Board & Senior Leadership

CRF Board Members

Miriam Rothman, PhD,
Chairperson
Lourdes Perez-Williams, PhD,
Secretary
Linda Hammond, PhD, LMFT,
President
Anita Fisher,
Treasurer
Elizabeth Wilson, RN, MS
James Lohr, MD

CRF Senior Management Team

James “Diego” Rogers, PsyD,
Chief Executive Officer, Ex Officio

Dr. Rogers started at CRF as an intern in 1995 and was promoted to CEO in 2023. He is a bilingual/bicultural Latino, leader in the field and subject matter expert on Integrated Co-occurring Disorders Treatment, Motivational Interviewing, and Cultural Competence. Dr. Rogers is a part-time lecturer at SDSU in the Marriage and Family Therapy and Child and Family Development programs and a Voluntary Associate Clinical Professor at UCSD, Health Services, Dept. of Psychiatry. Dr. Rogers has co-authored a book chapter on Cultural Competence for the US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association and a peer-reviewed research study which was published in the Journal of Latino Psychology.

Linda Hammond, PhD, LMFT,
President

Dr. Hammond is a widely recognized leader in San Diego’s behavioral health community and has devoted her entire career to public mental health. She is an example of CRF’s practice of promotion from within, beginning as a volunteer intern during her graduate work. During the next 40+ years, she held a number of increasingly challenging positions: Counselor, Treatment Coordinator, and Program Director at several START programs, Vice President of Residential Services, then Chief Administrative Officer, then President, before serving as both CEO and President until 2023.

Karen Wheeler, MSA, CPA,
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Karen Wheeler joined CRF in 1990. She is a licensed CPA in the State of Colorado and holds a Master’s degree in Accounting from San Diego State University. Karen is responsible for oversight and management of the financial accounting department, which includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, third party insurance billing, subsidized housing, and Representative Payee Services. Karen is also heavily involved in company policy review, revision, implementation, and compliance. She represents CRF in financial audits and is responsible for their outcome, an area in which she is very accomplished with a proven track record of success.

Jack Farmer, PhD,
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer

Dr. Farmer, a licensed clinical psychologist, has worked in the San Diego County public mental health system since 1987 as an intern, Overnight Counselor, Coordinator and Director for several START programs and Regional Director for an array of adult outpatient services and supportive housing programs. In 1999 he implemented our CalWORKs Behavioral Health Services. He has served on the Mental Health Housing Council, the Housing Matters anti-stigma campaign committee, Executive Committee of California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies, and as Chair of the San Diego Mental Health Coalition.

Paula Gonçalves, PsyD,
Executive Vice President

Dr. Gonçalves is a bilingual/bicultural licensed clinical psychologist who has committed her career to CRF and public mental health since 1995 when she started as an intern. Before her promotion to Senior VP of Clinical Operations, she held numerous positions which include Program Director for four adult outpatient programs, Associate Director of Clinical Services overseeing adult BPSR Centers and clubhouse programs in the Central/North Central Regions, as well as Vice President of Quality Improvement. She served as a key member of the Anasazi MIS Project Implementation Team that deployed the initial EHR to San Diego County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) programs. Dr. Gonçalves has participated in countless other BHS committees, workgroups, and councils such as the Suicide Prevention and Quality Review Councils representing both CRF and contractors in the system of care.

Mary Wheeler, LMFT,
Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations

Mary Wheeler started with CRF as an intern at the IMPACT program in 2008. She has worked in several CRF service lines, including ACT, Transitional Residential, Adult Outpatient, Clubhouse, and ECM/CS services. Mary is a suicide loss survivor, is passionate about suicide prevention and implemented Chronological Assessment of Suicidal Events (CASE) across CRF. Mary collaborates with SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center in the development of suicide-related education and is a member of the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council. Mary is a member of the CRF training committee and led steering committees to implement the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Employment Services and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) across CRF. Mary is also a member of the Cultural Diversity Resource Team (CDRT) and is passionate about supporting the needs of LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent youth. Mary developed and expanded the ECM and CS service line at CRF and continues to cultivate managed care partnerships.

Jessica White, Esq., SPHR,
General Counsel & Senior Vice President

Jessica White is an Army Veteran and licensed Attorney and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification, a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with emphasis in Human Resources, and a Law Degree with emphasis in Labor & Employment Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution. She came to CRF in 2020 with extensive experience in Human Resources Management and Consulting, Employment Litigation, and Mediation. She is responsible for oversight and management of the organization’s legal matters with special emphasis in litigation defense and employment law.  Jessica grew up in a diverse, inner-city Minneapolis neighborhood and has two children adopted from Ethiopia.

