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.
Keith Wilson, Ph.D., Chairperson
Dr. Wilson is Vice President, Drug Discovery, at Takeda California, Inc., a US-based IND engine for Takeda Pharmaceuticals of Japan. The San Diego site also supports Takeda’s global structural biology needs, and is actively expanding Takeda’s US science, business and intellectual property presence. From 2002-2007, Dr. Wilson was instrumental in reshaping the company from a platform to a drug discovery focused company, and in building its pipeline. Dr. Wilson received his formal education at the University of Oregon (Ph.D., physics, 1989) and Colby College (B.A., physics, 1984), where he graduated magna cum laude and was awarded the William A. Rogers prize in physics. Dr. Wilson is an author on over 30 peer-reviewed publications, and co-inventor of multiple compounds including telaprevir for the treatment of hepatitis C.
Ann Garland, Ph.D., Vice-Chairperson
Ann Garland, PhD. is Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of School, Family, and Mental Health Professions at the University of San Diego. Prior to this new appointment (Fall 2012), she had been a Professor of Psychiatry at U.C.S.D. (since 1994) and Deputy Director of the “Child and Adolescent Services Research Center” (CASRC)at Rady Children’s Hospital. At CASRC she led multiple research projects focused on understanding and improving community-based child and family mental health care. Her research has been supported by grants from federal sources such as N.I.M.H., as well as state, and local public agencies. She has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications and has served on multiple editorial and advisory boards. In addition, she has been a mentor and supervisor for dozens of researchers and practitioners across mental health disciplines, many of whom are now faculty members in universities across the country.
Dr. Garland received her doctorate in Clinical & Community Psychology from Yale University. She also holds a Master’s degree in Human Development from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s degree with distinction from U.C. Berkeley. She is a native San Diegan, living with her husband and daughter in northern San Diego.
Frank Fornaca, Treasurer
Frank Fornaca is the president of The ReadiGroup, Inc., a real estate investment company specializing in the rehab, sale, and/or lease of residential properties in San Diego County and the Houston Texas areas. Prior to this he was the Director of Information Technologies at the San Diego Center for Children from 2004 through 2012. He was a long time member of the organization’s Senior Staff.
He currently sits on the Board of Directors of his family business, the parent of Frank Motors in National City. He has both a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Information Systems from National University.
Paul Davis, Secretary
Paul has a B.A. in English and Communication Studies (1986) with a Masters in Executive Leadership from the University of San Diego (2008), and has held various leadership positions since 1997. His past community and professional associations include the American Society for Training and Development and Volunteer San Diego where he served on the board for 8 years. Paul, who is a 2003 LEAD Graduate, has been active in community based non-profits and serves on the Alumni Board at the University of San Diego, as well as the Board of Directors of Home Start. He has been active with past non-profits, including Special Delivery San Diego, Children’s Hospital, YMCA Youth and Family Services, Center for Community Solutions, and Room to Read, among others. He has a passion for mentoring youth leaders and recently served as mentor and advocate for Brush Up on A Smile to collect toothbrushes and toothpaste for San Diego’s homeless and is advisor to Leaders for Tomorrow.
Brian DeWitt
Mr. DeWitt is Vice President and Division Counsel of Qualcomm’s Government Technologies Division. Mr. DeWitt oversees all of the division’s legal affairs, including contracts, business processes, and technical publications, and is involved in the division’s strategic business planning. Prior to Qualcomm, Mr. DeWitt was an attorney with Leap Wireless International, and before that he was with the law firm of Barnhorst, Schreiner & Goonan as a transactional lawyer, and at the beginning of his legal career he was an attorney with Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye, then the largest law firm in San Diego. He received his B.A. from the University of California, Riverside and his J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law where he was an editor of the Law Review. Brian joined the San Diego Center for Children board in 2010.
Jacqueline Greulich
Jacqueline Greulich serves as the Student and Career Services Manager for the University of San Diego (USD) Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. Mrs. Greulich is responsible for connecting undergraduate and graduate students with professionals in the commercial/residential real estate industry. She also manages the important coordination of student mentorships, internships and job placements.
Mrs. Greulich has over 20 years of human resource experience, most recently as the Human Resources Director for the San Diego Center for Children. In addition to working in the nonprofit sector, Mrs. Greulich has also worked in the commercial real estate, manufacturing and biotech industries.
Mrs. Greulich graduated with a degree in business management from USD. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for the San Diego Center for Children, Jackie sits on the board for Alpha Project for the Homeless, volunteers for the Burnham Foundation, is a graduate of Lead San Diego 2001 and recipient of the TWIN YWCA award.
Candace Kasperick
Candace is a registered nurse currently employed by San Diego Unified School District. As a program nurse for children and youth in transition, she supports homeless, foster, military and refugee children.
Candace has over 20 years of nursing experience including direct patient care, nursing supervision and consultant work for some of the nation’s top medical device companies. She graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. Candace earned her Nursing Degree from the College of the Desert and Master’s Degree with a healthcare focus from the University of California, Irvine. Candace is a member of the California Nurses Association.
In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for the San Diego Center for Children, Candace serves on the Promises2Kids board and was a board of director for St. Vincent de Paul Village.
Jean Pohl
Mrs. Pohl is a retired education professional and a longtime volunteer of the San Diego Center for Children, having previously served multiple terms on the board. Mrs. Pohl is also the founder and former president of Iris Auxiliary, the Center’s longest and most active supporter group. She also serves as an educational advocate for children with special needs throughout San Diego County.
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.
Nancy Rix
New Member – Biography Coming Soon!
Veronica Rubio
Veronica Rubio is Senior Vice President and Senior Private Banker with City National Bank’s Private Client Services team. Based in the San Diego Regional Center, she’s 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 City National Bank, Ms. Rubio served as a Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager for First Republic Bank. Previously, she also served as a Senior Private Client Manager for both 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 and proficient in French. Ms. Rubio is proud to be a native San Diegan.
Doreen Schonbrun
Doreen Schonbrun holds a BA in Art History/Criticism from the University of California, San Diego. She is an artist, collector and teacher of art and art history classes – including teaching the children at the San Diego Center for Children. Ms. Schonbrun has served as Chair of the Center’s Anniversary Dinner fundraiser for six years and has been a member of San Diego Museum of Art’s Presidents Circle for 14 years.
She supports efforts to improve the role that science and technology can play in the restoration, preservation, discovery and understanding of art and has worked with the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3) at UCSD to make its efforts better known. Ms. Schonbrun has supported a project to establish a relationship between San Diego and Florence, Italy, where UCSD graduate students learn about specialized technologies and apply them to works of art.
She also acts as co-director of a lecture series on “Science and the Arts” for the highly acclaimed “Group of 12 and Friends,” a community-based group of like-minded individuals who meet monthly at the Sanford Burnham Research Institute. Ms. Schonbrun resides in La Jolla with her husband, Dr. Myron Schonbrun.
Gwynn Thomas
Gwynn Thomas is Vice President of HUB International Insurance Services, Inc., Carlsbad office, the 9th largest insurance broker in the world. Gwynn has over 25 years of experience as an insurance professional specializing in large commercial property and casualty risks including nonprofits. She has held a Certified Insurance Counselors Designation for more than 15 years.
Gwynn is a member of the San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) where her husband sits on the Board of Directors and she sits on the SDYC Community Programs Outreach Committee managing several children’s outreach programs for nonprofits, including the Monarch School and Rady Children’s Hospital. Gwynn was the founder and chair of Race for Rady. She also sits on the San Diego Center for Children Finance Committee.
