California Medical Association. Active in the community for over 30 years, he has served with multiple organizations, primarily in social services, education, and the arts and is a former Oakland Cultural Affairs Commissioner. In addition to EBALDC, he also currently serves on the board of the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

Secretary, Ted Dang
Real Estate Broker/Developer
Commonwealth Companies

Mr. Dang is one of the original conceptualizers of the Asian Resource Center project from which East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation was created. He is the owner-manager of the Commonwealth Companies. He is a licensed real estate broker, general contractor, and certified property manager. Mr. Dang was the past president of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. He holds a BS degree in Business from U.C. Berkeley.

Treasurer, John M. Benson
Senior Credit Banker
Chase Real Estate Banking

John oversees the Northern California Commercial Real Estate Office in charge of generating new business opportunities and interfacing with Bay Area based commercial developers, homebuilders and investors.

Natalia F. Lawrence
Development Project Manager II Community and Economic Development Department
City of Richmond

Natalia has over 20 years experience in Housing and Land Use Policy, Planning and Community Development. As Project Manager for the City of Richmond, Natalia oversees all stages of affordable housing project development including administering development and technical assistance contracts, provide expert professional assistance and strategy guidance to department management team and city council members related to citywide development objectives.

Roy Ikeda
Retired Attorney

Mr Ikeda retired in 2007 after practicing law since 1974. He is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of Kimochi, Inc., an agency in San Francisco that provides services to seniors in Japantown. I'm also on the Board of The Tule Lake Committee and chair of its Preservation Committee. The Tule Lake Committee conducts pilgrimages to the site of the Tule Lake Segregation Center, one of the 10 concentration camps into which the US government imprisoned 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry during World War 2 and which is now a part of the National Park System.

Thomas Mishima, CPA
Principal
Hirose, Oto and Bailey Accountants, Inc.

Thomas Mishima's industry experience expands 26 years. Prior to joining the OBF&M team, he was Controller in the private sector for seven years. Exceptionally skilled at helping companies achieve business goals through good business decisions-making processes and information-sharing, Mr. Mishima currently focuses his expertise on assisting small businesses and professionals, and professional groups. He is highly knowledgeable in tax solutions-individuals, partnerships, corporations, fiduciary, and estate. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Mr. Mishima sits on the Board of East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation. He is a member of the California State Society of CPAs and American Institute of CPAs.

Felicia Scruggs-Wright
Director of Property Management
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC)

Felicia Scruggs-Wright joined TNDC's senior management team as Director of Property Management in September of 2004. She manages the operations of TNDC's 23 residential buildings and oversees the largest department in the organization with 80% of our personnel dedicated solely to property management functions, including desk clerks, maintenance workers, property and facilities managers, and building supervisors.

Prior to TNDC, Felicia oversaw the Property Management Department at the Emergency Housing Consortium in the South Bay and helped manage 19 sites. She also worked at Vestcor Realty Management, Inc. as Regional Supervisor in Jacksonville, FL. She has an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Florida Community College. She is a Certified Apartment Manager through the National Apartment Association, a Certified Property Manager through IREM, and a Certified Housing Credit Specialist.

Debra Chester, M.P.A.
City of Oakland Department of Human Services
Violence Prevention Program Analyst

Debra has over ten years of combined experiences in direct and supportive services in affordable housing, non-profits, and public sector. As Violence Prevent Program Analyst for the City of Oakland’s Department of Human Services Public Safety Unit, Debra administers all contract management, performs program site visits and monitoring, and coordinates professional development and technical assistance for Measure Y grantees and other community base organizations. Debra possesses a Masters in Public Administration and HUD Certified Family Self Sufficiency Program Coordinator.

Hadiah McLeod
Educator/Community Worker


Hadiah is a Special Education Teacher in the Richmond Unified School District. She also organizes, markets and plans holistic health workshops and retreats geared towards African American women and families.

Rosalyn Tonai
Executive Director
National Japanese American Historical Society

Rosalyn holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco. She is the Executive Director of the National Japanese American Historical Society. She is a graduate of the community leadership program of the Coro Foundation. Her past work includes coordinating a refugee services project for Asian Community Mental Health Services and job training programs with Asian Multi Services.

Joanne Tornatore-Pili
Educator/Consultant

Ms. Tornatore-Pili is a long time resident of East Oakland and has worked with both non-profit and for profit organizations. Most recently, she was an employee of Polaris, Inc., providing services and counseling to households and individuals with AIDS. She previously worked with Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal, providing technical assistance.

Kitty Hoover
Acting Housing Services Manager
City of Berkeley, Housing and Community Services Department

Kathryn “Kitty” Hoover has more than 30 years of experience in the fields of housing and community development and is particularly interested in the revitalization of low income communities. As a lawyer, she has represented cities and redevelopment agencies throughout California and as general counsel for Nehemiah Corporation, a nonprofit community development corporation based in Sacramento. She has worked in the areas of housing and community development for HUD in Philadelphia and Boston, for the California Housing Finance Agency, in the housing and redevelopment divisions of the cities of Oakland and Richmond, as real estate development director for Operation Life Community Development Corporation in Las Vegas Nevada, and as Sr. Deputy Director of the San Francisco office of Fannie Mae. She currently works for the City of Berkeley heading up the Housing Services Division.

She received an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Immaculata College in Pennsylvania, and has both a Masters degree in architecture and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley.

Emily Lin
Senior Project Manager, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation

Emily has over 10 years of affordable non-profit and for-profit housing development experience. As Senior Project Manager at TNDC, Emily manages over $130 million of development, is responsible for managing risks that have major financial implications for TNDC, and supervises junior project management staff.

Emily earned a Master in Urban Planning from Columbia University.

Korin Crawford
Senior Project Manager, Build It Green
Real Estate Developer/Investor, Independently

Korin has been involved in startups and small ventures in the technology and real estate industries for over 12 years. Currently a Senior Project Manager at Build It Green, Korin manages programs promoting residential energy efficiency improvements throughout California sponsored by utilities and local governments. He has been an active, independent real estate investor and property manager since 2001 and prior to Build It Green, was the developer and owner-builder of a 9-unit townhouse complex in Oakland which he still manages. With prior entrepreneurial experience in computer and networking systems, Korin possesses broad expertise in technology, ventures formation, finance, contracts, construction, and marketing. Korin holds an MS and BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford and Duke Universities respectively.