Dan Maccia, PsyD, CPRP,
Vice President of Residential Services and Clinical Training

Dr. Maccia is a licensed Clinical Psychologist. He joined CRF in 2000 as a practicum student at Turning Point Crisis Center and held several positions in program management before his promotion to Vice President of Residential Services in 2015. Dr. Maccia represents CRF at the Hospital Partners and LPS Meetings where he works with other acute care providers to improve services within the public behavioral health system. He is also a Founder of and serves on the Board of Directors for the Crisis Residential Association (CRA), an international association of crisis residential providers.

Julie McPherson, LMFT,
Vice President of Children’s and CalWORKs Behavioral Health Services

Julie McPherson began her career with CRF in 1998 as an intern at Halcyon Center. In 2001, she joined the staff of Douglas Young Youth & Family Services as a school-based clinician and became the Program Director four years later. In 2008 Julie was promoted to Director of CRF Children’s Services and in 2015 was promoted to Vice President of Children’s and CalWORKs Behavioral Health Services, where she oversees 10 outpatient programs county-wide. Julie is highly respected in the behavioral health community and has been influential in the children’s advocacy community. Julie works collaboratively with the UCSD Children and Adolescent Services Research Center and has been published in their research projects.

Mark W. Marvin, PhD,
Vice President of Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) Division

Dr. Marvin, a Licensed Psychologist, began his CRF career as a START program intern in 1985 and subsequently was named Program Director. He also served CRF as a Clinical Supervisor and Chief Psychologist prior to joining PERT as Program Director in 2015. Dr. Marvin has concurrently provided psychological services and consultation to public safety agencies (law enforcement, fire service, EMS, and dispatch) for more than 30 years. He has been recognized by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards & Training (POST) as a subject matter expert on police response to persons in behavioral health crisis and de-escalation and has assisted POST in educational resource production. Dr. Marvin serves on the Advisory Board of the California Crisis Intervention Training Association (CACITA), promoting best practice law enforcement response to persons in crisis throughout California and beyond.

Nicole Anderson, LCSW,
Vice President of Assertive Community Treatment and Housing Services

Nicole Anderson started at CRF in 2008 as an intern with the MAST program. In 2009 she joined the Assertive Community Treatment programs where she served as a clinician and worked her way up to various management roles. Nicole has dedicated her entire career to working with underserved populations through an outreach model, holds a clinical trauma certification, and provides individual therapy to adult Medi-Cal beneficiaries outside of CRF. Nicole enjoys serving on various CRF and County committees to help improve the system of care. She is passionate about inspiring and mentoring the next generation of professionals by providing clinical supervision to MSW interns and trainings on a variety of topics including the CASE suicide assessment approach, harm reduction, and Motivational Interviewing. She is also the founder, former Board Chair, and a current mentor for Girls Rising, a mentoring program for underserved girls in San Diego.

Gretchen Cole,
Vice President of Real Estate

Gretchen Cole joined CRF in 2000. A recognized leader among San Diego’s healthcare Business Administrators, her entire career has been dedicated to working primarily for non-profit healthcare organizations. Gretchen served in a management capacity for more than 18 years at Scripps, where she orchestrated many complex real estate transactions and was among those who led their expansion into outpatient services, locating and acquiring all their outpatient clinics. At CRF, she is responsible for the siting, leasing, remodeling, and maintenance of our clinical and business locations, and also serves in the capacity of our Lease Compliance Administrator. Gretchen is committed to creating work environments that support client and employee wellness.

Stephanie B. Alexander, JD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP,
Vice President of Human Resources

Stephanie Alexander is an experienced Human Resources leader with a diverse background in all areas of human resources. She is a licensed attorney and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) as well as a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). Prior to joining CRF, Stephanie led HR teams for both private, public, and non-profit organizations. She has served on several non-profit boards including Goodwill Industries, The Devereux Foundation, and the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA.  She currently serves as a Board Member for Teach for America, San Diego.

Founder

William (Hobie) Hawthorne, PhD,
Founder

Dr. Hawthorne founded CRF in 1977 and opened the first program in 1980. He served as CEO for 42 years before retiring. As an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD and an Adjunct Associate Research Professor at SDSU, School of Social Work, he conducted, presented, and published numerous outcome studies, was one of the authors of the IAPSRS Outcomes Toolkit, and co-authored a chapter in a book on managed care in the public sector. Dr. Hawthorne was selected as the Mental Health Person of the Year for San Diego County in 1997 when he was specifically recognized for his outcomes research and for his leadership in employing clients to work in CRF programs.