Meet the Team

Maricruz Aldana has worked for Community Action Marin for the last 12 years, where she spent 10 of those years in a teaching capacity with children ranging from ages two years old to 13 years old in the Child Development Program. She has served the role as Workforce Manager for the last two years, supporting an entering workforce for the early childhood education field. Maricruz holds a bachelor’s in arts in Human Development with a concentration in Early Childhood Education and Development from Pacific Oaks College. She has developed a passion for providing quality services for children and families and for supporting the workforce to make it possible. She currently serves as Commissioner of Marin County Child Care Commission.

Iris joined Community Action Marin in November 2015 as a Peer Case Manager with our CARE Homeless Outreach Teams.

Iris also served as a Case Manager for Marin County’s Odyssey Program, which supports adults who struggle with severe mental health symptoms and, as a result, are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

Iris was recently promoted to Direct Services Manager of Peer Support Specialists. In this position, she provides leadership, education, problem solving and supervision to Direct Service Peer Providers working with the mental health service adult system of care throughout Marin County.

Iris holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy from Fisk University.

Raised in the Bay Area as the oldest of 3 children, Iris has a passion for jazz and politics.

Shuddha joined Community Action Marin in February 2019 as Executive Assistant to the CEO and was soon given an added role as Client Experience Manager, then Executive Office Manger.  In addition to supporting the CEO’s strategic work, Shuddha manages the agency’s Intake-to-Outcomes inititiative, which ensures the quality of systems and processes that enable us to take an effective holistic approach to our clients, from understanding their needs to providing services to tracking the impact on their lives. She also has oversight of the agency’s office management procedures.

Shuddha previously worked at Queen of the Vally Medical Center in Napa for 12 years, in a variety of roles with progressive responsibilities, advancing from Administrative Assistant to Accountant to Community Benefits Coordinator.  She brings exceptional organizational and time management skills to her role. Passionate about the agency’s mission, Shuddha enjoys being part of something larger that serves those in need.  Shuddha holds a B.S. in Business Management with an Accounting concentration.  She lives in Napa with her cat, Pharaoh, and enjoys reading, meditation, retreats, and traveling.

Sandra joined Community Action Marin as Manager in July 2018 bringing over 15 years of experience in administrative support. She has previously served as Receptionist, Client Intake Specialist and Administrative Assistant.

Sandra first began a career in administrative support working for AT&T, ultimately as Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff and providing payroll services.  Born and raised in Oakland, Sandra is the youngest child in a family of three kids.  She has a newly realized passion for learning how to create new ways to right the social wrongs in our society, beginning with information sharing.

Sandra is currently attending the College of Marin to complete her Certificate in Business Administration.  She now lives in Marin County and enjoys daily reading and finally learning how to sew.

Annie Louis has been working in the mental health program at Community Action Marin since Feb. 2018. Annie’s first position was as a CARE Team Mobile Outreach Peer Case Manager. She is currently the Peer Education Instructor and co-facilitator of Duel Diagnosis at the Enterprise Recovery Center.

Annie’s area of expertise is peer counseling, supervising people with addiction, and those with a criminal background by helping them re-enter the workforce.

Annie gained valuable experience from past employment. She worked for Goodwill of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin and for Salvation Army Drug Rehabilitation Center as a manager, and at San Francisco Legal Assistance Foundation, where she advocated for mental health clients who had been denied SSI benefits by writing legal briefs and representing them in court.

Annie holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Mills College in Oakland, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.  She also holds an MPA degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and was awarded a Public Service Fellowship from the Department of Education.

She has a passion for counseling, teaching and inspiring hope, helping people with mental health challenges feel empowered, accepted, and valued.

Raised in Tiburon, CA. Annie has two grown daughters who gives her the greatest joy and meaning in life. In her spare time, Annie enjoys hiking, playing the flute, and spending time with her three pets.

Gary Neal joined Community Action Marin in April of 2011 as a night janitor working at Old Gallinas Children Center. After three years he moved to facilities maintenance.

Prior to Community Action Marin, Gary worked the night shifts at Safeway stocking shelves and UPS loading the brown trucks. He also sold electronic equipment on eBay when eBay first started. His choices all supported being a stay-at-home dad to raise his son. His true calling was Landscape Contracting which he worked at for many years.

He shares his Santa Venetia home with his son, wife, two cats, two parrots and a snake. Gary has enjoyed backpacking, fly fishing in the past. He currently likes to read in his leisure time, and has a love of gardening his vegetables, roses and an outrageous lemon tree.

He attended UC Davis, where he met his wife of 31 years, and studied Biochemistry.

Michael Payne is the former director of Community Action Marin’s Peer Mental Health Program and served in that capacity for 20 years before retiring in July of 2015.

He returned to Community Action Marin in March of 2019 as a Senior Counseling Peer Specialist to work with the County of Marin’s STAR Program. He then turned his attention to Community Action Marin’s CARE Homeless Outreach as the Team’s Coordinator.

Michael has over thirty years in the field of mental health working with Veterans and the general public in both counseling and administrative capacities.

He holds a degree in Electronics Engineering Technology and worked in that field for over five years before turning his attention toward Vietnam Veterans where he began his counseling career.

Using his skill as a professional equine specialist and peer counselor, Michael still works with Veterans volunteering in the field of equine assisted therapy

Michael is a published poet, amateur radio enthusiast, and enjoys reading about and researching human behavior.  He lives on a small horse ranch in Novato.

