The San Diego Center for Children Board of Trustees is committed to supporting the Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals of the Center. In this leading volunteer role, members bring their talent, expertise and passion, as they personally invest in the success and well-being of our entire San Diego community.
Lisa Goodman, Chairperson
Lisa Goodman is a Vice President in Wealth Management with Reilly Financial Advisors headquartered in San Diego. Lisa is responsible for managing wealth services for clients. She assists clients with identifying their financial goals and works with the firm’s investment committee and research team to build and manage client portfolios. Lisa is passionate about educating and engaging people on the importance of financial and wealth management so they can feel secure about their financial future.
Prior to joining Reilly Financial Advisors she was with Brandes Investment Partners for almost 19 years, with her most recent position as a client portfolio manager in the Portfolio Management Group. She has extensive experience in client portfolio management, client service, sales and business development.
Lisa received her MBA from United States International University and BA from University of California, San Diego. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Barrio Logan College Institute and is a Partner with San Diego Social Venture Partners. Lisa also is a Big Sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters. She is a California native who enjoys being active in her community and spending time with her family.
Eliot Peters, Treasurer
Eliot Peters is a Managing Director with the boutique investment bank RA Capital Advisors. Since joining the firm in 2003, he has played a critical role advising on mergers, acquisitions and financings across a broad range of industries. Eliot helps to lead the firm’s practice of working with privately-held companies and advising their owners through a significant liquidity event. During his career, Eliot has closed over $4 billion in transactions.
Prior to joining RA Capital Advisors, Eliot was a senior auditor specializing in the media, technology and hospitality industries with Ernst & Young, LLP and Arthur Andersen, LLP in Los Angeles. During his time with these two firms, Eliot was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the audits of several medium and large public and private companies.
Eliot graduated with high honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara where he received a bachelor’s degree in business economics with an emphasis in accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the State of California and a FINRA-registered securities representative. Eliot also serves on the Advisory Council of the Barrio Logan College Institute and is a Member of the San Diego Leadership Committee for the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Stephanie Cone, MD, Secretary
Stephanie Cone is an MD and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and a B.A. in Spanish Literature from the University of Arizona. She earned her MD from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, AZ and trained in Pediatrics at the University of California Irvine and Children’s Hospital Orange County (CHOC). She has previously worked as a pediatrician as part of a group of private practice clinics affiliated with Rady Children’s Hospital and provided primary care for children from age 0-18 and newborn hospital care in select Sharp and Scripps hospitals. When not working, Stephanie stays busy by caring for her two young sons, playing in a women’s soccer league, relaxing with crochet or needlepoint projects, or decorating cakes.
Ann Garland
Ann Garland, PhD. is a Professor at USD where she was Founding Chair of the Department of Counseling & Marital and Family Therapy. She is also an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD. Her teaching, research, and practice have been devoted to improving mental health care for youth and families. She has trained hundreds of mental health professionals from multiple disciplines.
Throughout her career, Dr. Garland has earned research and training grants totalling over $13 million. She has published more than 120 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and is a widely cited scholar. Her research has identified barriers in mental health care, racial and ethnic disparities in care, and how to deliver evidence-based practices in local and global settings. In 2022, Oxford University Press will publish her book, Pursuing a Career in Mental Health: A Comprehensive Guide for Aspiring Professionals.
Dr. Garland earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Yale University, as well as an M.A. in Human Development from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Psychology from U.C. Berkeley, where she was a proud member of the women’s swim team. Ann is a native San Diegan. She and her husband, Saul, have a daughter at UCSD; she also has three step-sons and daughters-in-law, and seven step-grandchildren living in the U.S. and Canada.
Ann enjoys swimming, hiking, tennis, and gatherings with her bookclub. She also loves visiting family in Canada where she loves to swim in Quebec’s Laurentian lakes.
Ben Gordon
Ben Gordon is senior vice president, chief information officer and chief digital officer for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), Sempra Energy’s regulated California utilities.
As chief information officer, he develops and executes policy and strategic initiatives for all matters related to information and digital technologies – ranging from cybersecurity and customer experience to big data analytics – to mitigate threats and drive business growth. He oversees an information technology team dedicated to optimizing IT infrastructure performance and decreasing enterprise risk across technology networks, data centers, and end-use devices. As chief digital officer, Gordon is focused on fostering new ideas to drive corporate innovations, enterprise-wide culture change, and the rapid technology adoption necessary to become leaders of digital transformation in the energy sector.
