Meet Our Board of Directors

The board members at SBNC are a truly dedicated group. They have come a long way together as an organization and a board and have built SBNC's reputation as a key player in providing access to health care for people in the Santa Barbara area. We wanted to introduce you to a few of them, here.

David Chernof, MD, FACP, joined the Board of Directors of SBNC in February, 2002. Dr. Chernof volunteered to act as Chief Operating Officer for SBNC from August 2007 till March 31, 2008, when he hired Cynder Sinclair, D.M., as the new Executive Director. He has since returned to his duties as Board Chair. Dr. Chernof is a graduate of Harvard University, and received his MD degree from UCLA in 1961. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Geriatric. From 1968-1991, Dr. Chernof practiced medicine in Los Angeles, California. During these years, He served as President of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, as well as President of the Northridge Hospital Medical Staff. In 1987, Dr. Chernof became a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Cross of California. As a result of this association, he subsequently left practice and became Senior Vice President and Corporate Medical Director of Blue Cross, and help that position until he retired in 1995. During this period, Dr. Chernof became the founding Chairman of the Board of the California Kids. This organization has provided for health benefits for indigent children not eligible for state or federally sponsored health coverage. California Kids currently provides coverage for over 20,000 children. In 2001, Dr. Chernof stepped down as Board Chair, but he continues as a Board member. In 1995, Dr. Chernof became founding Chief Medical Officer for LA Care, a public entity which quickly became the largest Medicaid Managed Care Plan in the US. He retired from this position in 1998. Currently, Dr. Chernof teaches in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California (Senior Fellow), and UCLA Medical School (Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine). He is vice chair of the Board of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership, an independent, not for profit Foundation focused on reform of public school education in Los Angeles. He also serves on the Board of the Caring Foundation of Santa Barbara.

Robert Knight is President of Technology Venture Services, a new venture consulting firm, located in Santa Barbara California. From 1990 through 1996 he was Chairman, President and CEO of Digital Sound Corporation, a voice messaging hardware and software company, located in Carpinteria California. Bob just finished a three year term as Chairman of the Board of Cottage Health Systems and remains as an advisor to the Board on major building projects of the system. He has served as an Advisor to Frontier Technologies and Network Hardware Resale both Private companies based in Santa Barbara. He is also a past Trustee of the UCSB Foundation, and prior Board member of Blue Cross of California and it's successor company Wellpoint Health Network (9 years), to name just a few. Bob has served as a Board member and treasurer of the Santa Barbara region Chamber of Commerce, and was a co-founder of the Santa Barbara region Economic project. He was selected by Mayor Miller of Santa Barbara to chair the organizing committee of the Santa Barbara downtown and waterfront visioning project. He also served on the steering committee of this organization which produced a series of recommendations regarding the future development of the downtown and waterfront areas of the city. Bob is also a past president of La Cumbre Country Club. Bob and his wife, Nancy, are natives of the Pacific Northwest and graduates of the University of Washington. They have lived in California for 30 years and in Santa Barbara since 1991.

Vadim M. Hsu, AIA is a licensed practicing architect in Santa Barbara, CA. Hsu, a native of the South Coast, has practiced architecture here for over 15 years, and has been licensed as an architect (by the State of California) for 10 years. He is the Managing Principal of the firm Architect Vadim M. Hsu, AIA, Inc., a three-person office providing architectural, planning, and construction management services. Hsu's education includes a BA. in Architecture from U.C. Berkeley, with a minor in American Cultural History, and an M.S. in Architecture from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, emphasizing Construction Management, graduating with Distinction.

Mr. Hsu's office provides a wide variety of services and has worked on many different kinds of projects, including single (50%) and multi-family (15%) residential, health care (25%), and commercial (10%) work. While considered a small office with respect to size, Hsu's firm consistently produces $5-7 million worth of designed work annually. In addition to the proposed Eastside Medical Clinic for the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, other notable non-residential projects include the new medical center for the American Indian Health & Services in Santa Barbara, the Alzheimer's and adult day care facility for the Wisdom Center of Santa Maria, the Wintec Desert Wind Energy Visitor Center in Palm Desert, and numerous restaurants around Southern California. Hsu's work has been recognized with many local and national awards including an American Institute of Architects national Fellowship, and several Santa Barbara Beautiful awards.

In addition to his professional work, Hsu is active in local and international community services. He is a commissioner on the City of Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks Commission, and a past member and chairman of the Santa Barbara County Board of Architectural Review. Hsu serves on many non-profit boards and committees including the Santa Barbara Chinese-American Association (Board Secretary), the Santa Barbara Bowl (Facilities Committee), and is currently on leave from the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics Board of Directors. Supporting his local community service work, Hsu is also active with Habitat for Humanity International, and has participated in the Jimmy Carter Work Project for the past two years (South Korea and South Africa).

Michele Mickiewicz A SBNC board member since 1998, Michele joined the SBNC board as one of three "at-large" community members when the three community clinics merged and has served as board vice-president.

Michele came to Santa Barbara in 1981 from Ann Arbor, Michigan after completing her Masters degree in Public Health. She has more than 20 years of experience in program administration, process improvement, and executive leadership within the County organization and is currently the Deputy Director for Administration at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. She is a founding member of the County's Employees' University Governing Council and is the past president of both the County Management and Executive Association.

Beside her two cats and her family, her life centers around her fabulous husband whose energy, love, support and humor can bring light into any day. She feels very fortunate to be a part of the Santa Barbara community which SBNC serves so well.

Kimberly Schizas

Alana Tillim: joined the board in summer of 2005. She is the owner of the Santa Barbara Jazz Dance Academy @ ARTS ALIVE! and is one of the co-founders and the Board Vice President of the Arts Mentorship Program. She has been in Santa Barbara since 1995 graduated from UCSB in 1999. She worked for Cox Communications until 2003 when she pursued her own business full-time. She has worked with several community organizations including Take Back the Night, Rape Crisis Center, Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, United Way, Girls Inc, Fun In the Sun, PAL, Forrest Foundation and more. She is very honored and excited to be a part of the SBNC family and hopes to help foster and support its mission.

Richard Steckel, M.D. is a retired radiologist and Professor who served on the UCLA Medical School Faculty for 33 years, before moving to Santa Barbara with his wife Julie in 2000. He is former Director of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and Chairman of its Department of Radiology. Currently, Dr. Steckel volunteers to teach radiology residents and medical students part-time at UCLA, as well as at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. As one of two UCLA physicians who helped originally to found a model nonprofit community health center for poor families in the beach city of Venice California several decades ago, Dr. Steckel has had a deep personal interest over many years in providing effective health care and preventive services for disadvantaged people, regardless of "official" status.

Other board members include Keith Coffman-Grey, Roger Heroux, Lisa Moore, Luis Pelayo, Mahil Senathirajah, Barbara Tillotson, Brent Levine, and Michael O'Kelley, CPA, CFE.