Joe Simmons is now retired after a career of forty-five years in urban planning and low-income housing financing.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Rice University, a Masters in Regional and Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island and a PhD in urban planning from UCLA.  His professional career has included working for the Mayor’s Office in Denver and teaching at the University of Colorado and Iowa State University.  Following his doctoral studies, he found that his planning experience provided a seamless transition into the financing of low income housing.  The last twenty years of his working life were spent in the provision of funding for nonprofit low-income and community facility developers throughout the country.  After retiring in 2012, Joe still resides in Novato, and has become active on boards in Marin County.

Roger Crawford has lived in Marin County for 12 years and has been a member of the Board of Directors for five years.  Roger currently works as the Equal Employment Director for the County of Marin.  In that role, he shares responsibility for the development and implementation of the county’s Diversity and Inclusion policies as well as the county’s Race Equity Plan.

Roger is an employment attorney and before working for the county, he worked in San Francisco at the employment law firm, Jackson Lewis and Liebert Cassidy Whitmore.  Roger is originally from New York and he received his B.A. from Connecticut College and his law degree from Villanova University.  Roger brings his commitment to equity and social justice as well as his legal background to the agency’s Board of Directors.   Roger is married with three children.

Danielle George has lived and worked in Marin County since 2015. She is a Marriage and Family Therapist. Prior to joining the private sector, Danielle worked for the County of Marin to ensure children and families were connected to mental health services in the community.

Danielle has a Masters in Clinical Psychology, and in addition to doing traditional therapy, she has experience in mental health plan contract management, substance use treatment, and involuntary hospitalizations. In her current position, she interacts with and supports families that are in crisis, struggling with substance use, insecure housing, or feeling the impact of mental health issues on their family. Danielle tries to always carry the perspective of the families she works with into her role as a board member for Community Action Marin.

Amanda joined Community Action Marin as Interim COO in August 2020, bringing 8 years of experience in oversight of human resources, IT, facilities, and administration to our team. Prior to joining us as Interim COO, Amanda served on the board of directors for Community Action Marin for 8 years and as president of the board of directors for the past 4 years.

Amanda served previously as COO at WRA, Inc., where she was also a principal biologist.

Amanda first got to know Community Action Marin through her home daycare. After a 2-year approval process for the daycare, she wanted to give back to her community and joined Community Action Marin’s board of directors. Being a parent of two children in both Community Action Marin’s home daycare and preschool programs gave her particular insight to our Children and Family Services program. Subsequently, her role as president on the board of directors allowed her to oversee board governance and fiduciary oversight. These experiences have given her a unique perspective to apply to her new role at Community Action Marin, bringing her business acumen and desire to empower people and connection to our programs—serving our community in a new way.

Amanda is excited to bring efficiencies to all of our operations, and create valuable time for our employees so that they may focus on programs, not operations. She is excited to make Community Action Marin the best place that anyone has ever worked, and to contribute to the Leadership Team’s goals for staff excellence.

Amanda was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida as the youngest daughter in a family of four kids. She has a passion for life—she loves trying new things, seeing new places and continuing to learn, every day.

Amanda holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Biology from the University of California, Davis and a Bachelor of Science degrees in Botany and Environmental Biology from Humboldt State University. She lives in San Rafael with her husband, two young boys, cat, gecko, hermit crabs, chorus frogs, chickens, and bees, and enjoys ceramics, baking, reading, triathlons, knitting, spelunking, and friends.

Jennifer came to the board of Community Action Marin through service to Marin Head Start as a liaison for Policy Council, a program oversight group comprised of Head Start parents elected each year.  She is fluent in Spanish and has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Nevada, Reno.  The mission of Community Action Marin to reduce poverty and promote equity speaks to her on a personal level and motivated her continued engagement this year as a board member.  Jennifer comes from a diverse background and being a part of the low-income community has inspired her to search out means in which to be of service to others. In this search she found Community Action Marin and is looking forward to many years of service to our community.

James is currently the CFO at IDEO.org where he oversees the Finance and Accounting function, Business Operations and Human Resources for IDEO.org across all of the studios in the United States as well as Kenya.

James has been doing non-profit financial work for more than 15 years and most recently was the CFO at The Opportunity Institute. At The Opportunity Institute, James was one of the forming Board of Directors and helped build the organization from the ground up. Before that, James was VP of Finance and Administration at Next Generation where he oversaw the organization’s finances, Human Resources, and IT. James has also held finance positions at World Savvy and Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Before jumping into non-profit finance, James was a high school teacher at George Washington High School in San Francisco as well as an Institutional Salesperson on the Asian equities desk at HSBC.

James holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego and a Master’s in Education from the University of San Francisco. When not in the office, James can be found on the trails of Marin with his wife, 2 kids and 2 dogs.

Meredith Parnell grew up in Marin, where her parents were involved in local politics and taught her about the power of an organized citizenry. A former attorney, she has worked in the non-profit world for the last sixteen years, directing communications for Congregation Rodef Sholom and serving as executive director at MarinKids. Now working at the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin, she has also been a leader with Marin Organizing Committee since its beginnings in the early 2000s, fighting hard for funding for the public safety net, establishing renter protections, and protecting undocumented essential workers.

Cheryl Timoney is currently Senior Director, Customer Philanthropy at Salesforce.org, the social enterprise and philanthropic arm of Salesforce. At Salesforce.org, Cheryl leads the corporate philanthropy strategy to partner nonprofit and education institutions with the best of Salesforce technology and talent so they can better achieve their missions.

Prior to Salesforce.org, Cheryl managed pro bono volunteer programs with Taproot Foundation, and spent many years at nonprofits in the Bay Area developing community and economic development programs to increase access to housing, childcare, asset-building, and mental health services for low-income residents.

Cheryl brings her experience building high impact and cross-sector initiatives that engage corporations, nonprofits, and community members to the CAM mission and board. Cheryl lives in Marin County with her husband and young children.