Gordon joined SoCalGas and SDG&E in August 2018 and previously held the title of vice president, technology operations and infrastructure management. Prior to joining the utilities, he was vice president of technology for Molina Healthcare in Long Beach, Calif.
Gordon’s previous experience also included holding management positions at Three Dimensional Resource Planning, a technology solutions and services company, and at the Apollo Education Group, a provider of higher education programs. Gordon has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Northern Arizona University and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Florida.
Meg Schneider
Meg Schneider received her Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in English, minoring in Economics, from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in 1989.
In the Washington DC area, Meg worked as a Technical and Proposal Writer for a large government contractor for many years. After moving to San Diego, she stayed home to raise her 4 children. Throughout these years, Meg assisted at her children’s schools (K – 12th grade) in various areas: coaching girl’s volleyball and basketball at the junior high level for 8 years; supporting the school library for 10 years, helping to update and expand the reading programs and book selections; and successfully running large fundraising efforts.
Additionally during this time, Meg provided her expertise and talents to assist the Habitat for Humanity with their efforts. This included writing personal biography stories featuring individuals and families benefiting from new homeownership opportunities, neighborhood revitalization and home rehabilitation programs, veteran assistance projects as well as many of the amazing volunteers involved with Habitat.
Currently, Meg serves as the Director of Advancement and Development for St. Martin of Tours Academy in La Mesa. Meg is responsible for launching large-scale and ongoing fundraising efforts, and growing the Academy’s enrollment and position within the community. Through her important efforts, Meg contributes to the Academy’s goal in successfully bridging the gap between tuition and the costs it takes to provide a rigorous and high-quality education to students, including advanced technological updates and enrichment curriculum.
Meg is very excited to be a part of the San Diego Center for Children’s Board of Trustees and looks forward to her involvement in the coming years.
Mindy Mattison
Mindy Mattison, M.A., CCC-SLP received her Masters of Arts degree in Communicative Disorders. She worked as a speech-language pathologist at Rady Children’s Hospital in the Speech, Hearing and Neurosensory Center, and subsequently started her private practice. She founded the speech-language therapy program at La Jolla Country Day School and practiced there for over 20 years.
Mindy serves on the Advisory Board of the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences department at San Diego State University and is actively involved in various organizations and foundations that support children’s well-being. She continues to mentor new speech-language pathologists and volunteers with children on the autism spectrum through Somali Family Services on a weekly basis.
Mindy collaborates with her husband, Dr. John Mattison, on enhancing the bio-psycho-social status of children and their families. Together they thrive on bringing more skills and joy into the lives of all children, supporting both research and practice.
In addition to her passion for children, Mindy loves spending time with her family, including the furry members.
Patricia Riley
Patricia Riley is General Counsel at McKinney Advisory Group, a full-service real estate advisory company headquartered in San Diego. Her multi-faceted background includes representing commercial real estate developers, investors, and publically-traded companies in the negotiation and documentation of complex real estate transactions, portfolio management, and other diverse legal and business matters. Patti enjoys her in-house role strategizing as a team with company principals and other key professionals to optimize business and legal operations.
Prior to her role with McKinney Advisory Group, Patti served as Senior Legal Counsel with Realty Income Corporation, a publically-traded REIT. She began her legal career with Luce, Forward, Hamilton and Scripps, a large full-service law firm, and also served for many years as general counsel for a major shopping center developer.
Patti has a special interest in the mission and purpose of the San Diego Center for Children as she is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and an adoptive parent of two beautiful daughters.
Patti received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame (1985) and her J.D. from the University of Michigan (1988). She also holds an M.A. from the University of San Diego (1995), where she served as an adjunct professor teaching courses in legal ethics and mediation. Her past board experience includes the National Conflict Resolution Center. She and her family enjoy volunteering with Cat AdopTion Services (CATS), an organization that cares for and places cats rescued from high-kill shelters.
Veronica Rubio
Veronica Rubio is Senior Vice President and Senior Private Wealth Advisor with Umpqua Bank. Based in San Diego, Veronica is responsible for addressing all financial needs of wealthy families, non-profits and professional services firms; including investment management, estate and wealth planning, lending and banking.
Prior to joining Umpqua Bank, Ms. Rubio served as Senior Vice President and Senior Private Banker for City National Bank in San Diego. Previously, she also served as Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager for First Republic Bank, and Senior Private Client Manager for U.S. Bank’s Private Client Reserve and U.S. Trust/Bank of America Wealth Management.
Ms. Rubio is a graduate of the University of San Diego with a B.A. in Business Administration, focusing on International Business, Marketing and Management. She also attended the Wharton School of Business and received certificates for the Investment Management and Consultative Selling Programs. She has her Series 7 and 66 licenses, Accidental and Health Insurance, Life Insurance and Property & Casualty insurance licenses.
Ms. Rubio is a member of the San Diego Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is fluent in the Spanish language. Ms. Rubio is proud to be a native San Diegan.
Dustin Sutton
Dustin Sutton is a Real Estate and Business Development Manager with Meissner Jacquet Commercial Real Estate Services. Since joining the firm in 2017, he has played a crucial role in managing commercial real estate and increasing the value of his clients’ real estate portfolios.
Dustin has over 12 years of real estate experience. During his career, Dustin he has managed over $5 billion of commercial and residential real estate assets. Prior to joining Meissner Jacquet, Dustin was a Commercial Real Estate Manager for Realty Income Corporation, a publicly-traded REIT currently included in the S&P 500.
Dustin graduated from the University of Delaware where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Communication. He is originally from Philadelphia, PA, and is a licensed real estate broker in California. He is the co-founder of the Black Commercial Real Estate Network (BCREN), a member of NAIOP, and a member of the Promises2Kids Men’s Leadership Network. In addition to serving the needs of his community, Dustin enjoys basketball, golf, music, the outdoors, and spending time with his family and friends.
Keith Wilson
Keith Wilson is a Ph.D. physicist and businessperson who moved from Boston to La Jolla in 2002 to join a biotechnology start-up. Keith thought he would be on the West Coast for a few years and then head back East, but he fell in love with San Diego and has been growing roots ever since.
Keith enjoys helping organizations succeed, and he has served as president and chief science officer for Takeda California; Board Chair for San Diego Center for Children; Board Member San Diego Canyonlands; Board Member Mission Hills Town Council; Board Chair Mission Hills United Methodist Church; and as a Manager and Coach for Tecolote Youth Baseball.
Keith first learned about the Center for Children when he attended a holiday party for residents of the Center in 2002. From there, Keith grew from an interested visitor to become Chair of the Center’s Board of Trustees. In his nine years on the board, Keith helped secure funding to establish a much-needed patient-assessment program for the Family Wellness Center, which provides children and families with psychological evaluations, therapy, support groups, and other services.
Keith has always been impressed by the Center’s inspirational focus to help children overcome big challenges, and he recently re-joined the Board with a goal to leverage his science, HR, legal, fundraising, corporate communications, government affairs, and branding experiences to complement the existing strong team.
Dori Wittman
Dori is the Vice President of Employee Benefits at HUB International. Dori began her career in the Employee Benefits industry in 2003 and joined HUB in 2015. She has gained extensive experience in the areas of employee benefits that matter most to employers: cost containment, compliance, employee communication and administrative simplification. Her knowledge is exceeded only by her passion for helping HR leaders and business owners flourish.
Over the years, Dori has devoted time and energy to nonprofits servicing at-risk youth. Dori, a California Native, grew up in Poway. She earned her B.A. from University of Washington in Seattle and then spent 12 years in the Los Angeles area. Dori moved back to San Diego in 2015 and currently resides in San Marcos with her husband and two sons. She enjoys running, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Barbara Ybarra
Ms. Barbara Ybarra comes to the San Diego Center for Children’s Board with 25 year’s experience in non-profit, corporate, and government agencies. She has held a range of titles including Director of Development, Chief Philanthropy Officer and Executive Director for community-based organizations and colleges. Ms. Ybarra recently joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as their Regional Advancement Director for Southern California – Hawaii. She is a graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara, and holds an MBA. In her spare time, she likes to play tennis, travel, and read. Ms. Ybarra lives in San Diego, CA, and has a nine-year-old nephew, Rex, who she loves watching Marvel movies and building LEGO sets together.
Moisés Barón, Ph.D.
Dr. Barón, is the President and CEO of the San Diego Center for Children.
To read, Dr. Barón’s biography, please click here.
